A reader suggested that I dedicate a Post to FIVE SUCCESSFUL LOCAL FEDERATION INITIATIVES JFNA NEVER TALKS ABOUT. This is easy...as JFNA never...never...talks about Federation Initiatives (except, perhaps, to cite them if they appear in the press) because, as you know, JFNA is only about...JFNA.
1. Chicago's Nachshon Missions. This incredibly successful Chicago Program is neither new nor unknown to JFNA. (I personally discussed it with the current National "Philanthropic Resources" Chair as recently as late 2010 in Chicago.) Young Chicago Federation campaign leaders expressed a belief that they could recruit a group from among their peers, non- or minor contributors, take them to Israel to touch the needs our Federation serves and from that group expand their campaign commitments and their leadership service. Nachson recently returned from its ninth Mission -- $408,000 in new money raised (a 35% increase)and a total of $1,352,000 to the 2011 Annual Campaign -- a 21% increase gift-for-gift. Even more impressive, our current Board Chair formulated the concept and executed it; the Immediate Past Board Chair created what is essentially Nachson II with equally compelling results. From these groups are multiple Board members, Chairs, Committee Chairs and our Overall Planning and Allocations Chair. JFNA's response to this readily adaptable idea, one that could be so easily replicated nationally -- a yawn and a shrug of the shoulders.
2 New York UJA-Federation's Belonging in 2020: The Nature of the Jewish Community of Tomorrow. Our largest community brought together leaders from around the country "...to explore...revolutionary change..." in the ways that "...long-established institutions as synagogues can adjust to a younger generation whose experiences and expectations are far different from those who came before them." The challenges were spelled out and the participants urged to take ownership through every possible entry portal.
3. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles' School Twinning Program. A remarkably ambitious Program that has grown out of Federation's Tel Aviv/Los Angeles Partnership 2000 relationship, my LA friends tell me it is the only initiative that connects schools in a North American City with schools in Tel Aviv. This is a program that has supported 60,000 students, parents and faculty with jointly prepared curricula, teacher institutes and student/faculty exchange programs wherein students from the partner cities travel to the other living with host families and studying history, literature, pluralism and more at a partner school. LA's support has created "...a shared Jewish identity and destiny." This is a great program, it is a great new Jewish idea -- not the next but the current.
4. Baltimore's THE ASSOCIATED has created a series of across the board Leadership Development Programs that may be unmatched. I'll cite two programs directly focused on young women leaders: Chapter Two is a 10-month educational/engagement program that "...recruits women who are at a stage in their lives when they are looking to grow as Jewish women who are exposed through experiential programs and hands-on social action to "capture their passion and turn it into action. Then there is Dor Tikva a two year leadership development program aimed at women 25-45 "...who aspire to hold key positions within THE ASSOCIATED." These are no TribeFest, these are substantive programs for women of substance.
5. The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta offers the widest range of Community Impact Programs for every stage of the Jewish life cycle -- from l'mazel tov childbirth classes to Pathways, an interfaith family network, through Caregiver Care to direct those who need it, to appropriates support services -- and so many more.
Friends, it's not a challenge to identify brilliant, cutting-edge Federation initiatives around North America -- I could have picked 20-50 more. The 5 I chose are but examples of what federations are doing every day, 24/6. These represent what should be among JFNA's daily obligations. And they could be replicated so readily and so easily. The shame is that they aren't and won't be so long as JFNA's leaders focus on the trivial...and we let them do so.
Rwexler
I agree with you completely, but here's the challenge. The large cities generally have more professional resources for this type of innovation and implementation. The smaller and intermediate federations don't. JFNA would do a huge service by promoting these iniatives.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure that smaller cities also have creative things they are doing no thanks to JFNA. It would be a better argument to showcase some of these exposing JFNA even to the smaller communities.
Thanks Richard for taking up the suggestion and your excellent set of choices. I also agree that city size should not be a hindrance to the creation of model initiatives. For an example (if I am not mistaken) Allentown pioneered medical affinity groups in campaign and Milwaukee played a major role in developing the prototype for young leadership programs. Our national agencies should be playing a major role in helping different sized communities bring geat ideas to their scale as was the done when DC came forward with Super Sunday and UJA took the concept across the continent. Silverman should be sending
ReplyDeletehis staff out to communities on a regular and systematically organized basis "to learn, to excite and to polinate". Hmm,
not a bad tag line for a refurbished national entity! Also note that the main constituency and target audience of JFNA efforts should be the internal networks within Federations and not the yet to be engaged.
First anonymous again: The second anonymous is exactly correct. Focusing on the as yet uninvolved may pay off years from now, but without strong current supporters who desperately need the help of a national organization focusing on the current big picture there will be no organizations by the time current efforts pay off - if ever. Among the many cliches that JFNA should adhere to is "You don't get blood from a turnip." In fact when emergencies arise and blood centers need urgent donations they rarely seek out those who have never given before. They always seem to go back to those that have a history of donating blood before.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your observations and suggestions. If JFNA fails to offer up federation initiatives as best practices regardless of City-size, we'll do so on these pages.
ReplyDelete2nd anonymous here: thanks for picking up the thread Richard and first anonymous. Best practice promotion is a dynamic conversation and cannot be a passive process of list making an cataloguing. It is vetting programs for adaptability, sustainability and transferability. It is helping the imitators move them to a higher level of performance and impact. To start: Carve about a million from the existing 30 million JFNA budget; recruit the right smart team of pros who know or can learn the field from the inside out. Then wait to see change, energy and increased local results and morale. Grass roots appreciation will equal the return on investment.
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas...
ReplyDeleteSuggestion...
Let's admit that the merger is a failure and, somehow, reestablish the two different organizations.
A national UJA to assist in and advocate for overseas funding.
A national CJF to work with the Feds in all of the ideas posted, and the many more that I'm sure are out there.
The merger wasn't a bad idea, the staff was. WHen you hire people who have never worked on the ground then how to expect them to be a resource? We were hoping that Saint Silverman would change that but a year plus later and nothing....
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