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

Newletter I

Check out our new site! www.israelgrants.com
And sign up for a chance to win a free Grantwriting course or free fundraising consultation with David Maeir- Epstein!

Shalom. We are pleased to share with you the first of what we hope will be a monthly newsletter full of information that will assist you in reaching the fundraising goals of your nonprofit organization. Each month, we will share with you a few upcoming foundation deadlines, some insights and updates on fundraising from CEO David Maeir-Epstein, and information about our on site or webinar course. At David Maeir Epstein Resource Development Consultants, we have our finger on the pulse of fundraising and stand ready to assist you in all the various avenues of resource development. Please visit our new site at www.israelgrants.com to learn how we can assist you! Contact us today to see how we can help you put your best foot forward in applying for funding.

Major changes in resource development and marketing are occurring in this era of technical development and economic crisis. Gone are the days of receiving a check and writing a standard thank you letter. Donors expect to be informed on an ongoing basis about how their contributions are being spent

The internet, with its immediate results based platform is the perfect tool to keep in touch with your donors and friends. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Plaxo, Linked In, and Twitter can build your donor base with minimum efforts and maximum results.

Your target audience and area of operations determine which networks are more appropriate for your organization than others. We can help you to best to use the functions of each format to help you reach larger and broader audiences and develop your relationship with your potential donors.

Tools of the Trade:

Using Social Networking to Friend-raise and Fundraise
There is no question that 2009 will be one of the worst of recent years for nonprofit fundraising, but it is critical now more than ever that work be done so that your organization will be in line when the economy turns around. Moreover, the situation is not catastrophic for everyone:
1) Madoff victims, individuals and foundations, which had and lost substantial invested funds, are clearly eliminated from the pool of potential funders. This is however, a relatively small minority of the total number of individual and foundation philanthropists -notably the Chais Family Foundation- and yet, even Chais may be coming back on line in a streamlined form.
2 ) While many foundations have temporally frozen their new application process, foundation assets are still valued at millions and billions... READ MORE

COURSES
Registration for our May Grant Writing and June Fundraising courses is being taken now! To read about our courses click here

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The Glencore Foundation is accepting proposals for their 2009-10 grant cycle for programs targeting the educational welfare of children and youth at risk. A very limited number of applications will be considered for the next Gimprich Fund deadline. Organizations should contact the Israeli representative directly following Yom Haatzmeut to determine their eligibility.

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