Featured Agency
JSSA Launches One-On-One LinkedIn Coaching Service
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The Jewish Social Service Agency has launched a new fee-based one-on-one LinkedIn coaching service in the metro DC area. Given the popularity of JSSA's free LinkedIn workshops for both beginners and intermediate-level users in the past two years, JSSA has created a buzz in the professional community and among their broad base of clients for such a service.  Coaching is provided by JSSA's Martin Tillman, MA, Employment Relations Specialist. Mr. Tillman manages JSSA's fast growing LinkedIn group and maintains business relationships with employers and staffing agencies in the metro DC area to identify employment opportunities for JSSA clients. Learn more about JSSA's LinkedIn coaching and workshop programs.
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Agency Highlights
Project Empower Celebrates 2nd Anniversary
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Jewish Family & Children's Service of Philadelphia's Project Empower Giving Circle recently celebrated its 2nd Anniversary at Coyote Crossing. Over 60 people attended, ate great food, and learned about ways in which Project Empower helps those in need throughout the community.  Guests were given a hands on opportunity to vote on a JFCS program to support. The program that was chosen was the JFCS' Child Welfare program. Click here to view photos.
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Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry Benefits from High Holiday Challahs
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The High Holidays will be here soon, and when it comes to purchasing traditional holiday food items, these special days of the year can be costly for many who observe, but especially individuals and families who are food-insecure in the Pittsburgh community. This year, Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh is extremely grateful to volunteers from the Volunteer Center of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh who will make holiday challahs for our clients at the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry.  Thanks to the efforts of the Jewish Federation and the challah bake volunteers, as well as Deena Ross and Moishe Siebzener from Creative Kosher for their ingredients and time, JFCS Pittsburg can help ensure that each of their clients' Rosh Hashanah tables includes a fresh, kosher challah. Continue reading here.
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Broken Glass, Broken Lives: A Jewish Girl's Survival Story in Berlin
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JFCS Minneapolis Launches New Website
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This past week at Jewish Family & Children's Services of Minneapolis launched a new website. The excitement was similar to how people felt when the first astronauts touched down on the moon! Perhaps that is a bit of an exaggeration, but JFCS is truly in awe of what their new communications tool can do thanks to their creative and talented staff who designed the site, carefully determining how best they might communicate with the community. Visit the site.
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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.
It's Just Good Medicine: Trauma-Informed Primary Care
Aug., 6th, 1pm ET REGISTER HERE
The Health Care Law - Health Insurance Marketplace 101
Aug., 7th, 3pm ET REGISTER HERE 
Long-Term Care Commission: Learn More about It and How You Can Engage
Aug., 13th, 2pm REGISTER HERE
Trends Worth Following: Tools for Advanced Social Media Users
Aug., 20th, 1pm ET REGISTER HERE 
New Health Insurance Marketplace Resources, Tour of the Newly Re-Launched HealthCare.gov and Q and A on the ACA
Aug., 20th, 2pm ET REGISTER HERE
Free and Low Cost Tools Every Organization Should Know AboutAug., 29th, 1pm ET REGISTER HERE |
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Stay updated on AJFCA offerings, agency news & current trends . . .
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D'Var TorahLee I. Sherman
President/CEO
Living in the City of Baltimore, I see the face of poverty every day. It is the same in all of your communities. Our work is often focused on improving the lives of the individuals and families we serve, yet the larger issues still persist. However overwhelming this may be, the values we learn in Torah command us to continue to address the conditions that promote the existence of poverty.
This week's parashah, Re'eh, continues Moses oration to the people in preparation for their entry into the Land of Israel. The parashah opens with a simple statement, you will be blessed if you follow God's commandments and cursed if you do not. The chapters follow with specific laws to be observed (dietary, festivals, etc.) and the consequences if they are not. Perhaps the most complex of these commandments are those dealing with debt forgiveness, for while they set forth an ideal situation, they are grounded in reality. We are told in the parashah that unless God's commandments are fully observed, there will be the constant existence of poverty in the land. Rather than bemoan this state of affairs, the people are instructed what to do when their kinsmen face poverty. "Give to him readily and have no regrets when you do so, for in return the Lord your God will bless you in all your efforts and in all your undertakings." 15:10. Further emphasizing the reality and desiring the necessary role of the people to address it, they are told: "For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land." 15:11
We live in a modern world with all sorts of technological advances in the past 3000 years and still poverty exists in our times. Perhaps in greater numbers than ever before. From Torah, we have a clear message as to the benefits of being responsive to the needs of the poor. It is a message that we must not only follow individually, but also share with our communities so that the ideal of a world without poverty may someday be reached. May we all be blessed to continue that work.
Shabbat Shalom.
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Jewish Leadership Institute on Disability and Inclusion 
The National Leadership Consortium on Developmental Disabilities at the University of Delaware announced the establishment of the Jewish Leadership Institute on Disability and Inclusion in Baltimore in December 2013 sponsored by the Ruderman Family Foundation. Read the entire press release here. |
August Recess 2013 
Congressional recesses provide an excellent opportunity for you to visit your legislators and their staff in their home offices (or invite them to your own agencies), reintroduce yourselves, and talk about your Federations' priorities for the fall legislative period. Continue reading here. |
Older Adult Programs and Sequestration - How are you affected? 
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CMS Forum on the New Health Insurance Marketplace 
Many states are grappling with whether or not they will expand their Medicaid programs or whether or not they will even establish State Health Insurance Exchanges. The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering calls regarding each state's respective Affordable Care Act rollout activities. Click here to view the schedule or calls. (Calls began July 29th and run through August 2nd.) If you have questions, please contact Shelley Rood. |
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Health Insurance Marketplace Training: Becoming a Certified Application Counselor Organization
Want to find out how your organization can help millions of Americans get health coverage? If you're interested in training your staff and volunteers to assist people applying for coverage through the Federally-facilitated Marketplace (including a State Partnership Marketplace), you can apply to be a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) organization. 
Join CMS for a foundational
training session
that will cover what you need to know to become a Certified Application Counselor (CAC) organization. (Calls began July 31st and run through August 7th.)
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AGENCY PROGRAMMING/OPERATIONS
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Leadership and Change from the Inside (and Below)
Good organizations create structures and cultures that embrace change, not just on the macro level, but on the micro and personal level. Continue reading here. |
How Are You Evaluating Your Programs?
Wondering how to best evaluate your programs? So is AJFCA's partner, Idealware. Idealware is working on a report to help human service organizations successfully conduct program evaluations. As part of their research, Idealware is surveying nonprofits to find out how they currently evaluate their programs. Please pass this 10-minute survey along to human service staff who are involved in your organization's program evaluation. |
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Navigating Tough Trade-Offs in the Era of Scarcity
Demand for social services is outpacing the ability of our traditional financing sources to keep up. So how should we balance the need to pay for services now versus the need to invest in adaptation for sustainability? Read more here. |
Can Your Organization Handle Feedback? 
Research suggests that thriving organizations achieve their goals by engaging the staff in meaningful feedback to monitor performance, holding people accountable, growing talent, and creating an atmosphere of respect and continued development. But knowing this and doing this are two different things. Continue reading here. |
2013 AJFCA Annual Conference Sessions - Webinars
Getting the Right People on the Bus was originally scheduled for Tuesday, July 30th at 2pm ET, however the webinar was cancelled due to a family emergency. A rescheduled date will be announced shortly. Thank you for your patience and interest.
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Domestic Violence Programs Summary Report
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Boards as Bridges
The recent Great Recession has helped nonprofits rethink how they engage and interact with current and future funders. What was considered to be solid, long-term funding from state and federal agencies is now more difficult to retain, and the United Way and other federated campaigns are less likely to pro  vide long-term support. Nonprofit leaders have been struggling to develop strategies to find, and successfully secure, the funding necessary to meet the increased need for services that go hand-in-hand with tough times. Continue reading here. |
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COMMUNICATIONS & DEVELOPMENT
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Researching and Planning for a Global Nonprofit's New Intranet: A Lesson in Understanding Your Audience 
The concept of "understanding your audience" is frequently thrown around in nonprofit technology discussions. But what does that really mean? It's more than just identifying who your audience is -it's digging deep to understand their intricate motivations and behaviors. Continue reading here. |
How to Create the Perfect Social Media Posts 
We all wish there were a magic formula we could follow to create Facebook posts that our fans love or tweets that spark retweets by the thousands. Alas, there isn't. Each social network operates a little differently, and each brand's fans have their own tastes and preferences. Continue reading here. |
Laying a Good Foundation: Quick Wins for Nonprofit Marketing 
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Data Driven - Path Focused: Transform How You Manage Cases, Track Clients and Improve Outcomes with FAMCare Pathways 
Today agencies are struggling with more clients entering the system and less funding available to provide adequate services for all. In order to be truly effective - technology tools need to help caseworkers streamline case management, not hamper their productivity. Agencies need better data collection tools, faster access to information and solid reporting to keep their funders happy and caseworker morale high. In this 60 minute webinar discover why FAMCare Pathways is transforming how agencies track their programs and services; allowing them to be more productive and accountable than ever before.
Data Driven - Path Focused: Transform How You Manage Cases, Track Clients and Improve Outcomes with FAMCare Pathways
Thursday, August 22nd 2pm ET
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Using A/B Testing to Improve Volunteer Sign-up 
What if you could double the number of volunteer sign-ups with only a little bit of time and no budget? What if you could find out the type of content that visitors to your site liked best without having to directly ask them? A/B testing can help you find out what type of content is most effective on your site. Read more here. |
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