Sorry that it’s been a few weeks since my last roundup. But now that the G.A. and my other traveling is over, Loose Change is back. And it looks like the recession is still on:
- With congregational rabbis forced to do more fund raising due to the tanking economy, Northwestern University has started a program to help teach rabbis basic business skills, the Forward reports.
- Synagogues in Cleveland are cutting costs in light of the downturn, reports the Cleveland Jewish News.
- Your nonprofit might be having trouble securing grants right now, but this 11-year-old editor of a girls’ magazine just scored her zine $100,000, reports j. in San Francisco.
- Marsha Atkind is the new head of the Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Jewish News.
- JCorps International, a nondenominational Jewish volunteer organization founded by a 20-something in New Jersey, has grown rapidly in the two years since it was started, reports the New Jersey Jewish Standard.
- The newly formed Modern Orthodox Council of Atlanta is trying try to get the city’s Modern Orthodox institutions to work together to raise funds and cooperate in general, reports the Atlanta Jewish Times.
- After three years without a music director, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra has hired Leonard Slatkin, reports the Detroit Jewish News.
- Experts keep telling me that end-of-life gifts are going to become much more important in this economy. The Conservative Cong. Adas Israel in Washington recently received a $1.8 million bequest, the largest such gift the shul has ever received, says the Washington Jewish Week.
- The New York Jewish Week says that in the wake of Obama’s massive online fund-raising success, Jewish nonprofits are trying to pick up on the online giving craze. If you want a little more info on whether the trend can actually work, check out JTA’s story from about a year ago. The general concensus is that it will be difficult because online giving depends on a significant donor base giving small donations, which is problematic when reaching out to a small Jewish community.
- Tight budget for the holidays? The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle offers a list of gifts for under $25.
