Raising Money from Jews

This article by Bob Aronson is very well done.

Honestly, I'm not as down as he is on the frame of mind of most yiddishe mosdos:

"Most Jewish fundraisers earnestly believe that the organizations they work for are so important that they are automatically entitled to the donor’s money...

"Jewish fundraisers are too bus focusing on themselves and what they want as opposed to what the donors want. Non-Jewish organizations don’t make this mistake...

"[Cultivating donors]  depends on face-to-face appointments and the development of long-term relationships of trust and mutual respect... This, more than anything, is problematic for Jewish fundraisers, who have monthly quotas to meet, gifts to close and annual campaigns to complete. They simply do not have the time, or often the skill, to develop relationships with donors, especially new ones."

I think he'd have to agree that any hospital or university fundraiser wouldn't last till lichtbenchen if he had to raise money for your average Boro Park mosad. The needs of aigeneh are very many, very urgent and very personal.

The Development Professionals I have met from mainstream organizations enjoy a level of support and resources that yiddishe fundraisers have never, ever known. The differences are so profound that I believe it's wrong to compare the two.

That said, this is totally on the money:

"As Jewish fundraisers, we must continue to follow our hearts. But to be successful, this is simply no longer good enough. It’s one reason why there are so few successful Jewish fundraisers and every organization is scrambling to find one.

"The rules have changed, but we’re still living in the 1970s. It is imperative that we adapt, change our organizational goals and train our professionals differently, or we’ll face a future of increasing anachronism and irrelevance."

Read it.