SHMA.COM
training ground for Jews to become more active
Jewish citizens when they leave the urban
areas that host these start-ups.
Lepson: The skills that younger people are
learning — how to self-organize — are brought
along to whatever they do next in the work
place or Jewish community. And those are skills
we desperately need. We need people with vision and with the ability to get things done.
Charge people hours, charge people connections, charge
people ideas, charge people dollars. People should be
investing, but it can be an investment of hours or money.
FREE
Sh’ma E-Letter
Take advantage of our
FREE Sh’ma e-letter.
Every month, you’ll
receive updates on
featured essays,
exclusive bulk copy
offers, unique
opportunities for
subscribers, and
much more!
Sign up now at
shma.com
Horwitz: Many Jewish organizations are facing succession issues now — wondering who
will step in as leaders. There are many leaders
who are just not necessarily working in the obvious places. The question is: How will communities create pathways to bring in new talent
and to make the institutions more attractive for
people seeking a home? What draws people’s
passions is changing. In the 90s and early 2000,
we saw a lot of passion around Israel activism,
Jewish identity, and culture. Today, it seems
that entrepreneurial start-ups are forming
around service and justice issues — that’s
where the zeitgeist is and where the funders
and communal players are looking.
Farber Miller: Many of our institutional
partners are struggling because they don’t understand how to make the DIY programs or
services sustainable. Institutional programs
take a lot of money to produce, whereas in
many cases a group of people getting together
at their home isn’t as expensive. For example,
we have a Moishe House here where three
young people live in a house and sponsor activities at home; we fund half of their rent. But
the ability of Moishe House to expand is dependent upon our philanthropic support and
there are not adequate resources to sustain that
work. We can’t expect that these programs will
generate adequate program revenue. Are there
models or ideas that will help entrepreneurial
ventures become more sustainable, or do we
need to change our idea of what sustainability
really means?
Horwitz: Sustainability should be a communal expectation. We’re aiming for 85 percent
sustainability over a five-year period. An organization that builds a grass-roots demand will
have returning fans and followers who are willing to invest — even small donations, which is
one model for sustainability.
Lepson: A key aspect of “do-it-yourself” is
support it yourself. Though it’s become a philanthropic trend to make free whatever young people
are perceived to need, the essence of a successful
“do-it-yourself” community is that the group generates both the content and the support.
Kaunfer: Independent minyanim have
found a sustainable model of funding: very little overhead (because they are entirely volun-teer-led) supported by modest donations from
participants.
Bruder: Local programs are easier to self-fund, but if a program strikes a chord and has
the potential to really expand, it will need an
infusion of capital. There are generally two avenues to funding: the annual federation allocation, which rarely support new projects, and
grants, which support a project for one to three,
maybe five, years. In the initial phases, the project is sustainable, but over time — especially
with growth — it becomes very difficult to sustain. Sustainability challenges the Jewish communal funding model.
Berrin: Have some of the “do-it-yourself” groups
— which launched in the last decade, when the
Jewish community was quite flush, and at a
moment when funders were recognizing the
need to reach out to next generation Jews —
been more hurt by the economic downturn and
communal contraction?
Bruder: Plenty of projects with great potential have gone out of business. And not every
start-up has a good idea or strong leadership.
Kaunfer: Sustainability is not synonymous
with self-funded. Chabad has created a powerful, sustainable model, but it remains reliant on
soft dollars. Same with social justice organizations like American Jewish World Service.
People support organizations they believe in.
The question is: Do Jewish start-ups represent
the best investment to support the core Jewish
values: Torah, avodah, and gemilut hasidim If
they do, and if American Jews care about those
values, they will be sustainable.
Farber Miller: Jewish innovation capital
comes predominantly from foundations, which
is at odds with the national trend. We need to
bring DIY groups to a point where individual
donors will support them and join the foundations that supplied the seed capital. The Jewish
community today is marked by many mini-com-munities, hubs, nodes, and networks, and we
have to infuse them with the tools and passion
to want to support experiments in compelling
