Thanks to an ongoing collaboration between Darim Online and SYNERGY: UJA-Federation of New York and Synagogues Together, we’re pleased to bring you the next series in our Social Media Boot Camp for New York area synagogues.  All staff and lay leaders from congregations in the UJA Federation of New York catchment area are invited to register for the series free of charge.  Not in the area and interested in learning with us?  Become a member of Darim Online!

Last year’s series focused on the uses of specific social media tools, such as Facebook and Twitter. This year, we’ll be focusing on the implications of these social media tools and their impact on society and business, with the goal of evolving your congregation for success in the networked age.  Our 6 webinars will focus on strategy, staffing and leadership as they pertain to the mission, function and sustainability of synagogues.

Join Lisa Colton, founder and president of Darim Online, and special guests, for a tour through Evolving the Synagogue as a Networked Nonprofit, inspired and informed by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine’s valuable book, The Networked Nonprofit.

October 26, 2011  The Synagogue as a Networked Nonprofit
Given shifts in society, culture and technology, successful organizations are evolving the ways they work to be more nimble, efficient and social.  The synagogue’s origins are as a network — a group of people in a similar area who have similar observances, needs, values, and goals.  Thus, today’s empowered culture is a great opportunity to realign the synagogue’s work with its origins, and to help the organization function more successfully in our networked age.  Join us to learn about the principles outlined in Beth Kanter and Allison Fine’s book The Networked Nonprofit, and to explore case studies of organizations making this shift, from synagogues to local and national nonprofits.  This webinar will set the stage for the next 5 in the series, and will inspire you to think differently about your work.

November 17, 2011  The Skills and Mindset of a Success Community Weaver
Every synagogue seeks to build community among its members and beyond.  A rich and successful community leads to achieving all other aspects of a synagogue’s mission and goals, from education to tikkun olam, membership dues and event participation. One of the most important functions of leadership is to weave and support this community. Today, these responsibilities are often embedded in positions with titles like “Program Director” and “Membership Coordinator”.  Join us to learn about the value of community weaving, the attributes of a successful community weaver, why both staff and board members need to be involved, and why your congregation needs to be in the business of weaving.  Eager to learn more?  Check out June Holly’s blog: http://www.networkweaving.com

January 11, 2012  Staffing Beyond the Accidental Techie
Oftentimes, congregations find someone on staff who’s good with technology, or at least likes to play around and can help out others.  Sometimes this is an educator or preschool director, sometimes it’s the youngest person on staff, sometimes it’s the rabbi!  This is what we call the “accidental techie”.  They weren’t hired to do this, but have fallen into it.  As your congregation is beginning to participate in social media, who has stepped up to lead the effort?  Is that position really the one that should have this responsibility?  Is that the best way for them to spend their time?  And how is everyone on staff empowered to use today’s tools to do their work (like they do with email and the telephone)?  Join us to discuss staffing needs, how to evolve to the right place, and how everyone should have at least some role.

February 9, 2012  Social Giving
How and why is the rise of social media affecting philanthropic giving?  While the fundamentals of development haven’t changed significantly, the ways you go about storytelling, generating enthusiasm and motivating donors has been turned upside down in the last few years.  Accordingly, as a networked nonprofit your approach to marketing a fundraising campaign needs to evolve as well.  Join us to learn about the tools, strategies, and opportunities of social media based fundraising, and learn from interesting case studies in the field.

March 14, 2012  Social Media for Jewish Learning: The Social Sermon
Let’s consider 2 common functions of a synagogue:  Jewish learning, and Shabbat services.  In both cases, the dynamic is based on a hierarchical model, rather than a networked one:  A teacher at the front of the class, and the rabbi talking to the congregation from behind a podium.  Let’s consider how social media tools can help us evolve these dynamics to create conversation, support collaboration, and engage more voices in our community. Join us to learn about The Social Sermon and explore how rabbis and educators can put blogs, Facebook and Twitter to use in some creative ways to discuss the weekly Torah portion and build relationships, participation and engagement in your congregation online and in person.

May 17, 2012  Return on Engagement:  How to Measure the Impact of Your Socializing
ROI ROI ROI.  We’re always hearing about the return on investment of time, energy and dollars.  How do you measure what something is worth?  Reflecting back on our previous 5 topics, we’ll look at how to measure engagement, why it’s essential for your success, and how focusing on it can be the key for evolving your synagogue to thrive in the networked age.

Interested in learning more about how Jewish organizations can function as networked nonprofits?  Join the conversation in our online book group!

Attendees of the Academy will be able to:

• Articulate the value of technology in their organization for themselves, funders, and other key stakeholders.
• View technology as integral to every department in their organizations.
• Recognize options for funding IT projects in their organizations.
• Staff technology effectively.
• Manage the organizational change that technology can produce.

Topics include:

• Future of IT in Nonprofits / Presented by Edward Granger-Happ
• IT Planning and Implementation / Presented by Steve Heye & John Merritt
• Introduction to IT and Systems / Presented by Andy Wolber
• Information Management Systems / Presented by Laura Quinn
• Effective Internet Presence / Presented by Katya Andresen
• Evaluation: Technology ROI / Presented by Beth Kanter
• The Human Side of Technology / Presented by James Weinberg
• Weekly Ask the Experts sessions including Charlene Li, Founder of Altimeter Group and Auther of Open Leadership

The Academy is being offered through the generous support of Microsoft and will run from September 29 – November 22.

Learn more about the Academy and guidelines for application here and if you qualify and are interested apply here!

Don’t miss out – the deadline for applications is  Friday, July 30th.  Applicants will be notified of their status by August 6, 2010.

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