Minutes
JAFINA Council
Monday, September 14, 2009
10:30 am ET to 2:30pm ET.
633 Third Avenue, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10017
Chair: Carole Solomon
Attending in person:
Vicki Agron Herb Gimelstob
Leslie Billet Larry Joseph
Franklin Block Arlene Kaufman
Hanna Borowik Linda Ketover
Florence Broder Mark Levy
Debra Cohen Danielle Mor
Debbie Cosgrove Cary Rosen Adelman
Jacob Dallal Steve Selig
Dede Feinberg Shoel Silver
Maxyne Finkelstein Julie Wise Oreck
Rani Garfinkle Fred Zimmerman
Michael Gelman
Attending by telephone/WebEx:
Larry Altschul Vernon Kurtz
Bruce Arbit Norman Lipoff
Richard Bernstein Boaz Meir
Stephen Breslauer Neil Moss
Chuck Davidson Karen Pack
Betsy Gidwitz Stanley Plotnick
Norman Goldstein Jay Sarver
Andy Groveman Doug Seserman
Michael Horowitz Jane Sherman
Sharon Janks David Silvers
Jeff Kaye Marilyn Wechsler
Michelle Kohn Richard Wexler
PART 1
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
• Carole Solomon opened the meeting and welcome everyone
• The minutes of May 11, 2009 were approved
• Carole provided the Council with a report on activities since the last meeting:
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Minutes
o Governance – all was implemented as proposed
o JAFINA was asked to reduce the 2009 budget by 10% along with the rest
of the organization. As a result we had to put some of our plans on hold.
At this moment we believe the budget has been restored.
o The overall plans for FRD are moving forward and that is the focus of the
meeting today.
o We moved forward with our current next generation initiative under the
Chairmanship of Iris Feinberg. A very exciting program is being planned
to take place alongside the upcoming Board of Governors Meetings in
October. The Global Leadership Forum is envisioned as a group of
emerging leaders who have agreed to participate (without a subsidy). A
copy of the program and a list of participants were distributed. This is
very important and relates to the discussion we had at the last meeting
about leadership advancement. This group will function as a “special
advisory body” to the Chairman for informal input from the emerging
leadership.
o In regard to our discussion about Missions we recommended doing a
Mission together with JDC and UJC – “How to be a Partner in the Global
Jewish World.” JDC recommended we wait to pursue this until the new
UJC leadership was in place. We will now raise the suggestions again with
UJC and JDC.
o In regard to the issue of foundation development, Kim Fish began working
in June and currently has about 1300 Foundation prospects. While this is a
difficult time to build apply for Foundation funding we have to begin to
build relationships. We have also developed a calendar to be prepared for
when RFPs are due. At this time, we are also looking at the specific area
of Jewish Women’s Foundations amongst others. Norman Lipoff is
serving as the lay advisor.
BUDGET UPDATE
• Shoel Silver provided a report about the current state of the JAFI budget. The
JAFI Executive will be meeting on Tuesday, September 15 to discuss the
budget. Adjustments are going to be made based on cash flow. Overhead and
program cuts need to be made to meet income projections from UJC. Non-
core activities cannot survive without the infrastructure that core dollars
support. Although we hedged the dollar, the exchange with the shekel is worse
than before. The new exchange used will be $1US = 3.8NIS.
• The importance of maintaining programs at a reasonable level in order to
sustain relevance was highlighted.
FRD UPDATE
• Mark Levy led the FRD discussion and impressed the importance of finding
new contributors and reaching new markets.
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Minutes
• Jeff Kaye made a PowerPoint presentation outlining new strategies to attract
new donors. The plans are varied and include specific approaches to various
targets. An important strategy will be emphasizing activities that JAFI alone
performs, like Aliyah of Rescue. In addition, JAFI will leverage the
connections that returning Shlichim have from their time abroad by using
social media tools.
• It was noted that currently JAFI presents a culture of cuts, which is not a
positive message. We have to strengthen the case for giving. The need for
more personal relationships is clear.
• The importance of the case for core giving was highlighted. Newer donors
often cannot differentiate the value of donating to a small organization vs. a
larger one and the relative cost of operations which is reduced by economies
of scale.
• The relationship between JAFI and UJC and the importance of timely cash
collection through UJC is often not understood.
• It is possible to break out Core into projects but when Federations stop
supporting them, valuable programs are lost. The importance of having a clear
policy about a percentage added when Federations or donors are only funding
specific programs in core (not general budget) should be communicated. It
was clarified that a 10% management fee added to designated donations is in
place.
• The campaign of the Board of Governors will be reintroduced. The prior
solicitation had some success but a more structured and sustained effort is
required. The staff will draft a proposed approach and policies for discussion.
NEW MARKETS
• Jacob Dallal presented in regard to direct marketing to traditional markets and
new markets to expand the donor base.
• Questions arose about the process.
• The importance of expressing the Jewish Agency's unique work in the field
was stressed.
RM RESULTS UPDATE
• The Council members were provided with an in depth update about the RM's
activities in North America by Maxyne. Franklin Block has been asked to join the
JAFINA Council as the voice of the Network Communities to help strengthen
relationships in those regions as well. Questions always arise about whether there
are enough people in the field and how to approach niche markets. For instance,
Boaz Meir, the west coast RM, has been successful in working collaborative
with the Las Vegas Federation to cultivate the Israeli population in that region
• Despite the economic downturn, elective dollars remained flat through the past
year. Efforts are being made to express what we do best, e.g.: the Top Ten, which
simplifies the program menu.
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Minutes
MASA UPDATE
• Arlene Kaufman, Chair of the MASA North American Committee, addressed
issues around MASA, including the recent media campaign in Israel. She
emphasized that the video was not previewed by Diaspora communities and that
this situation will never occur again.
• MASA was recently successful in securing $400,000 from NY Federation. Staff
met with the LA Federation which agreed that individual donors can be solicited
for MASA. A presentation will be made at the Federation this month. Proposals
have also been submitted to other Foundation. We are trying to partner with
Washington University to create a junior year abroad in Israel. The San Francisco
Federation also increased its MASA allocation.
• A MASA program session was submitted to the GA but was declined. There will
be alumni meeting with delegates and distributing informational materials.
• In terms of marketing, MASA is looking at targeting synagogues and creating an
easy to use PowerPoint presentation that lay leaders and professionals can use.
Arlene asked Council members to help promote MASA in their communities by
hosting parlor meetings to expose MASA.
• There will be a MASA Committee meeting in Palm Beach in March.
It was decided that the next meeting on Monday, March 15, 2010 would be in the
South. The meeting was adjourned at 2:30 pm. Carole Solomon and Maxyne
Finkelstein thanked everyone attending for their input and wished everyone Shana
Tova.
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