America’s family foundations contributed more than $20 billion in 2010 to organizations and people working for the public good, but total giving did not reach its pre-recession peak of $21 billion in 2008. According to the Foundation Center’s latest edition of Key Facts on Family Foundations , the 1. Read More »

by Robert Lichtman Thanks to Dawne Bear Novicoff and Adene Sacks who posted their thoughts about the value-added of philanthropic advisors ( What Would Rambam Think About DonorsChoose.org? ). I am not such an advisor, but I do believe that making significant investment decisions that impact our future is not a DIY activity. Read More »

by Jo-Ann Mort and Judith Wineman eJewish Philanthropy featured an article recently by Dan Brown, eJP’s editor, about a donor organization that doesn’t promote its own fundraising through traditional communications outlets. This especially caught our eye because we believe that communications outreach is essential to good philanthropic practice. Read More »

Building on a previous Jewish Heritage Europe website, Jewish Heritage Europe (JHE) has launched. The website is envisioned as an online clearinghouse for resources, news and information on Jewish monuments and heritage sites all over Europe. Read More »

New York, NY – Combating growing attacks on Israel’s legitimacy on college campuses requires breaking the cycle of rallies and protests in favor of targeting outreach to campus influentials, according to a new white paper released today by pro-Israel campus organization, The David Project. Read More »

by Stephen Kuperberg I deeply admire and respect Tzvi Raviv and Isaac Yerushalmi, two professionals with whom I am delighted to work and support in my role as executive director of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). Read More »

by Joe Berkofsky We always welcome constructive dialogue about JFNA and promoting Jewish Federations and our values. But your commentary is nothing more than erroneous speculation based on supposition and a lack of facts. We hope you will agree that any strategy, PR or otherwise, must be measured by whether it delivers on its goals. Read More »

by Jeff Rubin A nationally renowned Jewish public affairs group just “followed” my organization on Twitter soon after joining the social media site. Read More »

by Aaron Strauss In their guide “How to Mobilize Young Voters ,” Rock the Vote (a nonprofit that engages and builds the political power of young people) states, “Young adults are more likely than older adults to identify as independent, a commonsense [sic] situation for a group of voters new to politics. Read More »

from BostonHerald.com: Boston’s Jewish institutions on alert A security alert warning of possible extremist attacks on “soft targets” amid increased tensions between Israel and Iran has Boston police as well as the city’s Israeli consulate on high alert. Read More »

Bringing Taglit Birthright Israel to Smaller Communities by Evan Levitt When I was growing up in the suburbs of Baltimore, my parents had picture of a bicycle and a motorcycle on a wall in our basement. The caption read “You can tell the men from the boys, by the price of their toys. Read More »

by Isaac Yerushalmi and Tzvi Raviv About one hundred years ago, the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto realized that 80% of Italy’s wealth was owned by 20% of the population. Now known as Pareto’s principle, this concept is universal in nature. For example, in a supermarket, roughly 20% of customers will generate 80% of the income. Read More »

All nonprofit organizations are concerned with developing their financial resources and raising funds for their ongoing budget, capital projects and endowment funds, among other purposes. Read More »

In a breaking news story, The Forward is reporting that allegations of mishandling funds have been raised against Hadassah president Marcie Natan and immediate past president Nancy Falchuk: “The allegations came in a letter sent to the organization’s board members on January 12 by Larry Blum, Hadassah’s top staff member. Read More »

by Seth Cohen Watching the unfolding events related to the Susan B. Komen for the Cure’s decision (and subsequent reversal) to stop funding Planned Parenthood, one couldn’t help but realize that we were watching our own revolution of the masses. Read More »

by Jeremy J. Fingerman One of the hottest topics of today’s Jewish communal conversation has been success of experiential learning experiences, and how synagogues, day schools, and others can transform their programs to embrace this trend and be even more effective. Read More »

February 6, 2012 – Boston, MA – Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) announced today that it is the recipient of a $1.89 million grant for serving Jewish day school students with a wide range of special learning needs. CJP will receive $1.69 million from the Jim Joseph Foundation (JJF) and $200,000 from the Ruderman Family Foundation . Read More »

by Stephen J. Whitfield JointMedia News Service At the very end of December, 2011, when the Sears Holding Company announced that up to 120 of its stores (both Sears Roebuck and Kmart) would be closing due to disappointing sales, the contrast with the spectacular career of Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932) could scarcely have been greater. Read More »

by Robyn Faintich While teachers look to inject technology into classrooms and other learning settings, they must not overlook its power to build community among themselves to enhance skills, share and gain new ideas, and collaborate. Read More »

Among the many decisions involved in raising children, how to educate them is one of the crucial ones. It will influence their growth – intellectually as well as socially and morally. It will also orient them toward a certain set of values, identity, skills, and sense of community. Read More »