Newsletter Volume VI

לקבלת העלון בעברית הקלק כאן

From CEO: David Maeir Epstein

I just returned from four weeks in the U.S. The second Seder reminded me of yet another reason why I made Aliyah! I was able to meet with the heads of several foundations, among them Adelson, Ames, and Fleischer, and succeeded in including several of my clients (The Orthodox Scouts of Jaffa, Hut Hameshulash and Yod Bet B'Cheshvan) in upcoming Israel site visits. One of my main work tasks together with its President, Prof. David Alexander, was the establishment of the Friends of the Neri Bloomfield School of Design in Haifa.

It is quite remarkable that from nearly 10,000 kilometers away, I still could work with email and LogMeIn to submit proposals for Pitchon Lev, one of our new clients, from my office computer to The Ministry of Absorption, Bituach Leumi and the Philadelphia Jewish Federation in time for their deadlines!

Another optimistic development was a site visit of an Israel foundation representative to a client in Jerusalem. The visit was so successful that the representative agreed to call her colleague at another foundation where a proposal for funding was pending and recommend positive consideration!

We are now planning a two-day intensive grantwriting and work with foundations workshop to be held May 30-31 at Machon Arava in Kibbutz Ketura. The workshop is open to the public and will cost 1000 NIS per participant. For details and registration please contact Sarit or Bruria - (a good opportunity to combine it with a weekend in Eilat?)

Also, I'm looking to add some bi-lingual freelancers to our external staff. Send your CV's to me at dave@israelgrants.com

Best wishes for a good summer!

Dave


There is one available slot in our subscription to the foundationsearch.com website. Please contact us to join at a significant discount!

Courses

Our courses on grantwriting and fundraising are designed for the novice as well as the professional resource developer and cover all topics within this growing field. Register for our Jerusalem course (beginning May 24) by May 1 to get the early bird discount of 100NIS.

We are also accepting registration for courses in Modi'in, Haifa and the South! For more information, see our site or contact Bruria.

Funding Opportunities

There is an upcoming deadline for a foundation looking for innovative projects for Olim and to ensure that impoverished communities receive the opportunity to move out of poverty and advance economically and socially. If you have a project that fits this description, please be in touch with us.

The Samuel Sebba Charitable Trust funds environmental programs, programs for the disabled, social justice and human rights projects, youth at risk programs and work with Beduin and refugees. LOIs can be sent anytime.

Contact us to see how we can assist you in your resource development goals.
Follow us on Twitter & Facebook!

David Maeir Epstein Resource Development Consultants for Non Profits
43A Emek Refaim Jerusalem, Israel
02 563 6629 www.israelgrants.com

Newsletter Volume V

Congratulations! to client Pitchon Lev on a grant from the Hartford Jewish Federation for Touching the Horizon- Guiding At- risk Youth Through Life’

What are you doing to make the giving spirit of Chanukah and the coming end of the tax year work for your fundraising efforts? Now is the perfect time to put into practice what you’ve pushed off until now. Yes, it’s late, but not too late. You can set up your own e-newsletter campaign in a few days and have your message out to your supporters before the end of Chanukah and the fiscal year for tax deductible donations. During this time of the year, people are looking for the best place to give their donation dollars to. Give them a reason and an easy way to choose you!

With user friendly online programs like constantcontact.com, you can upload the email addresses of your supporters and send them a short message. Update them on your activities and successes and ask them for help with an easy way to donate online with a few clicks.

Still not convinced? Consider this: People want to give to a worthy cause. Many organizations do utilize the e-newsletter to solicit funds, if you aren’t in their inbox, someone else will be. Read this for an excellent example of an effective campaign. Contact Shoshanna to discuss getting yourself online and into your donors’ inbox.

PayPal Can Now Link with Israeli Bank Accounts- Why this matters to you

PayPal is recognized world wide as a safe and secure way to purchase and donate online. Linked to one’s bank account or credit card, the user can, with a few clicks of the mouse, make purchases or donate to online fundraising campaigns. This makes buying or donating very easy for a PayPal user.

Until very recently, Israeli organizations had to have an American bank account to use PayPal for online donations, eliminating many smaller amutot from using the well known and trusted service. Now, with the ability to link an account with an Israeli bank account, there is NO excuse for not having a Donate Now button on your website homepage and enewsletters!

We can help you set up a PayPal account and get you started with easy online donations!

Set up your PayPal account for free and have an instant, secure way for your friends to support you. E-newsletters are an effective way to reach out to your donor base to inform them of what you’ve done, where you’re headed and how they can help.

We can help you set up your web based e-newsletter account as well as a PayPal account. We will work with you to create an attractive, compelling and effective e-newsletter and send it to your donors, volunteers and friends. You will be able to track who received your message, who opened it, clicked on your links, forwarded it to others and of course, who donated.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

Pseifas- A New Initiative from Avi Chai and the NY Jewish Fed- seeks to increase the number of Israeli donors involved in Jewish renewal in Israel by offering up to NIS 1,900,000 ($500,000) in matching grants for Israeli donations in this sphere! Pseifas will match donations to organizations at a one-to-one ratio, from a minimum of NIS 40,000 to a maximum of NIS 200,000 per organization.

The June Baumgardener Gelbart Foundation has a December 31st for programs providing, financial support, medical services, education, and shelter to needy children in Israel.

David Maeir Epstein Resource Development Consultants for Non Profits
43A Emek Refaim Jerusalem, Israel
02 563 6629 www.israelgrants.com

Newsletter Volume III

Submission of Annual Reports to the Rasham HaAmutot ( Registrar of Nonprofit Associations)

The deadline has been postpones to September 30, 2009 - We can help you with your submissions required to receive "Nihool Takin". The deadline for submitting the required materials to obtain "Nihool Takin" including the new requirement for the narrative Annual Report for 2008 is September 30, 2009. We are very familiar with the requirements of this new report and would be pleased to assist you in making sure that your Narrative Report will be professionally prepared including all elements required by the new law and administrative rules in order to receive the status of Nihool Takin. Contact us at 5636629 or dave@israelgrants.com.

An ‘Old’ Amuta + A New Initiative = A Win Win Situation: David Maeir Epstein- CEO

The partnering of an existing Amuta with a new initiative by outsiders, who otherwise might have set up their own new Amuta, can reap benefits for both. While there are potential downsides relating to financial and policy control, freedom of action, ego, and publicity/public relations, these are resolvable. Marriage too has similar demands for adjustment - but the results are usually tremendously gratifying - children and grandchildren in the case of marriage- and tikun olam in the case of focusing on your objectives and projects in a more effective way. The new project and its leaders will add additional activity to the resume of the existing nonprofit, contribute towards overhead costs, and bring new potential funders onto the existing organization's radar screen. An agreement with the existing organization will save money and tens of hours every year for the new project's initiators and make its time more efficient, benefiting from the financial and administrative procedures already in place. It's a win-win situation.
Why an Existing Amuta should welcome a new initiative with open arms:

1. The existing Amuta will be able to take credit for new areas of action without investing its own funds.
2. The existing Amuta will be introduced to new potential funding opportunities via contributions to the new project. A relationship with these donors can and should be developed by exposing the donors to the Amuta’s vision, target population, programs and services.
3. Administrative expenses can be charged to the new initiative, reducing your overhead. Whatever you charge will surely be less than it would have cost the new initiative on their own.
4. The developers of the new project could well become a source for innovation and energy for the overall organization.

To read more and learn why its better for a new initiative to join with an Amuta rather than register as a new one and how we can help connect Amutot and new initiatives, click here

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The David Berg Foundation has an Aug 30th deadline for applications. The foundation focuses on social justice, elderly, legal services and community.

The Millstein Foundation with an interest in Health, Education, Culture and supportive services has an end of August deadline.

COURSES

Registration for a Fall Grantwriting course is being taken now!
"I found the course very thorough, instructive, and interesting and would recommend it to anyone who is interested in following this direction." -Joe Charlaff


HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY TO CEO DAVID MAEIR EPSTEIN!! עד מאה ועשרים!!!!

David Maeir Epstein Resource Development Consultants for Non Profits
43A Emek Refaim Jerusalem, Israel
02 563 6629 www.israelgrants.com