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!

Social Tagging Introductions

And… they’re off!  Over 60 representatives from 19 congregations joined the kickoff of our first Social Media Boot Camp, for congregations on Long Island.  Gathered in the UJA Federation of NY offices in Syosset, we introduced ourselves via a Jeff Pulver-style social tagging activity, and then learned about the themes and concepts of social media tools and culture.

While a focus of the program will be to help the participating congregations design and implement social media projects in their communities, the not-so-subtext of the program is about a major strategic shift from top-down service provision to bottom-up community building and education.  Some congregations are already headed this way, and others are struggling to even wrap their heads around the ideas.

Because the underlying shift is about much more than starting a Facebook page or a blog, it’s critical that both staff and lay leadership participate in the process, to engage the whole organization in this learning and reflection.  Teams worked on the P and O steps of a POST analysis to begin planning their projects.  People – Objectives – Strategy – Technology.  You can learn more about the POST process from Groundswell.

Working on project planning in teams

Their first assignment?  LISTENING.  Some  resources on listening if you’d like to play along at home:
Beth Kanter’s Blog (great nonprofit social media blog)
NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Network) We Are Media project, Module 1: Listening
Another Beth Kanter special – second half has a useful checklist
These include many examples and links to further resources.

And thanks once again to UJA Federation of NY for supporting this program!

The Long Island project grew out of a discussion among local Rabbis.  Eager to learn about social media, and with the awareness that the tools, skills and mindset were essential to engage and serve especially the younger generations, they worked with the SYNERGY program of UJA Federation of NY to fine tune their interests and goals.  Darim’s new Boot Camp model fit the bill perfectly.

We’ll be hosting webinars this month for representatives from Long Island congregations to learn a bit about social media, and to get more information about the year long program which will kick off just after High Holy Days this fall.  Synagogues will be invited to apply for the program this summer.

Are you from a Long Island congregation?  Know someone who is? Pass along the information!  The introductory webinar is free, and we’re offering it at 4 times, for maximum convenience. But you have to register.  Staff, lay leadership and volunteers from Long Island congregations are invited. Multiple representatives from a single congregation are encouraged!  Learn more and sign up here.

The first  of the series is part of the Wiener Educational Center’s series at the UJA Federation of New York on September 19, 2008.  You can learn more about the event and register on their site.

Watch here for announcements of similar events in other cities which are currently being schedule.  Interested in hosting a very valuable professional development event in your community?  Give me a holler!