Ten high schools are taking part in a series of 3 face to face full-day meetings, an offering of over 20 webinars, an ongoing Facebook Group discussion, and coaching sessions to help them develop and implement strategic social-media enhanced communications plans for their schools.

The Academy reflects the work that the Foundation has been doing with  social media guru Allison Fine over the past year, and was created in response to a recent survey that the Foundation conducted of around 300 day schools regarding their use of social media.

The Academy met twice in March face to face.  Participants learned about a number of foundational social media tools, started creating their plans based on a “POST” planning process (inspired by the book Groundswell – People, Objectives, Strategy and Technology), debriefed what they’ve experimented with and implemented between the two meetings, and shared emerging best practices with each other.

The good people from Big Duck guided the group through determining appropriate metrics for analyzing social media and creating social media policies.  Big Duck will also provide individualized coaching sessions to each school team on a regular basis.

Kudos to AVI CHAI for taking such great strides in modeling the learning process that they have undertaken themselves as a learning organization, and extending their active support to other professionals in Jewish education.  We can’t wait to share more of what we are learning as well!

Read more about the Allison Fine’s reflections on the Social Media Academy here:

Avi Chai Social Media Academy Begins
Social Media Academy Part II

And slides from today:

While I’m quite excited about the projects that have been awarded funding, I’m even more excited about the broader impact that this fund has had on established organizations, entrepreneurs, and funders alike.  Having worked to advance the Jewish community’s use of digital media for over 10 years now (wow, that went fast), I can see that even the announcement of the Fund changed the conversations among staff and lay leaders throughout the Jewish community.  While a social media and mobile strategy might have been pushed to the bottom of the agenda over and over again, the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund forced them to put it at the top of the agenda, and to think about it strategically, not just tactically.  Regardless of whether or not these ideas were funded today, providing an incentive, structure and time line I’m sure has deepened and advanced the work of many applicants.

It’s also important to note that the criteria used to evaluate the proposals has an impact beyond the short term decision making about fund allocation.  For example, one requirement was that the projects would be able to launch or achieve results within 12 months.  While in some cases this felt like a really compressed time line, the reality is that we are all in a permanent beta mode — we have to throw ideas against the wall, assess their effectiveness, and continue to refine over time.  If you’re spending more than a year putting it together, either the idea wasn’t sufficiently thought out to begin with, or you’re not prepared to develop in an agile and iterative process.

The fund also set a priority on innovation – though the term was fairly broadly defined. In many cases, I think the made applicants really think beyond the obvious.  I was impressed by how many applications viewed their mission through a new lens as they developed their applications.  While the technology employed may not have been so “innovative” and new, the ways that they were thinking about their work clearly were.  Kol hakavod to those that busted through the walls of their buildings, put the freedom of exploration in the hands of their users, and researched technologies, platforms and models outside of their immediate sphere of influence, or even their comfort zones.

There are many more lessons to be learned from the applicant pool, process, and over time, the outcomes of the projects funded.  Regardless of who receives a check, this Fund was a tremendous gift to our community.  I hope that those who used the opportunity to think in new and deeper and riskier ways will still find inspiration and value from the process, and will resolve to continue to take action on these ideas by incorporating these costs into their operating budget where appropriate, writing other grants, and seeking the support of other funders – foundations and individuals – who also recognize that these tools, ideas and approaches are critical to our communal future.

Are you an applicant to the #JNMIF who didn’t get your project funded this round?  How are you going to proceed with this work?  What non-financial assistance do you need?  Leave your thoughts in the comments.

In recent years a number of creative, and largely independent, social entrepreneurs in the Jewish community have taken matters into their own hands, building and launching interesting applications on a shoestring, sometimes at night while holding down a full time job to pay the bills.  But in general, the organizations, their audiences, the designers and programmers, and the funders haven’t been speaking the same language. Some people are preaching open source and others and pressing CDroms.  Where do we go from here?

Three of the nation’s largest Jewish foundations – the Righteous Persons Foundation, the Jim Joseph Foundation, and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation – have announced the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund to help energize the community to focus on the need for new media innovations, and to help bring them to life.  While a pool of $500,000 injects important dollars to jumpstart new and support developing projects, I think this fund — and the role of three prominent foundations — is a critically important statement to the community.  This is not optional anymore.  This is our present, and our future, and there is no time to waste.  I know a lot of people with some very creative ideas, and this is a tremendous opportunity for us to recognize the talents that exist within the Jewish community, and to take advantage.

The fund intends to support interactive, digital efforts that are creative and impactful, and which and engage with Jews and Judaism in ways that promote moremeaningful and vibrant Jewish life in the 21st century.  The Fund will support individuals, 501c3 non-profit organizations, social enterprises, and for-profit businesses. Collaborative projects are welcomed and encouraged.

All the details and the application form are here. Deadline is November 22, 2010. Funding decisions will be made in February, 2011.

To kick us off, mobile mobile mobile.   Everybody’s got a phone in their pocket, and increasingly it’s a pretty intelligent one.  The iPhone, Blackberry, Android and others are taking over the market, and shaking up the status quo.  Assume that people are looking for and engaging with you while on the go, not just while sitting at their desk.

Some things to know:

1. Compose your emails for easy reading on a mobile device. Send a test and check it out on a Blackberry and iPhone.  Some Blackberry users are reporting a lack of patience with graphic emails because it takes too much time to wade through.  “Give me the bullet points and important information straight up and in brief” seems to be the attitude.
2. Start learning about fundraising via mobile. I just made my first donation by text message to a radio show I love, This American Life, when I saw a tweet.  $5 went on my AT&T bill. So easy!  Check out http://www.mobilegiving.org/ to see how they do it.  Sophist Productions has been hosting events (a UJA Young Leadership cocktail party, for example) where people “text to pledge” their donation, and pledges are projected on the wall. Yes, it is a new world.  And it works.  Read more here on text-to-give programs.
3. Redesigning or tuning up your website?  Make sure you’ve got a mobile friendly version. Check out a Google tool here to see what your web site can look like on a mobile browser. Beth Kanter iPhone-ized her blog with an easy $200 IPhone app tool.  Learn about it here.
4. Twitter was conceived of, and largely used as a mobile tool. Thus, don’t neglect this community when you are putting together a mobile strategy.

Want to learn more?

http://mobileactive.org/ is a great org with useful resources and a discussion list on how nonprofits are using mobile in their work.

http://www.mobilecommons.com/ offers services for marketing, advocacy and fundraising via mobile (and thanks to Mobile Commons for donating their services for our Boot Camps)

http://www.mobilecitizen.org/ has excellent resources for mobile use in education and nonprofits.

Great resources from Wild Apricot: Is Your Nonprofit Website Mobile-Friendly?

Examples of cool, mission-centric mobile uses from nonprofits, on Beth Kanter’s Blog

We believe that the young, and often small, nonprofits that have emerged in the past decade, and the very de-centralization they reflect, are here to stay.  We believe that this interconnected network of smaller, niche-based organizations reflects the organizational transformation now under way in American culture: a revolution in the way that people connect, organize and affiliate, brought about by technological advancements that have dramatically shaped our ways of looking at the world. That revolution already has utterly transformed so much of our lives — the way we shop, network, share information, learn and teach. We don’t believe there’s any going back.

I completely agree with their observations. In addition to encouraging you to read the new report, The Innovation Ecosystem, that they developed with JumpStart, I want to reinforce their de-centralized vision, and encouage us to questions our assumptions and the status quo of how we go about doing our business.  The top down models that have worked in the past are no longer the only solution.  Self-motivated, creative and empowered individuals and groups now have the ability to self-organize, creating the programs and organizations that embody the bottom-up culture that is so attractive.

Investments in innovative organizations are important, because we do need to evolve our Jewish community to continue to be relevant to its participants.  Furthermore, we need to invest in helping more traditional organizations also make this shift to realign themselves with a rapidly changing paradigm. The “revolution” which Felicia and Dana refer to is in fact a tectonic shift, largely empowered by social media, that we cannot ignore.  So where to begin?  While the strategic questions may feel overwhelming and insurrmountable, dipping our toes in the water to begin to understand the evolving culture and the potential of the technology tools is a fruitful (and dare I say FUN) place to start.

Often I hear staff say “but where are we going to find the time to do this social media stuff? I don’t have even 10 minutes a day to spare.”  While that may be true, we are spending a tremendous amount of time and energy (and dollars) in our “business as usual” routine, the products of which may or may not be the most efficient and effective way to achieve our goals and mission.

Take for example the synagogue newsletter.  This 12 or 24 page monthly publication takes thousands of dollars per year in paper, labels and stamps, plus who know how many hours to write, edit, layout, photocopy, stamp and send 500, 1000, or 1500 copies each month.  Can you tell me how many people read it cover to cover? What’s the most popular column?  How many throw it in the recycling without even a glance? Even those who do read it cover to cover — what’s the impact on their participation, education, engagement, identity or support?

Now, can we borrow just 10 minutes a day from the team of people who put countless hours into that newsletter?  I’ll help you measure the return on your 10 minutes. My guess is you’ll find it worthwhile.

There is no looking back.  So we might as well start looking forward.  How do you spend your 10 minutes of social media per day? What are the outcomes?

In addition to offering a very simple online donations offering, Causes taps into the viral power of social networking on Facebook.  When a user joins the cause, it is posted in the news feed of their friends, inviting others to become familiar with the cause and also support it.  With vast connections on Facebook (see image to the right),  your message can spread quickly, and far.

Causes has recently added a new feature for birthdays.  Users can pick a favorite cause, and use the application to set their Facebook status on their birthday, and perhaps the days leading up to it, encouraging friends to make a donation in lieu of cards or other gifts. Personally, I have made $10-$25 donations many times for friends’ birthdays, even when I may have not spent the time or money to send them a gift!

And hint:  my birthday is next week!  I’ve recently joined the board of CAJE, and welcome any donations to support their important work in providing professional development for Jewish educators.  Or, if you prefer, you’re always welcome to support Darim (also a non profit organization)!  Come check out Facebook Causes!

Learn more about Facebook Causes and it’s Birthday feature on Beth Kanter’s blog.

flickr credit: redverse

The holiday season is one in which we reflect on our place in the world – how we live our own lives, how we interact in our communities, how to make the world a better place.

I’ve been reading Digital Giving: How Technology is Changing Charity by Richard C. McPherson, thanks to a tip from e-Jewish Philanthropy’s Dan Brown. Digital Giving is a good, quick read chockfull of ideas and case studies. What I’m realizing is that it’s not just a book about philanthropy and creating change in a Web 2.0 world. It’s about community.

How can organizations tap into their extended communities?

Allow your supporters to contribute not just funding, but their energy to the cause. McPherson cites the example of Kiva, a person-person microlending site. In addition to its focus on matching lenders with projects, Kiva provides benefactors with the opportunity to create lending teams, send emails to friends and family who might want to support a personally meaningful project, and resources for learning more about microfinancing to become better informed about the theory behind the practice. Help supporters identify with your organization by making it easy to embed a badge or logo on their own sites. Create ways for supporters to educate themselves, act, be heard, and share in community building. Remember the tag line from the Syms clothing store: “An educated consumer is our best customer.”

Part of that community ethos is transparency and accountability.

GlobalGiving is another project that connects donors with projects. McPherson notes how they present a project and its funding goals. Once those goals are met, donors are directed to similar projects that are in need of support. Users can subscribe to updates and monitor the project’s progress. Reports from the field are expected and shared online. In addition, each project includes contact information to connect directly with the project sponsors.

These ideas and other lessons learned in Digital Giving can be applied to more local organizations to help our communities help themselves and each other. Who makes up your community? How do you respond to their desire to become more active supporters? What opportunities can you create together?