Ensuring Sustainability
For not the first time in my sixteen year career within the Jewish nonprofit sector, I have recently been witness to a once vital and vibrant Jewish communal institution on the verge of closing its doors. While the ensuing communal outcry is heartwarming – it is not only too little too late, but vastly upsetting as well. As I see the blame game going round I am flabbergasted by the anger, naiveté, and misinformation spreading. Is the close of a community institution really one person’s fault? Is it due to one catastrophic event? Or is it due to a series of missed opportunities, apathy, and false expectations?
So What?
So, you run soup kitchens, So What? So, you take care of abandoned sea turtles, So What? So, you run programs for disadvantaged kids… So What? If you can’t answer this question about your programming, you’re in trouble. Your ‘So What’ factor is what makes you stand out and above other operations that do similar work to yours. […]
Does your org need an elevator pitch?
A good friend and colleague told me today that ‘Elevator pitches are dead’. Then I saw this by Seth Godin: The best elevator pitch doesn’t pitch your project. It pitches the meeting about your project. The best elevator pitch is true, stunning, brief and it leaves the listener eager (no, desperate) to hear the rest of it. It’s not a practiced, polished turd of prose that pleases everyone on the board and your marketing team, it’s a little fractal of the [...]
Unique Foundation Acharai Fund awards $50,000 to Carmei Ha’Ir!
Recently, our client Carmei Ha’Ir- a Jerusalem charity caring for the needy with dignity- was awarded $50,000 from the Acharai Fund as a result of an application we submitted. The Acharai Fund has a unique and wonderfully intimate way of reaching its philanthropic goals. In their words: Founded in 2011 by 35 families in suburban Philadelphia, the Acharai Fund is a multi-generational giving circle which inspires families to engage together in meaningful Jewish philanthropy. … Families are invited to join [...]
The Current Reality of Fundraising in the United States
Upon returning to the US after five years living and working in Israel, I am shocked and dismayed by the state of affairs within the Jewish community. We all know that the economic situation here has hit the community hard. Its effects are both far reaching and frighteningly close to home. As a fundraiser in the Jewish communal world for almost 15 years I have never previously encountered the challenges that now plague the non-profit world. Every phone call I [...]
Why Content is King in Conferences Too
I was recently privileged to attend a rather large conference (the Israeli Presidential Conference) with many big names and lots of exciting panel topics. The atmosphere was charged, the rooms were full of people I know I wanted to talk to, and I was looking forward to learning much. One panel in particular had me running up the street in heels to try to be on time. Huge names and brands were on the stage, and the topic was something I [...]
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