LOOKING FOR PLACES TO CUT?

Let us assume that JFNA (this now appears to be an acceptable acronym by the way -- use it in good health!) -- is looking for areas in which to make appropriate and necessary cuts in the 2010 (or 2011) Budget. Wishing to be helpful, as always, let us take a close look at the Israel-Overseas Department report available to the 100 attendees at the Dallas Board meeting, but to no others.

Before we do so, let's note that Israel and Overseas has much to contribute -- but it is apparently without direction or real focus. With that as background, here are some, but not all, of the Department's "Projects":

• Completed a tour of five new boutique hotels in Tel Aviv
• Managing migration of all staff e-mail addresses from ujc.org.il domain to JewishFederations.org domain
• Developing new signage, letterhead, business cards...
• Communicating new branding to government officials, suppliers, partners, and other organizations
• Working with JFNA Washington to plan and facilitate February conference call focusing on our collaboration with JAFI and JDC during emergencies in Israel
• Working closely with senior staff at the Ministry of Education in collaboration with JAFI's Partnership 2000 team to resolve remaining open issues related to recent youth delegation crisis (how many of us know about that one?)...
• Participation in Sheatufim Board meeting
• Testing new electronic process for annual updating required of all funded organizations in Israel
• Preparation for and staffing JFNA/JAFI/JDC discussions (apparently "staffed" from Jerusalem while meetings have been [2] in New York)
• On-going meetings and targeted consultations with senior leadership at JAFI and JDC

There is more to be certain and not that these things didn't need to be done but....really...what's this all about? I reflected that it was a good thing for Israel and Overseas that the organization's name changed or there might have been no "Projects" for some of the good folk in Jerusalem.

Maybe...maybe...there is merely the need for a good editor or, even better, it's clearly time for some serious rethinking.

Rwexler