What I Learned at #FOJNP: Alex Kadis
This post is republished with permission of the author, Alex Kadis.
On Wednesday, 24 August 2011, I along with 50 others attended Dave Weinberg‘s Future of Jewish Nonprofit summit (FOJNP) in New York. The event brought together some great minds in the nonprofit Jewish world to talk about how to raise money in these difficult times, proper use of social media (Google+, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn), and how to get your ideas out there. I think it was a resounding success.
Read the rest of Alex’s post here.
Poster in Residence
If a tree falls in the wood and no one is around… did it really happen?
If you don’t read about an event, see pictures, watch a video or follow the Twitter hashtag of an event… did it really happen?
In that light, we are announcing a new program to bring talented bloggers, writers, photographers, videographers and other social media addicts to the Future of Jewish Nonprofit Summit [#FOJNP] – the “Poster in Residence” Program. If you win our scholarship, you will join us on the morning of August 24 at the NYU Bronfman Center for the second annual New York Nonprofit Summit focusing on best practices in communications, marketing and technology aimed at the Jewish Nonprofit industry.
We want even more talented, amazing, bright, innovative… ok you get it… people to attend #FOJNP. We would love for that person to be YOU 
Apply below and tell us why you are relevant online, what you bring to the table and why we should consider giving you a free ticket to #FOJNP. We will choose our favorit entries and reward them with… you guessed it.. a free ticket! Find out more information on the New York Summit here: http://ny.fojnp.com
All we ask is that you do what you do best before, during and after #FOJNP: tweet, facebook post, blog, vlog, photograph, sing, live illustrate… whatever!
What I Learned at #FOJNP: Chaviva Galatz
At the Future of Jewish Nonprofit Summit, I picked up a few buzzwords that tickle my Social Media fancy! One of these words — “slacktivist” — really struck me as a powerful concept that likely has been around for some time but didn’t really have an official handle until Social Media took off. During times of crisis and need, there are always people who sit at the sidelines and watch, but with Social Media these people are participating, they’re just not following through per se. What I really walked away with regarding these individuals is how to delineate who the slacktivists are and how to approach them within the greater population of — in my case — blog readers. When I run campaigns for organizations or try to pull in folks for events, I learned at FOJNP that I need to not be disappointed when I don’t get a huge reaction and to lean on the few, dedicated and devout souls who will make things happen!
Chaviva Galatz is the creator and writer of www.kvetchingeditor.com and will be the 2010-2011 Social Media Intern for BJENY-SAJES. Chaviva can be found at kvetching.editor@gmail.com and on twitter @kvetchingeditor.
Watch speakers from the Future of Jewish Nonprofit Summit at Fora.tv
What I Learned at #FOJNP: Matthew Vogel
Matthew Vogel is the Executive Director for Hillel at Baruch College in New York. You can find him on Twitter @hillelatbaruch on Facebook or by email matt@baruchhillel.org.
What I Learned at #FOJNP: Andy Neusner
I came away from FOJNP with ideas running through my head and sprawled out across several sheets of paper. First and foremost, those ideas center on ways to do a better job of helping our organization (The Jewish Federations of North America, and the particular program I manage, the Jewish Community Heroes campaign) build lasting relationships with our supporters that make our constituents feel some love and connection.
Allison Fine talked about how local chapters of the American Lung Association regularly spotlight a volunteer on their home pages. I think this would be a great tip for us to put into action for local Jewish Federations. And also on the relationship-building front, Charles Best talked about establishing a team mentality among bloggers who might support an entire slate of favored DonorsChoose beneficiaries. I love how this idea might be extended to our Heroes campaign.
Andy Neusner is the Web Content Manager/Jewish Community Heroes Manager at The Jewish Federations of North America. You can find him on Twitter @jewishevents or reach him by email andy.neusner@jewishfederations.org.
You can watch Andy and all the other speakers from the Future of Jewish Nonprofit Summit at Fora.tv
What I Learned at #FOJNP: Howie Beigelman
With a conference title heralding it as the future of the Jewish organizational world, before it even began, there was an expectations game. Survey says? Expectations met; and exceeded.
For me, as an advocate and public policy pro in a blue chip Jewish nonprofit, there are still two problems we, like any niche organization faces – even when that “niche” is as large as that occupied by Orthodox Judaism and the OU. The first is “crossover” appeal – how does a niche group take their issues and popularize them and publicize them so that they are mainstream? In the words of Malcolm Gladwell, how do you get to that “tipping point”? Beyond that, any nonprofit – especially an Orthodox one – and all the more so in today’s economic climate, faces the needs for the greatest exposure and maximum impact for the smallest expenditure of human and financial capital.
On both counts, social media can play a part as a game changer. What #FOJNP did was teach novices and more experienced hands exactly how it could. On the first count – of going mainstream – while online levels the playing field, it’s not like flipping a light switch. Online alone will fizzle. What’s needed are “on land” prequels and sequels to online activity. It also meant learning that for cost conscious nonprofits, there’s still a disadvantage with corporate America, but that many of the free tools out there are, with diligence, just as good as anything a company might pay for. High quality, easy to use technology is so easily available today, you can get your message out in ways previously reserved for titans of industry.
Lessons worth learning, now in our digital, multi-tasked, multimedia present, if there is indeed to be a future for the Jewish nonprofit.
Howie Beigelman is the Deputy Director of Public Policy for the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs. Howie can be found by email howieb@ou.org and on Twitter @howielb.
You can watch Howie and all the other speakers from the Future of Jewish Nonprofit Summit at Fora.tv
