Jumpstart's New Jewish Organizations Survey: Tweeting and Reflecting

The 2008 Survey on New Jewish Organizations was presented Thursday morning in LA, and is available online here, as are links to video from the NY and LA presentations of the report.

Italicized text represents Twitter posts (Tweets) sent as the meeting progressed, followed by regular text which reflects on the meeting and the findings that were presented. - EDK

at presentation on new jewish orgs coping w the economic situation sponsored by @jmpstrt. they're presenting findings. more tk.

Looking around the board room at the LA Jewish Federation, I realize that I already know a number of people in the room. In addition to Jumpstarters Shawn Landres and Joshua Avedon, I also spy Rhoda Weisman from PLP, Rebecca Guber of Six Points Fellowship, Asher Gellis from JQ International, various others I've met since I moved here, and of course, faces representing the seemingly omnipresent spiritual community/social justice/education organization known as IKAR. After some initial introductory remarks by John Fishel, head of the LA Jewish Federation, Natan's Felicia Herman noted that the reason for the survey and report was the fear that new organizations in the Jewish innovation sector would be "especially vulnerable," but that ultimately hard times create an opportunity not just to figure out who gets which piece of the pie, but what the pie is made of, how it's made, and also how it's sliced up.

Among the findings presented were that many of the organizations were interested in collaboration and mutual support as a model of economizing budgetarily while maximizing potential for impact. There was also some discussion of what the "number of participants reached" category really means - that there are many online free tools at the disposal of today's startups. So if the organization's goal is reaching a smaller number of people, more regularly, and employing programs that encourage deeper connections, that's going to require a different (and smaller) amount of funding to achieve than organizations with large-scale, expensive, one-off events that impress for a night and then have to build cohesion again the next morning.

one woman said @jmpstrt survey will change how funders looks at innovation. i hope that's true but orgs are so change-resistant.

I've worked for Jewish nonprofit organizations, and I've worked with innovative Jewish startups, on both volunteer and paid staff levels. And I constantly tell people that Jewish organizations are not resistant to the idea of innovation - they're just scared by its newness, and intimidated by the prospect of having to implement that change. Beyond the administrative/strategic planning fear, there's also the apprehension that the new project, initiative or staff person will somehow fundamentally change that organization's mission. Maybe it's having watched too many episodes of medical dramas, but this fear reminds me of GVH (graft-vs.-host) disease, when a transplant patient's body treats the transplanted tissue as enemy cells and begins destroying the very organ that may have been its salvation.

@jewliciousfestival gets a shoutout at the new jewish orgs mtg as an example of short term proj that creates stickiness. the new buzzword.

One respondent notes that talking about affiliation is passe because we're Teflon (and nothing sticks to us)...but that initiatives spearheaded by a higher concentration of sticky people are often more successful than larger organizations, which "give lots of tastes of glue sticks."

The more you say the word "sticky," the weirder it sounds, even just phonetically. But I get what they're saying. I mean, I've been to four Jewlicious Festivals, and the experience sticks with everyone who attends. Similar to LimmudLA (but preceding its arrival in LA by two years, I think), JewliciousFestival has enabled hundreds of college and graduate students from across the country to spend a weekend immersed in different sessions amidst their peers, and developing their 21st century identity as Jews in a possibly post-denominational, definitely technologically-centered, world. It's never boring, and usually transformational.

@roicommunity and @presentense get shoutouts too. @videojew is taping for @jewishjournal. more thoughts later.

Among the findings presented were that many of the organizations were interested in collaboration and mutual support as a model of economizing budgetarily while maximizing potential for impact. There was also some discussion of what the "number of participants reached" category really means - that there are many online free tools at the disposal of today's startups. So if the organization's goal is reaching a smaller number of people, more regularly, and employing programs that encourage deeper connections, that's going to require a different (and smaller) amount of funding to achieve than organizations with large-scale, expensive, one-off events that impress for a night and then have to build an audience for their next project the next morning.

Shawn highlighted ROICommunity and PresenTense as examples of initiatives that are building communities of sticky people, and in summary hoped that discussion would move forward about how startups can help the organized Jewish community to change and become more sustainable.

Comments

[Jewish Teacher]

A fellow twitter addict! Great!

[VJ]

This is good to hear Esther. Beyond 'sticky' people & situations, what you also need are possibly good old fashioned tiers of organizations who are doing slightly different things at different times or life cycles. One or more groups to 'gather' in interested or 'semi' interested folks, another to try & pick up and further integrate them into various functions and/or more groups dedicated to doing or acting on behalf of a certain interest(s). I've always thought that the possibilities represented by arts, all sorts & kinds of arts, were severely under represented in many venues. You'd not believe how many folks may be attracted to such events and are interested in participating on some level. Ditto for sports & sporting.

So all the force and effect of the new is wonderful & refreshing. But never forget that the paths that led here are often forgotten and lie fallow, and might bear some investigation too. Not every organization can now afford to 'do it all', nor should they. You can not be constantly reinventing the wheel if someone else is familiar with your issues & may want to partner with you on them. Cheers & Good Luck! 'VJ'

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