Our amazing web designer just added a new feature to the negevdirect.com website that I'm excited to share with our blog readers.
Source: emarketingandcommerce.com
By: Sari Tamilio
Aug. 28th, 2009
"While the marketing world is "all atwitter" over social media, email marketing remains the workhorse of online marketing — highly engaging, highly profitable and growing, even in these challenging times.
As direct mail costs increase, marketers are shifting their budgets and expectations to the email channel. Executing email marketing well, however, isn't always a straightforward process. The rules of the email marketing game are complex, sometimes bewildering, and often subject to sudden and unanticipated changes, especially on the part of internet service providers (ISPs).
Seasoned email marketers, however, know that setting up a process of continuous review and measurement against industry benchmarks and their own previous performances helps keep their programs on track to generate optimal results."
Read the full article by clicking here.
"Abandoning acquisition can create catastrophic and lasting financial impacts in the form of depressed fundraising for yesrs to come. Don't be one of those organizations that scrapes by and survives the recession, only to go under a year or two afterward because it made destructive cuts to its acquisition lifeline."
Earlier in the month I wrote a post called "Shattering the Myths of Nonprofit Management"."...greatness has more to do with how nonprofits work outside the boundaries of their organizations than how they manage their own internal operations"
"A 13-year-old from New York has decided to give $40,000 he received from his parents for his bar mitzvah to the children of Sderot. The municipality says the money will go to build a park with recreational facilities.
Although Sderot's municipal workers are currently on vacation, they turned up to thank the boy, Benjamin Sternklar Davis, at a festive reception.
Sternklar Davis, who has reached manhood according to age-old Jewish tradition, celebrated the event in the area that his gift will help transform to a park. In addition to the religious ceremony, the celebration featured young talents from Sderot performing on stage.
"I felt bad during the war for the children of Sderot who had to go to school and come back with the constant thought they could be hit by a Qassam rocket at any given second," the boy said...."
Source: Jpost.com 8.11.09
Author: ZACK COLMAN
"If the newspaper industry is undergoing economic natural selection, then Jewish newspapers might be the most fit for survival.
Operating in the niche market of one of the most highly educated demographics, Jewish news products could be poised to stay in print form the longest, said Rob Eshman, editor-in-chief of the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. While he said there was a lot of depressing news surrounding the Jewish press, it was not suffering like other sectors of journalism.
"I do think it's a very tough time, but it's a time where if you can figure out the model you will survive," he said. "You're reaching the most incredible, literate, active, involved demographic, that really needs a way to communicate."
Another factor aiding Jewish newspapers was that Jews tended to form large communities, giving such newspapers a solid and stable readership, said Rick Edmonds, media business analyst for the Poynter Institute.
The Jewish Journal's print version is available for free, with its Web site being the driving force of its readership, receiving some 300,000 unique visitors per month. But Eshman and others said Internet advertisement revenue alone couldn't be relied upon because the rates were significantly lower than print.
Heeb, the New York-based magazine that started in 2001, charges $1,960 per month for a banner advertisement on its Web site. A one-time placement in its print form, however, yields a minimum $900 for a 1/6 page advertisement, while a 1⁄2 page advertisement - the fifth largest of its seven sizes - brings in $2,000."
Weinberg Foundation announces donation levels: The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation announced that it would give out more than $200 million over the next two years, including some $21 million in new grants over that time period.
The Baltimore-based foundation, which traditionally gives more money to Jewish causes than any other foundation, also announced that starting Aug. 3 it again would be accepting letters of inquiry from grant seekers who have not previously received money from the foundation. A freeze on such requests had been put in place last Novemeber.
But the foundation's giving is still down, as its assets have shrunk 25 percent, according to its president, Rachel Monroe. Last year, Weinberg gave out $106 million. Over the next two years it will average $100 million. If the foundation had stayed on the growth pace it set before the recession, its assets would have been worth $2.5 billion and it would have given out $125 million in 2009. Over the next two years it will have only $21 million available for new grantees. The other $179 million is designated for pre-existing multi-year grants. The foundation said it would honor all pre-existing grants.
Source: The Fundermentalist JTA Blog
"This is our community’s opportunity to shine a national spotlight on the unsung, whether their work impacts five people or 5,000. Over the next three months, anyone across North America can go online, submit nominations and vote for the candidates they believe best embody the spirit of the award. We’ll honor five finalists this November at our General Assembly in Washington, D.C. Of the five finalists, one will be named the Jewish Community Hero of the Year."
Source: The The New York Jewish Week Online.
8.4.09
by Adam Dickter
Assistant Managing Editor
In the wake of criminal financial allegations at the top of the Syrian Jewish community’s leadership, the larger Sephardic community is working to reform the way its charities operate, demanding more transparency and oversight, The Jewish Week has learned.
In a series of conference calls and meetings in recent days, Sephardic lay leaders and rabbis have proposed stringent measures that would discourage the widespread practice of individual rabbis holding sole control over discretionary charitable funds, and call for routine audits of charities, sources told The Jewish Week.
At the same time, an international network of 800 donors to Jewish charities — including major family foundations — is considering barring grants to nonprofits that use a federal tax law loophole for religious organizations to avoid filing full financial disclosures.
“We are considering recommending to our members that they demand a higher level of accountability for religious organizations before making grants,” said Mark Charendoff, president of the Jewish Funders Network. “Our community has an obligation to exceed the standards that the government is imposing specifically in the areas of transparency and governance.”
The proposal is a direct result of last week’s allegations that five rabbis misused charitable funds to launder questionable cash, he said.
Three of the 17 people charged last week with money laundering, in a sweeping federal roundup that included 27 other people, are highly respected Sephardic leaders.
