How He Madoff With the Money: Thoughts Around the Hanukkah Table

The Road Ahead

Photo by Brocktopia

I am in the United States for the first time in several years and as expected, the hot topic of conversation is Bernie Madoff. Theories abound but few answers seem apparent. Here are some of the questions that I’ve heard around the Hanukkah table. I’m interested to hear your thoughts.

• How did this happen? Why was no one monitoring? Isn’t the whole point of overhead organizations to prevent something like this from occurring ?
• How could so many organizations run by smart people fall for this scheme? (One person said that foundations had to “beg Madoff to take them on”)
• Did Madoff make any money out of this himself? What was the goal of the whole operation?
• Who knew? What did they know? When did they know it? Could Madoff possibly have pulled this off alone?
• How long had this been doing on?
• Is Madoff a sociopath?
• How will this affect the Jewish world? Israel?
• How will the Jewish world recover? How long will it take?
• Was Madoff anti-semitic? How could he rip out the knees of people and foundations he personally supported? Not only did Madoff’s own family foundation suffer major losses, but so did the foundations of those he knew personally, as well as at least one foundation that he was connected to by marriage
• How much of a loss will the government suffer from the Madoff scheme? Economists estimate that the government will lose millions from adjusted back taxes and future income drops, but exact figures are unknown. Foundations who claimed income on their taxes according to Madoff’s investments can now adjust it according to real income earned and regain some of their money. Also, as foundations and philanthropists will have less income, they will be taxed less, costing the federal government more
• What is an appropriate punishment for Madoff?
• Why doesn’t Madoff’s punishment (free movement during the day, house arrest) reflect the severity of his crime?

– Read more on Birthright and Charles Ponzi himself —

Happy Hanukkah from The New Jew

Photo by Andrea Rota

Happy Hanukkah, everyone! Here are some cards that I enjoy every year.

More Hanukkah cards are here. Don’t click through if easily offended. (To be clear, I have no association with this company, I’m just a fan of their blunt and irreverant humor.)

Madoff Scandal Terrorizes Jewish Philanthropy

Photo by ArteMuestra

By now there is no way that you haven’t heard of the Bernard Madoff securities scandal, which ripped through the Jewish world, leaving contrails of devastation in its wake. Madoff is the perpetrator of what has become the largest Ponzi Scheme in the history of finance, knowingly sabotaging tens of Jewish foundations, many of them comprising the vertebrae of the Jewish giving world.

Since I haven’t been able to write about this myself (remember those baby feet?), I am outsourcing this post by listing relevant sources where you can learn more about the disaster.

Start by knowing your terms.

• Bernard Madoff and Charles Ponzi’s eponymous Ponzi Scheme are now synonymous. Check out their entries in Wikipedia.

Read the story as it broke.

• “Boston Donors Bilked Out of Millions” (Boston Globe)

Ask: “How could this have happened?”

• “How Bernie Madoff Made Smart People Look Dumb” (Wall Street Journal)
• “The World’s Largest Hedge Fund is a Fraud”– submission to the Securities Exchange Commission, 2005 (sourced from Wall Street Journal)

– Keep reading to learn about how the Madoff scandal affects the Jewish giving world. —

SuperJews Color Wars: What’s It All About

Kabbalah HaMalkah of Team Red

I am ridiculously excited for the SuperJews Color Wars. As soon as I was invited to join, I had to find out more. Andy Neusner of the United Jewish Communities was great in answering my many questions. Read on to find out what you can expect from the upcoming Color Wars and what they’re all about.

The Genesis

The Color Wars were born out of a desire to involve young Jews (45 and under) more deeply in the Jewish world. The Color Wars are intended to be a siren song of Jewish involvement that will lead us deeper into the Jewish world with the ultimate goal of becoming stakeholders.  Andy says:

While plenty of young Jews have already gotten involved, there’s no secret that we need for more and more Jews from this age range to take over some ownership in our organizations, to change them in ways that will help us continue to tackle the needs of the Jewish world. We realize that there are plenty of great new ideas in play to reinvigorate the Jewish world, and rather than having them happen apart from or even in duplication with similar concepts within the organized Jewish community, we want to promote these new ideas and new leaders to take root within our system instead.

The Creators

Shabot 6000: The Jewish Robot

The United Jewish Communities (UJC) leveraged the services of William Levin, creator of The Jewish Robot. Levin’s extensive experience in creating humorous, media savvy projects aimed at young Jews to enhance and promote the Jewish brand will be a  huge asset to the Color Wars and upcoming SuperJews campaigns.

Primary funding for the project comes from the Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence, in their aim to reach Jewish youth through social media networks.

– Keep reading to learn more about the Color Wars –

7 Quick Tips for End of the Year Fundraising: Keep it Simple, Make it Personal, Give Me Proof

What do you have to crow about?

Photo by Giovanni

Here is a simple list of suggestions for communicating with your supporters during the holiday season.

Each e-mail I’ve received recently asking for funding or additional support gets analyzed and checked off in my internal do/don’t list. My list is below. What’s on yours?

The number one thing to remember while we are doing organizational planning for press releases, grants, and fundraising campaigns is to keep in mind is that we are speaking directly to another person– not an organization, not a position, but a person.

What You Can Expect From This Post

Here are 7 short and sweet tips for end of the year fundraising.

1. Be brief
2. Add value to my life
3. Talk to me
4. Tell me a story
5. Use images
6. Give me proof
7. Don’t make me work for it

Photo by DvortyGirl

1. Be Brief

• DO keep it to one screen on e-mail, no scrolling (this can be a real challenge)
• DO use borders and easy to read font
• DO use color, bolding, and scannable text

2. Add Value to My Life

• DO make my click-through to your e-mail from my inbox worth more effort than the click I could have used to delete it
• DO tell me why you’re writing: the holiday season is a start, but it doesn’t differentiate you from anyone else
• DO have a reason for writing and make that come through in the e-mail– I shouldn’t have to think about it
• DO make your e-mail worth reading by giving me information I need to know about your organization
• DON’T tell me about your new tax status– that’s not going to swing me one way or the other. Wait until I’m more committed to divulge the details. Would you tell a date your medical history the second time you had dinner? This is an internal matter to share after a commitment
• DON’T tell me about an event you didn’t invite me to

How We Market Ourselves in Times of Crisis: Comparing Economic Downturn with Israel’s PR Image

Photo by Mohd Isyamuddin

Empty or Full?

If you’re anything like me, your inbox has been flooded with letters from organizations telling you how the economic downturn has affected their organization and how they plan to deal with it. Reading these letters got me thinking about Israel’s public relations image and the language we use to represent ourselves.

Let me present you with two examples of letters I recently received. Both were from schools of which I am an alumna and both are private institutions, one at the high school and one at the university level.

Overlaps

• Both organizations stated that they were financially strong
• Both organizations admitted that they had taken a hit from the economic crisis
• Both organizations said that alumni were the backbone of their financial health and asked for support
• Both organizations phrased their requests using positive language to describe the missions of their organizations

However, the letters differed when they started talking about how they would respond to the crisis.

Example A: Excerpt

“In order to accomplish [our mission], compete with peer schools, and meet the standards set by all alumni/ae like yourself, the School relies on its academic, art, athletic, and financial programs, as well as its faculty and facilities for its resources… The Annual Fund is the lifeblood of all of these resources. Almost 7% of the School’s operating budget comes from its the Annual Fund. Given the challenges imposed by recent economic conditions, it is with greater emphasis that we ask for your support.”

I hit upon the words: “accomplish,” “compete,” “lifeblood,” “recent economic challenges.”

Example B: Excerpt

“As we go forward, we will need to make difficult decisions about how we use our resources and set priorities. I am confident that we will have the cooperation and support of everyone in our community to weather this rough period. Indeed, I am gratified by the hundreds of alumnae and friends who have made generous commitments to the [Alumni/ae] Fund in recent weeks, even amid continued economic challenges.”

I hit upon the words: “difficult decisions,” “cooperation,” “weather this rough period,” “continued economic challenges.”

The (Desired) Effect

After reading both of these letters, I was convinced that School A may have suffered some insignificant losses, but would continue to thrive while School B was in real trouble. So who would be the obvious one to donate money to? No one wants to invest in a sinking ship.

— Read on to learn how this relates to Israel —

The Importance of Pillar Content: The New Jew’s Return

The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy has been absent from the blogosphere for what amounts to a generation. In our organic, fast-paced world of blogging, you’re either aggressively active and publishing pillar content or you are considered dormant. Nevertheless, I’m hoping to slide back into The New Jew and hope you will support me in doing so.

(On a personal note, I’ll share with you that the reason for an my absence was due to pregnancy and the resulting bundle of joy, evident above.)

The Importance of Pillar Content–

In blogging terms, the most vital lesson of my absence has been to re-emphasize the importance of pillar content. My last post of substance was on February 28, 2008 (I can’t believe that it has been so long), yet my blog is more popular than ever. How can this be?

The secret is the strength of my pillar content.

Despite the duration, my blog has thrived and its readership has continued to grow and expand into previously unexplored channels. Through this website, I regularly receive e-mails from people wanting me to write about their ideas and programs, as well as network, and I even receive a regular flow of inquiries through my Hire Me page.

What Is Pillar Content?–

I attribute all of this activity to an ability to convey key ideas. Pillar content tells your readers what you are all about. It touches on the themes that make your blog unique and in essence, gives your blog a reason for existing.

Photo by WmJas (Flickr: Creative Commons License)

— Continue Reading —