AJFCA Newsletter
In This Issue
2013 AJFCA Annual Conference
Comprehensive Agency Survey
Innovation and the JFS Network
Rethinking Shavuot
Older Amercians Month
Truth in Advertising
How to Plan When You Are Already Doing It
Small Nonprofits
Micromanaging Nonprofit Board
AJFCA Links
Agency Highlights

JFS Seattle Hires New CEO

  
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The Jewish Family Service of Seattle, Board of Directors has hired Will Berkovitz as the new CEO who will lead JFS during its next chapter.
 
Will most recently served as Senior Vice President and Interim CEO for Repair the World, the leading national authority on volunteering and service for and by the American Jewish community. Will developed his leadership-style through a variety of roles at Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Prior to joining Repair the World, Will served as the Greenstein Family Executive Director of the Hillel at University of Washington.
 
Will's profound commitment to the Jewish tradition of repairing the world, his strategic and innovative leadership experience, and his knowledge of the JFS community make him an ideal fit as JFS Seattle's next CEO.
 
Will begins work on July 1st. This summer and fall, you can expect to hear from Will in his new role; and, JFS will share details about community opportunities to meet him.
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Emily Alhadeff or Chief Development Officer Lisa Schultz Golden, 206-861-3188.
JFCS Pittsburgh's CEO Honored for Exceptional Leadership in the Region
  
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Aryeh Sherman, Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh's President & CEO, was recently honored with the 2013 Diamond Award by the Pittsburgh Business Times for outstanding leadership.
 
Each year, the Pittsburgh Business Times presents the Diamond Award to a selection of the region's top CEOs, Executive Directors and equivalents at companies or non-profit organizations in western Pennsylvania who have demonstrated exceptional leadership in the region. The Diamond Awards honor and recognize the most accomplished business leaders of small, medium and large for-profit companies, as well as nonprofit organizations.
 
Aryeh was one of four winners in the nonprofit category, and among 16 total winners of this year's Diamond Awards, including Edgar Snyder, president of Edgar Snyder & Associates and long-time supporter of JF&CS and SOS Pittsburgh, one of the winners in the large for-profit company category.  Continue reading here.
Ninth Annual JFS Colorado Executive Luncheon Featuring Mandy Patinkin
Raises $400,000
  
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 Tony and Emmy Award-winning performer Mandy Patinkin inspired a sold-out crowd of 840 business and professional leaders attending Jewish Family Service of Colorado's ninth annual JFS Executive Luncheon, held on April 24 at the Hyatt Regency Denver.

The event raised just over $400,000 which will be used to support all the programs of JFS, including mental health counseling, senior and adult in-home care, disability and employment services, and family safety net services.

Going into the luncheon, JFS had raised more than $305,000 from ticket sales and sponsorships.  During the event, Janet Mordecai offered a generous dollar-for-dollar match of up to $25,000. With an additional $70,000 in funds raised at the event, the total for the luncheon reached more than $400,000. Continue reading here.
Calls & Webinars

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.   

 

Make the Call, Don't Miss A Beat!
May 16th, 12pm ET
REGISTER HERE

The Health Care Law 101
May 23rd, 2pm ET
REGISTER HERE  

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May 10, 2013 
About AJFCA | News
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D'Var Torah

Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO

This is my favorite time of year to drive to work. Not only are the trees and flowers fully in bloom, but each morning I get to see Pimlico Race Course brimming with activity as it prepares for the upcoming running of the Preakness Stakes. For me, as I pass by, that means I can catch a glimpse of the horses on their training runs around the track. Inevitably, this brings back to me the memory of my grandfather pulling over to the side of the road with me as his young passenger, so we could watch the horses round the track in an afternoon race. Most often, he would light up a cigar and let me wear the cigar band as a ring. Over five decades later, these are still some of my most vivid memories of my Zaida.

This week begins the reading of B'midbar, the fourth of the books of Torah. Over the coming weeks, we will follow the Israelites as they journey through the wilderness, completing the transformation from slaves to nationhood. The reading begins with a census of the people, identifying the heads of each of the ancestral tribes. By the end of B'midbar, on the precipice of entry into the land of Israel, the generations of the Exodus will have died and new members of the tribes will have succeeded them.

The power of a family and a community is that they are greater than their individual parts. Each individual is a key component, but the whole will continue beyond the loss of any one person. As for me with my grandfather, we retain memories that tie us to the past, and we incorporate the values that propel us forward. From strength to strength, generation to generation.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
2013 AJFCA Annual Conference
2013 AJFCA AC logo
AJFCA's 41st Annual Conference has gone mobile.
Download the app today. There are three options: 
  1. Search for the app in the app stores (iTunes or Google Play). 
  2. Download using this link:  http://crwd.cc/ajfca2013. This will direct you to the download page. 
  3. Download by scanning the QR Codes:
    http://crwd.cc/ajfca2013.png
    http://crwd.cc/ajfca2013.pdf
    http://crwd.cc/ajfca2013.svg 
AJFCA Comprehensive Survey
Thanks very much to all of the agencies who have responded to the Comprehensive Survey by the deadline, May 3, 2013. The winner of the $50 Amazon gift card is JFS Salt Lake City, UT. Congratulations! We have collected some very valuable information which weajfca logo-resized will be able to use to structure our services moving forward. We plan to disseminate some of the information within our network to give our agencies an idea of what is happening within sister agencies throughout North America. Look for an AJFCA Network Landscape Report this summer.  
The survey link is still active. If you have not yet responded but would like to have your agency's information included in the report, please do so.If you need the link sent to you again, please email Lisa.
Innovation and the Jewish Family Services Network
The Journal of Jewish Communal Service published their Winter/Spring 2013 edition recently and featured "Innovation and the Jewish Family Services Network" by AJFCA's Lee Sherman and Lisa Budlow. Member agencies should receive a copy of the journal. Please share your feedback once you've read the article.
Rethinking Shavuot: Women, Relationships & Jewish Texts
Jewish Women International invites you to use their Shavuot guide, one in a series of holiday-based study guides related to women, relationships, and Jewish texts, designed to spark new conversations through a fresh look at old texts. This guide is a wonderful enhancement to your study groups and celebrations.
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Rethinking Shavuot highlights three ways to journey toward safety and well-being: living in a community; doing incremental acts of kindness and envisioning a different future. It combines text from the biblical story of Ruth, the heroine of this holiday, with traditional and contemporary commentaries and prompts for conversations.

The guide is designed for use in both formal and informal settings, including synagogues, study groups, book clubs, or simply a group of friends. Please download the guide and share it with friends and colleagues.
May is Older Americans Month ncoa logo
May is Older Americans Month-a great time to celebrate our older citizens and support those who are struggling just to get by. Use resources from the U.S. Administration on Aging (AoA) to host a community event and spread the word. Then take time to make a gift to support seniors through the National Council On Aging's (NCOA) programs and services. Continue reading here.
Truth In Advertising: Understanding The Real Numbers of a Not-for-Profit
When recently sitting at a fundraiser next to a prominent philanthropist, David Cygielman, founder and CEO of Moishe House, asked how he compares the work he does in business to philanthropy. Without hesitation, he said, "My not-for-profit work is much more difficult. In my business, I can see each month if we are making money or losing money, but in the not-for-profit world it is much more gray." In having this conversation, it struck David that we have an obligation in our industry to remove some of the gray areas, and it begins with reporting. Continue reading here.
How to Plan When You Are Already Doing It
For many nonprofit communicators, planning more than a few weeks or months at a time is a luxury. You just do the work, and roll with the changes as you go.
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But that approach can leave you wondering what you are missing, and if you are doing the right things at the right times. So how can you take the time to create a real work plan without starting from scratch? How do you accept the reality that you will need to keep doing most of what you are doing now, while being more strategic and thoughtful moving forward?

Kivi Leroux Miller, President of Nonprofit Marketing Gudie.com and 2013 AJFCA Annual Conference guest speaker is helping a client work through these questions right now, and they've come up with a basic framework that Kivi thinks might be helpful to others.
  1. Identify basic housekeeping or good habit building opportunities that you may have overlooked.
  2. Take what you are doing up a notch.
  3. Plan to experiment.
Why Small Nonprofits Often Make a Big Difference
The popular wisdom is that nonprofits must be large to make a real difference and that significant social change is usually spearheaded by a rare, brilliant leader. Continue reading here.
How to Fix a Micromanaging Nonprofit Board
Does your board spend time secondguessing program decisions, reviewing the merits of various copier machines or discussing the color of this year's annual report? If the answer is yes, the problem is not just a hazy understanding of "governance" vs. "management." It's more complicated than that.
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Governance vs. Management: Is it a true dichotomy? In theory the difference between "governance" and "management" is clear. Laying out an agency's mission and goals, providing fiduciary oversight and ensuring the availability of necessary resources is "governance." Assigning staff to tasks which will accomplish that mission is "management." Monitoring an agency's overall performance is "governance." Making changes in personnel and operating procedures is "management." Continue reading here.
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