At Congregation B’nai Israel, in Millburn, New Jersey, the blueprints for the renovation to materially improve and expand their historic building seemed to fulfill the congregation’s every need and want. Everyone agreed that the restoration was an essential part of answering the demands of the … [Read more...]
Has Your Campaign Stalled?
September 5, 2005 By
Museum of Jewish Heritage The monumental vision of a Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City was inspiring, but the efforts to realize it had stalled. Yearning to keep moving forward, the four co-chairmen of the Board and the executive director recognized that they needed help. It had been … [Read more...]
Frustration vs. Focus
August 5, 2005 By
A CASE STUDY OF THE RETREAT What? Are you kidding? We can’t do that! Spend money on an executive search firm? The Retreat, an organization that provides shelter and support to victims of family violence on the East End of Long Island, was grappling with this all too familiar dilemma. But … [Read more...]
Do You Know Who Your Donors Are?
July 5, 2005 By
The CEO of Concord-Assabet Family and Adolescent Services wondered if he did. Was the organization doing all it could to raise money to expand the reach of its services? Were they asking the same small cadre of loyal supporters to do too much? Was it possible to identify and reach out to a broader … [Read more...]
Are Your Solicitors Well Trained?
May 5, 2005 By
When Mersky, Jaffe & Associates was contacted by a small New England college, it had an endowment of over $160 million, 40,000 living alumni, an extensive fundraising staff and complex development operations. Each element of it's development program (annual giving, alumni affairs, leadership … [Read more...]
Is Your Board on Board?
February 5, 2005 By
When Laudholm Trust contacted Mersky, Jaffe & Associates, the executive director and the president realized that their board of directors needed a profound revitalization if they hoped to achieve the newly expanded goals and objectives for the organization. They questioned whether their board … [Read more...]
Do You Know Who Your Donors Are II
January 5, 2005 By
The Temple—Congregation Ohabai Sholom wasn't sure they did. As the oldest and largest Jewish congregation in Nashville, they had facilities that had last been rebuilt in the 1950s. By the end of the century, with a membership which had doubled, a booming Nashville economy, and an aging building … [Read more...]
Have You Found the Right Person for the Job?
December 5, 2004 By
Jewish Family Life Media, a fast-growing nonprofit organization, is the world's leading publisher of original Jewish content online. Through a period of explosive growth, Jewish Family Life Media had three chief operating officers in an eighteen-month period. The high turnover was expensive in terms … [Read more...]
The Triumph of Leadership
October 5, 2004 By
What do you do when you arrive at the end of your fundraising campaign and you have only raised half your goal? This was a question that Larchmont Temple confronted. They answered by closing Phase I and began a more detailed plan for Phase II. Could the campaign be revived? Is the money “just … [Read more...]
Are You Raising Money or Objections?
October 5, 2004 By
A rising young religious leader was confronted with this dilemma when facing the task of rebuilding a venerable congregation. Once the premier Conservative congregation in the Boston area, Kehillath Israel fell victim to the continuous population shift to the western suburbs. Kehillath Israel … [Read more...]