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Dalia Margalit-Faircloth
Canadian Director
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On behalf of AJFCA Canada, I recently took a fascinating and informative trip to the beautiful island city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, Canada. How did I get so lucky? Three months ago I received a call from Mark, who explained that he is a recent retiree to the warmest city in Canada, Victoria, on Vancouver Island. He said that he and a number of committed volunteers want to establish a Jewish family services agency on the Island to serve its community, and the Jewish community of the surrounding islands. There has been a Jewish social service presence in Victoria for a number of years, and especially so in the last two years, to provide emergency food vouchers to clients who called the JFS Vancouver Island (JFSVI) phone number. This service was provided by a lone volunteer, who is now the President of JFSVI. This news arrived in the midst of the fall-out from Hurricane Sandy, and I was very heartened to hear that a new JFS agency was being created. I was fascinated by the sudden resurgence of interest for a Jewish agency on the island, so when the opportunity arose to visit with this newly committed group I jumped at the chance. Continue reading here. |
Navigating the Challenges of Interfaith Holiday Celebrations
| As many celebrating Hanukkah this week are lighting the Menorah, spinning dreidels and eating latkes, for some interfaith couples, navigating holiday traditions and family celebrations can be a challenge when December rolls around.
In an article in last week's Jewish Chronicle, Wendy Levin-Shaw, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist with Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill Psychological Services, spoke about navigating the complexities that can accompany some interfaith couples' holiday celebrations. Click here to read the article. Continue reading here.
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JCFS to Target Jewish Tween Girls with New Planning Grant
| Jewish Women's Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago (JWF) approved a new $20,000 grant to Jewish Child & Family Services of Chicago to develop a community response to the needs of Jewish pre-teen girls. With this program, "BeTween: A Jewish Community Planning Initiative," JCFS will spearhead a community response addressing the needs of Jewish girls, during one of the most critical and vulnerable times of their development.
"Tween girls are an important, underserved group," says Dana Rhodes, Director of Resource Planning and Grants at JCFS. According to the 2010 Metropolitan Chicago Jewish Population Study, there are more than 14,000 girls ages nine to 14 in the Chicago Jewish community. "Early adolescence can be incredibly turbulent for girls, full of angst and self-doubt," says Rhodes.
Continue reading here.
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| Visit AJFCA's Calendar to learn more about free calls and webinars. For more information login to For Our Members on the AJFCA website, followed by Webinars. Contact Megan at 410-843-7327 with questions.
Development of the Home & Community Based Services Experience Survey
Dec., 18th, 2pm ET
REGISTER HERE
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Stay updated on AJFCA offerings, agency news & current trends . . .
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D'Var Torah
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Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO
I was walking town the hall at the Baltimore Convention Center at the recent General Assembly when I spotted a familiar face. That is not so unusual in a gathering of 3,000 Jews, many of whom I see on a regular basis, or, at least, multiple times a year. But, this particular face I had not seen for at least 40 years, since my long ago USY days. But, the piercing blue eyes were unmistakable - despite the passage of four decades, this was, indeed, my old friend Neal.
In this week's parashah, Mi-ketz, Joseph has assumed his position in Egypt as second in command to Pharaoh. Undoubtedly, he has a steady parade of people coming before him each and every day. Yet, when his brothers show up twenty years after throwing him in the pit, he instantly knows who they are. His ten brothers, on the other hand, do not recognize Joseph. Undoubtedly he has changed from a naive, sometimes insufferable teenager to the mature leader of a powerful nation, but it is still their brother who they watched grow from birth until the day they abandoned him. How is it possible they do not know him immediately?
Surely, the brothers were not expecting to see Joseph. But, I no more thought I would see Neal than any one of hundreds of other friends from my teenage years. What is behind the brothers' inability to see Joseph? Are they repressing a part of their past for which they still share tremendous guilt? Have they completely wiped out their internal images of Joseph so that he is no longer part of their consciousness? What needs to happen for them to unlock that part of their past so they can now see what is so clearly right in front of them? In next week's Torah reading, Joseph will reveal himself to his brothers. We should think about what the brothers need to do to accept their past, so they may recognize the present. We should think about what we need to do to remain open to recognizing important, but forgotten, parts of our own pasts.
Shabbat Shalom.
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Senior Level Management Practice Group Launching
AJFCA is launching a practice group for the senior-most managers (who work just below the execs) at our member agencies. Their titles may be COO, CAO, CPO, Associate or Assistant Executive Director, or another similar option. We plan to bring this group together to share information on issues specific to senior level management and operations at our member agencies. The group will meet by conference call, approximately quarterly, with set topics of discussion on each call. If you have a member on your staff that fits this description that you feel would benefit from participating in this practice group, please respond to Lee with his or her name, title and email address.
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5 Nonprofit Trends to Watch in 2013
Nell Edgington, president of Social Velocity started a tradition in December of 2010 with a blog post on the nonprofit tren  ds to watch in the coming year. Keeping with that tradition, here is her take on the nonprofit trends for 2013. Watch for: - More Demand for Outcomes
- Decreasing Emphasis on Nonprofit "Overhead"
- More Advocacy for the Sector as a Whole
- Savvier Donors
- Increased Efforts to Rate and Compare Nonprofits
Continue reading here. |
A Fundraising Cliff? What Does the Data Say?
A Fundraising Cliff? What Does the Data Say? December 11, 2012, Beth's Blog, by Beth Kanter
There is a lot of speculation about what has been causing the challenges that fundraising is facing in the United States. The data shows a troubling trend in the nonprofit sector: Donor populations have been shrinking for the past five years and revenue per donor has been flat. Disaster giving has provided some temporary relief to the situation. Continue reading here.
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Kick Your Nonprofit Succession Plan to the Curb
Kick Your Nonprofit Succession Plan to the Curb, December 2012, Social Velocity, by Nell Edgington
There is a lot  of talk about succession planning in the nonprofit sector, but for the most part, it's approached in the wrong way. The problem with traditional succession planning is that nonprofits take a too narrow view of nonprofit leadership. It's not enough to have a strong nonprofit executive director or CEO and to create a "succession plan" to guard against their eventual departure. Instead nonprofits need to develop a new approach to leadership that brings many people together to drive strategy.
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Onboarding is More Than Orientation
Onboarding is More Than Orientation, December 7, 2012, Idealist, by Monisha Kapila 
Onboarding is much more than orientation. Managers should think about onboarding as a multi-step process that enables new hires to learn and adjust so they can function most effectively and happily in their new organization. ProInspire, a nonprofit dedicated to developing the next generation of social sector leaders by expanding the talent pipeline, developing professionals, and increasing diversity refers to the first three months on the job as "the onboarding period." This phrase comes from a book they give all Fellows before they start: The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels, by Michael Watkins. Continue reading here.
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Messages that Move
Messages that Move, November 7, 2012, Resource Media, by Nicole Lampe
To really engage audiences as activists and ambassadors, you have to equip them with a shareworthy message.
The advocac y community has gone mad for story. But stories are only as strong as the latest retelling. While compelling characters and evocative details give stories life, it is email subject lines, tweets, Facebook posts, and headlines that give them legs.
The best stories have a clear message-or moral-that can be repeated over coffee or conveyed in 140 characters. And the messages that move tend to inspire and empower. Continue reading here.
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Ensuring the Economic Security of Older Adults
NCOA Webinar SeriesThe NCOA is hosting a webinar series exclusively for AJFCA member agencies focused on ensuring the economic security of older adults. To listen to a recording of either webinar or view the PowerPoint slides, please visit the For Our Members portion of the AJFCA website and then click on Webinars.
 We hope many of our members will join us for the third webinar in this series (see below). Please email Megan for registration details.
Savvy Saving Seniors - A Toolkit for Money Management from NCOA
Tuesday, December 18th, 3:00pm ET
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An Introduction to SafeLink
Have you hear d about SafeLink, but aren't sure how to go about providing your low income clients with a free cell phone and free monthly airtime the program provides?
An Introduction to SafeLink
Access information will be emailed to those who register.
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2013 Government Affairs Institute & AJFCA Advocacy Mission 
Registration for the 2013 Government Affairs Institute and AJFCA Advocacy Mission (GAI) is now open. The GAI is our premier gathering of professionals and lay leaders who are interested in public policy. The GAI brings together professionals and volunteers from Jewish family and children's service agencies and Federations to advocate on policies that impact the vulnerable populations that you serve. Learn more here. 2013 Government Affairs Institute & AJFCA Advocacy MissionTuesday, February 5th - Thursday, February 7th - REGISTER HERE |
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