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NEXT WEEK
Green Funders Forum Gathering / Impact Investing Roundtable
WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 26 & BEYOND
Small Staffed Foundations / Youth Philanthropy Facilitator Training / Mission to Ethiopia & Israel / 2023 International Conference
NEWS
JFN Joins New Climate Coalition / Arts & Culture in Your Inbox
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
Covenant Award Nominations / Members in the Headlines
FROM THE FIELD (CURATED ARTICLES)
EVENTS
Unless otherwise indicated, events listed — including the JFN International Conference — are limited to JFN members and those eligible for JFN membership. Eligible non-members must request permission and can attend a limited number of member events.
View upcoming events on our website
All upcoming events (calendar view)
New Year, New Opportunities with Green Funders Forum
Online: Monday, September 19, 12–1:30 p.m. ET (9-10:30 a.m. PT, 19-20:30 IL)
Join JFN's Green Funders Forum for a virtual Rosh Hashanah gathering to discuss what's new in the field. We will spotlight new philanthropic climate initiatives and opportunities for action. Learn about new opportunities to collaborate with other Jewish organizations, the Israeli Climate Forum Initiatives, established by Israel's President Herzog, adapting Israeli cities to climate change, and more! Scroll down for information on the new Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition!
Impact Investing Roundtable
Online: Tuesday, September 20, 12–1:30 p.m. ET (9-10:30 a.m. PT, 19-20:30 IL)
Join JFN’s growing community of impact investors for a lively and action-oriented monthly roundtable, each featuring JFN members for shared learning and shared action. Each session is facilitated by JFN Board Member Vanessa Bartram of ZORA Ventures.
Read JFN's Guide to Jewish Impact Investing
Small-Staffed Foundations Peer Learning Group
Online: Thursday, September 29, 12–1:30 p.m. ET
(9-10:30 a.m. PT, 19-20:30 IL)
Are you a professional in a foundation with five or fewer staff members? Then JFN’s Grantmaking Professional Exchange is excited to invite you to our newest Peer Learning and Support Group (PLSG)! PLSGs provide opportunities for colleagues in the field to learn together, discuss areas of common interest, and support one another through challenges and opportunities. Join us for an introductory meeting facilitated by Third Plateau.
Honeycomb Facilitator Training
New York City: November 9-10
Attendees will walk away with curriculum, tools, and skills that will enable them to enhance existing Jewish youth philanthropy programs, start one in their own community or seamlessly use philanthropy in their general teen programming. This event is designed for youth educators, lay leaders, and Jewish organizational professionals interested in building the next generation of changemakers.
A JFN program, Honeycomb is the leading resource for Jewish youth philanthropy.
Open to all!
Mission to Ethiopia & Israel November 14-17
The Jewish Agency for Israel, the Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation, and JFN invite funders to a unique and historic mission.
The story of Ethiopian Jewry has three significant elements – a rich history in Ethiopia, the waves of Aliyah which began in significant numbers in the mid-1980s with Operation Moses, and finally, settlement in Israel. This mission will help us understand how these elements weave together.
This trip is open exclusively to funders to explore our unique role in addressing the challenge of Ethiopian Aliyah and integration into Israel. We will consider what unique opportunities exist for funders in this challenging realm.
Stay tuned for more details, including sponsorship opportunities! JFN's International Conference is open to JFN members and those eligible for membership. Learn about past JFN International Conferences.
NEWS
JFN Is a Founding Member of New Climate Coalition
JFN is proud to announce that we are a founding member of the Jewish Climate Leadership Coalition (JCLC), led by Hazon. To date, 20 major national and international Jewish organizations have signed onto the Coalition Founding Statement, demonstrating broad consensus that the Jewish community is ready and capable of taking collective climate action.
In the coming weeks and months, you will be hearing more about JFN's climate plan. In addition to participating in this coalition, JFN also addresses climate change by offering free consultations for funders seeking advice on environmental funding and through its Green Funders Forum, a forum made up of funders and professionals at philanthropic foundations who share a common interest in environmental issues.
Attend the next program of the Green Funders Forum.
Read about the climate coalition in eJewish Philanthropy!
To schedule a free consultation on your environmental funding, email [email protected].
Get Jewish Arts & Culture in Your Inbox
Did you know that CANVAS, the Jewish arts & culture funding collaborative incubated at JFN, got its start at a JFN International Conference? Find out how much this group has accomplished since launching in 2020, what its grantees are up to, and other "dispatches from the new Jewish renaissance" by reading and subscribing to the CANVAS Compendium newsletter.
MEMBER NEWS
Nominate an Educator for the Covenant Award
Nominations are now open for the 2023 Covenant Award. Each year, The Covenant Foundation, a JFN member, honors three exceptional Jewish educators with this award, which is designed to honor and celebrate those who have made an impact on Jewish life through innovative educational practices and models. Each Award carries a prize of $36,000 for the educator and an additional $5,000 for their home institution. Nominations are due November 14.
Members in the Headlines
JFN member the Natan Fund celebrated its 20th anniversary this week at a special gala honoring Founding Executive Director Felicia Herman, eJewish Philanthropy reported. The article noted that the fund's giving circles "have provided seed funding for a long list of now-established Jewish nonprofits" and mentioned the many JFN members, such as Barry Finestone of the Jim Joseph Foundation, Lisa Eisen of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and Mark Charendoff of the Maimonides Fund (where Felicia is now COO) in attendance. You can learn more about Felicia by listening to her on this recent episode of JFN's "What Gives?" podcast.
The New York Times reported on a $1 million pilot program to promote democracy launched in part by JFN member Daniel Lubetzky of the Lubetzky Family Foundation. The program funds Ukrainian college students to study in the United States for a year if they serve as "ambassadors" for democracy. Daniel told the Times that the project seeks "to awaken Americans about how we cannot take for granted the gifts we have about democracy and freedom and the rule of law.”
JFN members Adam Simon and Steven Laufer of the Aviv Foundation wrote in the Chronicle of Philanthropy about the foundation's decision to increase payments to multi-year grantees to compensate for inflation. Noting that "certain financial risks" should be absorbed by philanthropy rather than by nonprofits, they encouraged other funders to follow their lead.
Share YOUR News
Share your news, job postings, and non-fundraising events with the more than 4,500 people who receive this newsletter! Submit for consideration two or three sentences, an image, and any relevant links to JFN Communications Director Julie Wiener at [email protected]. We only publish items from current JFN members.
FROM THE FIELD
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Both Chronicle of Philanthropy and Inside Philanthropy offer special discounts for JFN members. More about member discounts here!
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How a New DAF for the Everyman Prepared for the High Holidays
Lev Gringauz, eJewish Philanthropy
Change Takes Time - And The Philanthropy World Needs To Keep Up!
Leslie Weber, Forbes
The Future of Family Philanthropy
Nick Tedesco & Michael Moody, Stanford Social Innovation Review
Where Is Green Giving Headed? 10 Trends
Michael Kavate, Inside Philanthropy