Congratulations to Yeshiva University and Erica Brown

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The Mayberg Foundation congratulates our esteemed colleague and friend, Dr. Erica Brown, on her selection as director of Yeshiva University’s new Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks Center for Values and Leadership. We are pleased for Dr. Brown as she takes this next step in her professional and personal journey, and we look forward to a continued close connection with her as she continues to make important contributions to the Jewish people.

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The Case for Operational Support

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The Case for Operational Support

Amanda Mizrahi, program officer for Aish from the Mayberg Foundation, and Dan Hazony, Chief Information Officer of Aish, discuss why an operational framework for giving is so important. According to Mizrahi, outward signs of an organization’s major growth, like a new building or program, are flashy and fun, but they only work if they continue to stand on a strong foundation, which has to grow with the organization. “I would think that anyone who cares about the success of any nonprofit would want to understand the base’s stability before adding onto it,” she writes. “A new program that aligns with an organization and donors’ mission is exciting, but only if that success is sustainable because the organization’s baseline operations (fundraising, data, and communications) are all in good shape.”

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The Backstop: An Underused Tool for Overcoming the Chicken and Egg Challenge

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The Backstop: An Underused Tool for Overcoming the Chicken and Egg Challenge

In this piece by Rebecca Weisman, The Backstop: An Underused Tool for Overcoming the Chicken and Egg Challenge, she lays out a dilemma many nonprofits know all too well – the organization cannot secure funding until they launch the project, and at the same time, cannot start the project until they secure funding.

During moments of uncertainty, like a global pandemic, finding creative solutions to funding challenges is even more necessary.

Enter, a creative tool that the Mayberg Foundation found to be particularly effective in funding an initiative as an early investor and mitigating risk. The “backstop,” which was successfully implemented in its funding of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), allowed the organization to build a track record while seeking other funding sources.

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Telling Your Story: A multilane highway

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Telling Your Story: A multilane highway

In this blog post by Amanda Mizrahi, she uses the motif of a multi-lane highway to describe the differing and changing needs of donors, end users, community members, colleagues and potential partners, and how they interact with information that an organization shares. “They need different ramps to get on or off of your highway, rest stops and safe shoulders, fast and slow lanes and definitely lots of appropriate signage to help them make good choices along the way,” she states. “Whether it is in the boardroom, on your website, or at the point of service, each individual needs to have access to the right sets of information at the right times to ensure their journey is comfortable and gets them where they want to go.”

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Mayberg Foundation Grantee-Clients Embrace the Value of Collective Effort

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Mayberg Foundation Grantee-Clients Embrace the Value of Collective Effort

In this blog post by Tyler Grasee, Associate Manager of Grantmaking, he describes how Mayberg Foundation grantees have embraced the value of Collective Effort, especially during the pandemic. This past year, he related, “by continually listening to our grantee-clients, we have had the opportunity to see the broader effects of their collective efforts, meeting the communities they serve where they’re at and addressing communal needs as holistically as possible.”

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Embrace the Value of Failure

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Embrace the Value of Failure

“What can you tell me about your failures?”

This is a topic I commonly bring up with an organization before we consider making an annual gift to them. In asking about failure, I am hoping the organization can share specifically what didn’t go as well as they had hoped and what they are learning from this experience.

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