The Week That Was: March 18-24

In today’s world, no nonprofit organization would think twice about collecting, and hopefully analyzing, information about their donors. So too, with website traffic. For how else can one effectively judge site visitors’ demographics and interests?

Based on site and RSS feed analytics, here – in alphabetical order – are the five most popular posts on eJewish Philanthropy last week:

Bat Mitzvah Comes of Age
by Sally Gottesman

If we were going to preserve the stories of girls, parents and rabbis who had transformed bat mitzvah from a radical act to a communal norm, a paradigm shift second to none in the American Jewish community, then we needed to do it now. The first bat-mitzvah was in March, 1922, ninety years ago this month, and that celebrant, Judith Kaplan Eisenstein, was dead, as was her father and the rabbi for that historic event, Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan.

Fisher FLIGHT Turns High-Net People into High Powered Givers
by Abigail Pickus

Six years ago, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Foundation of Detroit put their heads together. What was the best way to reach young, high-net individuals who were not necessarily focused on Jewish philanthropic giving? The answer was Fisher FLIGHT, a nine-month initiative that brings together people between the ages of 40 to 55 with a net worth of over $10 million.

Natan Fund 2013 Grant Application Process Open

Natan is now accepting initial Letters of Inquiry from new applicants in two program areas; additionally, Natan has announced a new partnership with the ROI Community.

The Best of Both Worlds: Back to the Future of Philanthropy
by Sandy Cardin

When given strategically, effectively and with an eye toward accountability, huge grants have the potential to accelerate the pace of positive change in many situations and even completely ameliorate others.

And yet, philanthropy is not about money alone.

Universal Grant Applications: A Win for Grantees and Funders
by Daniel Bloom

Development professionals at countless Jewish organizations spend their days crafting and tweaking grant applications and reports for hundreds of different funders, each with their own unique requirements. Not only would a well implemented common grant application save thousands of hours of labor across the Jewish communal sector, it would often make life easier for funders as well.

Click the red tab above for previous weeks most popular posts.