Interesting Read on High Impact Philanthophy

Check out this very interesting article, Real Good, Not Feel Good: A Brief Guide to High-Impact Philanthropy by Martin J Fisher, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO KickStart-International and Kevin Starr, MD.

The authors note:

Today, everywhere we look, we see another global challenge – from poverty and disease, to climate change and the economic meltdown. And even our own finances are not what they used to be. But we still need to do whatever we can to help the world. So now more than ever, we need to use our limited philanthropic dollars in the best ways that we possibly can.

We can no longer afford to spend scarce funds on things that simply feel good. Instead we need to support initiatives that do real good, and that have the potential to generate large-scale and lasting solutions to the world‘s biggest problems.

Every day, we are presented with innovative non-profits and social enterprises, claiming to ―do good. But not every effort—no matter how well-intentioned—will generate equal results. It is all too easy to support those that sound the best, use the coolest technology, have the best PR or give a warm and fuzzy feeling.

But with the world‘s increasing problems, and limited resources, this is no-longer an acceptable option. Instead, we need to identify and support those initiatives that really do have the potential to change the world.

Click here to go to the page on the Real Good Not Feel Good website where you can read the article directly or download the .pdf to your computer.

This promises to be a very good read indeed.

Wallace Foundation Study on Funder and Recipient Engagements

Check out this wonderful and comprehensive study that was recently released by the Wallace Foundation.

Called More Than Money: Making a Difference with Assistance Beyond the Grant, this research documents the role of charitable and in-kind giving and the relationship between grant recipients and funders.

Here is a summary of the report:

More foundations report increased non-monetary support to bolster the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations, using such means as convenings to share ideas and practices, training and technical assistance and strategic communications. This report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy addresses the effectiveness of such non-grant support and finds, among other things, that providing only a few types of assistance tends to be less effective than providing more comprehensive help. Accompanying the report’s analysis and survey findings are three case studies of foundations that the authors say exemplify efforts for providing such non-grant assistance: the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; Winter Park Health Foundation; and The Wallace Foundation.

And here are the four key findings of the research:

• Foundation staff believe that assistance beyond the grant is important for creating impact – and, in particular, for grantees’ achievement of their goals – but they know little about the actual results of the assistance they provide.

• The majority of grantees of a typical large foundation receive no assistance beyond the grant, and the 44 percent that do receive assistance generally receive just two or three types.

• Providing just two or three types of assistance to grantees appears to be ineffective; it is only in the minority of cases when grantees receive either a comprehensive set of assistance activities or a set of mainly field-focused types of assistance that they have a substantially more positive experience with their foundation funders than grantees receiving no assistance.

• Providing assistance beyond the grant in ways that make a meaningful difference to grantees calls for a significant investment on the part of the foundation: Program staff at foundations that provide assistance in these ways to more of their grantees tend to manage fewer active grants and give larger grants.

Click here to go to the page on the Wallace Foundation website where you can download the .pdf directly to your computer.

BJCWF's Granting History

The Boston Jewish Community Women's Fund started making grants in 2001.

Since our founding, nine years ago, we have given out $1,366,000 in grants to organizations that address underrepresented women and girls in the Boston area as well as Israel.

Take a look at our nearly decade long history of grantmaking!

Grants that serve women and girls in Boston’s Jewish community:

• Etty Project: A theatre production and teaching workshops based on the diaries of Auschwitz victim Etty Hillesum.

• Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters: Presenting littles with images of capable women, career options and choices for their futures.

• Jewish Community Centers: Teaching adolescent girls to develop Powerful Voices by addressing issues they identify as important to them.

• Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly: (1) Breast cancer information outreach to elderly Russian women to raise awareness and encourage screening. (2) Build capacity to recognize and respond to mental health issues and work with tenants to accept mental health services.

• Jewish Family & Children’s Service: (1) Kol Isha Russian Domestic Violence Project; (2) services in Russian to victims of human trafficking; (3) Teen Safe educational program.

• Jewish Family Service/Metrowest: (1) Strengthening the bonds between homeless mothers and children; (2) sensitizing the synagogue community to issues of eating disorder and body image in Bat Mitzvah age girls and building self-esteem.

• Jewish Organizing Initiative: Training activists for community work.

• Jewish Outreach Institute: Mother’s Circle: Support and education for women of other faiths committed to raising Jewish children.

• Jewish Women’s Archive: (1) Develop a curriculum focused on women’s achievements for school children; (2) Fund a new online project, Bat Mitzvah Interactive, to fuse community service, family stories and Jewish women’s history into individual bat mitzvah experiences.

• Mayyim Hayyim: (1) Creating new rituals for new uses of mikvah; (2) Healing Guide for Jewish women with cancer; (3) Embracing Waters Initiative to work with survivors of domestic abuse and train volunteer and professional leaders who work with them.

• MzVibe: Issues-focused webzine for Jewish girls.

• Moving Traditions – Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing: A five-year program promoting self esteem, leadership skills and Jewish identity in girls grades 6-12 in 7-10 area synagogues.

Grants that serve women and girls in Boston’s secular community:

• Adolescent Consultation Services: Girls’ group treatment program at Cambridge Juvenile Court Clinic.

• Bird Street (Upham’s Corner) Community Center: Helping girls develop positive self images and combat rising violence among girls through intense and inventive programming.

• Boston Medical Center - Hey Mama: Translation into Creole of a birth and early parenting guide for at-risk, low-income Haitian women.

• Boston Area Rape Crisis Center: Training for first responders and counseling for adolescent survivors of sexual violence.

• Center for Women and Enterprise: Training women to create small businesses.

• Germaine Lawrence School: Arts therapy program for troubled girls unable to express themselves verbally.

• Homes for Families: Teaching homeless women to be advocates for the homeless.

• On The Rise: Day program for homeless and abused women.

• One Family Scholars: Support for training for homeless women going from welfare to work.

• One Voice Echoes: Writing project for abused women.

• Project Hope: Training welfare mothers to be childcare providers.

• RAW Art Works: Arts education and therapy for inner city girls in Lynn.

• Reach Beyond Domestic Violence (REACH): Advocacy training for Latina immigrant survivors of domestic abuse.

• Reaching Out About Depression (ROAD), Cambridge Health Alliance: Workshops, advocacy and peer-counseling for low-income women affected by situational depression.

• Science Club for Girls: Mentoring and tutoring in science for girls in kindergarten through high school.

• Second Step: Mentoring for survivors of domestic violence, base on a life-coaching model.

• Strong Women, Strong Girls: 100 college students mentor 300 Boston school girls, grades 3-5 to build healthy habits, concrete skills and strong relationships.

• United Teen Equality Center, Lowell: Empowering young women to develop strong self images and change their communities.

• Victim Rights Law Center: Civil legal interventions for women who have been sexually assaulted, enabling them to return to everyday activities.

• Women’s Educational Center: Services to survivors of domestic violence and other trauma.

Grants to benefit women and girls in Israel:

• Adva Center: Advocacy to place more line items benefiting women in the Israeli government budget.

• Economic Empowerment for Women: Business incubator to support low-income women in Haifa who have started micro-enterprises.

• Hotline for Migrant Workers and Isha l’Isha: Securing legal representation for victims of sex trafficking.

• Israel Women’s Network: Advocacy for women’s issues and legal assistance for precedent-setting cases.

• Jerusalem Rape Crisis Center: Training educators to recognize signs of sexual abuse in young children.

• Kidma at the University of Haifa: A program for immigrant girls to combat relationship violence.

• Kol Ha’Isha: Teaching business skills to help poor women become self-sufficient.

• Mahut Center: Skills training, job search assistance, job placement for low-income women.
  

• Neve Yosef Community Center: A transgenerational project linking Ethiopian women and their daughters through traditional embroidery skills.

• Rackman Center at Bar Ilan Univeristy: Advocacy for women’s rights in divorce proceedings.
  

• Shalshelet: Introducing divorce mediation acceptable to religious courts.

• YEDID: Economic skills training for immigrant girls to help break the cycle of poverty.

• Yellin College: Support for training and skill development for poor women so that they can enter the workforce and earn a sustainable wage.

BJCWF 2010 Grant Cycle Request for Letters of Intent

BOSTON JEWISH COMMUNITY WOMEN’S FUND 2010 GRANT CYCLE

Request for Letters of Intent

The mission of the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund is to develop a women’s Jewish philanthropic community which provides sustainable and measurable benefits to women and girls from all walks of life, and in the process, encourages the funders to be leaders and role models.

The Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund, a project of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, is requesting letters of intent for its 2010 grant cycle for programs that will benefit women and girls. Projects will be funded in the areas of relationship abuse, economic advancement, girls’ healthy development, education, health, advocacy and the arts. Projects will be funded for the fiscal year July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011. The Fund does not support capital projects, scholarships, or make grants to individuals.

In 2009 The Fund made grants totaling $275,000, and has awarded over $1,300,000 since inception. The complete list of grants made since 2001 is posted at www.cjp.org – follow the prompts to “Women’s Philanthropy.”

WHO SHOULD APPLY?

The Fund welcomes applications for new and ongoing results-oriented programs. Given the current economic crisis, organizations that have received grants from The Fund in the past may choose to apply for a one year grant for general support of a proven core program.

The Fund supports projects that benefit:

• Jewish women and girls in the local Boston community
• Women and girls in the general Boston community
• Women and girls in Israel, specifically programs that serve the greater Haifa community or have a documented history of funding from other North American organizations.

HOW TO APPLY:

Describe your project in a letter (no more than 2 pages long) that contains:

• Your organization’s mission.
• A statement of need, how the project will address it, and how it meets BJCWF objectives.
• A budget narrative including the amount of funding requested, projected major expenditures, and use of BJCWF funds. (If you are reapplying, please note if you anticipate significant changes in your budget from last year.)

GRANTS

For the 2010 granting cycle, The Fund will make one year grants (maximum amount $25,000) that may be renewed for up to three years.

HOW THE PROCESS WORKS:

• Letters of intent must be received by 5:00 PM on Friday, November 10, 2009, no exceptions.
• Submit your letter by email to susane@cjp.org
• Also mail hard copy for backup to: Susan Ebert, Director, Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund, 126 High Street, Boston, MA 02110.
• Each organization submitting a letter of intent will be notified by December 23 whether they will be asked to submit a full proposal.
• Organizations invited to submit proposals will receive complete instructions for doing so.
• A site visit by members of the Fund will be a component of the final application process.
• The deadline for submitting full proposals is February 3, 2010.
• The Fund will notify all applicants of its decisions by mid-April, 2010.

Executive Committee Meeting: September 30th at noon

Executive Committee members, please review this memo from Margo in preparation for our meeting on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 12-2pm at Mayyim Hayyim - 1840 Washington Street, Newton (same parking lot as Temple Reyim).

Please bring a check for $50 to cover the cost of lunches for the year.

Ladies,

After your input at our last Executive Committee meeting and more discussion over the summer, we have arrived at a proposed restructuring for the Women’s Fund development process that will allow for more focused and effective communication and engagement for all members. The proposed structure has three committees: Membership, Communications and Program. All three will need to work closely together and we would expect that they would sometimes meet together. Various Fund members and Executive Committee members will populate the committees and take on specific responsibilities (e.g. one member could develop the library of compelling stories, someone else could interview lapsed members, etc). We have taken a first cut at dividing up the responsibilities as specifically as possible. Please review the structure as we plan on discussing it at the first Executive Committee meeting.

Thanks, Margo

Membership Committee

The mission of this committee is to develop the message for the effective recruitment of new members, to assure the successful integration of new members into the Fund, to assure engagement of members coming up for renewal and to gather information from lapsed members. The specific activities would include:

• Review of materials used in solicitation of new members
• Review of the website with an eye toward recruitment
• Development of strategies for targeted solicitation of new members and retention of present members
• Stewardship of new members for the first year (new members’ breakfast, special invitations to events or to join committees, etc)
• Hold exit interviews with lapsed members for feedback
• Provide summaries of work in progress/status reports to be included in newsletter for members
• Provide updates of provide summaries of work in progress/status reports at opening and closing events

Communications Committee

The mission of this committee is to develop effective vehicles that meet both the internal and external communication needs of the Women’s Fund. Specific activities would include:

• Production of the newsletter 3 times a year primarily for use by present Fund members
• Translation of recruitment message into communication materials
• Review and revision as needed of materials used in solicitation of new members
• Evaluation and updating the website as needed
• Assurance of adequate timely communication to present members about the activities of the Fund through email, website updates or blog postings
• Development of an archive of compelling stories about grantees, their clients and our members to be used in our communication materials
• PR
• Development and maintenance of a blog about the Fund
• Oversee development of a 10th anniversary logo
• Provide summaries of work in progress/status reports to be included in newsletter for members
• Provide updates of provide summaries of work in progress/status reports at opening and closing events

Program Committee

The mission of this committee is to develop events that support the goals of the Membership, Communications and Executive Committees. Specific activities would include:

• Development of events to meet specific requests of the Communication, Membership and Executive Committees, including special events
• Securing of locations, caterers and potentially speakers for specific events (probably 2-3 times per year, not counting Lunch & Learn)
• Investigation into development of an award program in recognition of grantees or service
• Periodic surveying of present members about specific issues and interests
• Provide summaries of work in progress/status reports to be included in newsletter for members
• Provide updates of provide summaries of work in progress/status reports at opening and closing events

Opening Event Details and Transportation

We’re looking forward to seeing you tomorrow evening!

If you’re coming to dinner, Margo has sent all the information.

If you’re coming straight to the event, we’ll look forward to seeing you there at 7:30 PM

In either event, please read on.

• Our meeting is at Golda Meir House, 160 Stanton Avenue, Newton, but we can’t park on Stanton.
• Please consult the directions that were included in the invitation – email if you don’t have them.
• Park in the T lot at the far end of the station.
• Look for a “Local Motion” bus that will be taking our group from the parking lot to the building. It will start running at 7:00 PM
• The same bus will return us to the lot after the meeting.

Roles of Members of Executive Committee

Somehow, it’s September again. Summer always seems to end with a thud, but it brings us right into a busy and intense fall.

We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s opening event at Golda Meir House, 160 Stanton Avenue, Newton at 7:30 PM, and look forward to seeing you all.

Looking further into the calendar, our first Executive Committee meeting is just three weeks away. This seems like a good time to review the roles of members of the committee.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee shall consist of current and past Fund chairs, all committee chairs, and up to five ad-hoc members. The terms of ad-hoc members of the Executive Committee may be limited to two years. To ensure continuity in the policy and practice decisions of the Fund, members of the Executive Committee must make every effort to attend meetings which shall occur four times per year.

Current members:

Madelyn Bell – ex officio

Mady Donoff – co-chair, Grants

Esta Epstein – ex officio

Leslie Gaffin – co-chair Grants

Carol Goldberg – ex officio

Rosalind Gorin – past Chair

Alison Jaffe – Long term grant liaison

Rebekah Kaufman – Communications

Beth Klarman – past Chair

Margo Newman – Chair

Rena Olshansky – ex officio

Barbara Schultz – advisory Chair

Joyce Schultz – development

Jennifer Silver - past Chair

Carol Targum – Chair elect

Karen Tucker – past Chair

Andrea Waldstein – ex officio

Note that we have not yet named a Programs Chair

Margo will soon share a memo that proposes a reorganization of responsibilities of the Communications, Development and Program areas in a new and effective way, enabling us to look at new communication possibilities and keep closer connections with our members. It will also offer opportunities for members of the Executive Committee who don’t currently hold portfolios to have more specific involvement.

We will review all of this in more detail at our September 30 meeting.

Thanks, Susan