Globalization and ISF
“International Service Fund”
Why YOU Should Support I$F and Why It's INTEGRAL to the Future of the
Jewish People:
We get it, it's hard for you yourself to find enough money to attend a BBYO
Convention, so why should you have to spend money for teens around the world to do
the same thing?
L'dor V'dor, from generation-to-generation has always been important to AZA/BBG. If
thousands of years of Jewish tradition mean something to you then ISF is the natural
choice. It is our privilege to help support and participate in a network of over 18
communities who together, build a strong Jewish future. In supporting I$F, you are
changing the world. When we bring overseas teens to summer programs, we give
them the resources, tools, inspiration, and connections necessary to work in their
communities to Stand UP for what they believe in, Speak UP for Israel, serve their
communities via J-Serve, and create a safe space where everyone feels comfortable
to shout, "I'm proud to be Jewish!"
Moreover, on a more basic and human level, Kol Israel arevim ze la'ze"- All Jews are
responsible for one another. In some global communities, teens can't tell their friends
they're Jewish, wear Jewish clothing in public, and even must make two facebook
accounts- 1 Jewish, one secular. In these areas teens must attend conventions in
secret, hire security guards to hold meetings, and work secretly to recruit new
members. It is not only our obligation, but our privilege to help make their commitment
to Judaism more hassle free and better protected in these cases.
The Jewish people have always been able to rally behind the concept of
Tikkun Olam-- repairing the world. This year, J-Serve, the Jewish International
Teen Day of Service, is striving to reach over 10,000 teens from all over the
world. In conjunction with Youth Service America’s Global Youth Service Day,
teens participating in J-Serve will be a part of a service weekend including
800+ projects in 6 different continents. On April 22, 2012, the teens in BBYO
all over the world will make a difference.
The Best Part- It's A Two Way Street!
The relationships between North America and our global communities are
mutually beneficial. These teens have incredible leadership
strategies, meaningful traditions, cool cultures and BBYO traditions to
share, awesome food, international networking connections, and
are ultimately the best friends one could possibly ask for. We urge you to
utilize this as an opportunity to develop a stronger, global Jewish community
made up of thousands of individual friendships, connections, and memories.
Ways that YOU are participating:
Option #1: General Globalization Pledge
The money you raise will be pooled into a large, general pot. This sum of money will
be used to send teens from all around the world on Summer Experiences as well as to
International Convention.
Option #2: Support a Community
The money you raise will be given directly to a specific community. This community
will use the money to send their teens on summer experiences/IC and may use some
of it for operating costs and programing.You will also develop relationships, strategize,
and share traditions with these teens.
Contacts:
Talia Katz
67th International Mazkirah
[email protected]
Monday, February 6, 2012
Amanda Marcus
Head Globalization Staff
[email protected]
Alex Metzman
87th Grand Aleph Mazkir
[email protected]
Fundraisers
Plan a Fundraiser
To Get Started:
• Set a goal. How much money do you plan to
raise?
• Budget Your Money. How much money will the
project cost? How much money do you need to
raise to break even? How much money do you
need to raise to reach your goal?
• Be Creative. Use the list of projects included to
get you started but don’t be limited by these
suggestions. Ensure that your project doesn’t
require you to invest more money than you are
likely to raise.
• Make a plan. Break down the various tasks of
your project(s). Create a timeline remembering
that many people will take some time getting the
money to you depending upon your initiative.
• Break into committees. The more people you
involve into the planning process, the more
people that are invested into the fundraiser.
In Your Outreach Efforts:
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Collaborate. If everyone in your group is sending
personal letters to family and friends, or running
similar chapter programs, why not create a
template together that all can share?
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Know your audience. Be sure to highlight the
aspect of the program that is interesting to the
largest majority of program participants or
initiative supporters. Relating the initiative to the
interests of your participants is ideal.
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Provide information about the organization that
you will be supporting. You may wish to refer
people to JDC’s website, www.jdc.org.
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Be specific about why it is important to you to
participate in this program.
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Follow up: Be sure to thank people for
supporting your causes in the past, and that you
are appreciative of their participation in this latest
effort.
After People Have Contributed:
Acknowledge contributions immediately. You may wish to send a
formal thank you note after your program so that you can share an
anecdote from the event to make it more personal.
Timeline Your Fundraiser:
It is very important to start at least a month in advance to plan a
fundraiser. After you have set all of your goals, create a calendar that
can be distributed to everyone. On this calendar, ensure to mark all of
your deadlines. In addition, be sure to include the post-fundraiser
events like thank you nots on your calendar.
Why I$F
The Gemara states (Shvuous 39a): “All Jews are areivim for one another.” The Rebbe Shlita offers three interpretations of the word areivim.
a) sweet, i.e., every Jew must consider another Jew sweet;
b) intertwined, i.e., every Jew is intertwined with another Jew; and
c) mutually responsible; every Jew is responsible for all other Jews.
Through our one Torah, the Jews become one nation, connected with G-d, who is our Lord, and who is one. This is a pivotal principle of Jewish tradition –
we are bound by faith, heritage, and relation to help one another. There is not another people with a similar know concept as explicit as this.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Fundraisers/Programs for ISF
A Taste of BBYO:
Skype with International Teens:
Plan a night of Global Food Tasting that doubles as a fundraiser.
This is the perfect way for teens to become more passionate
about the cause. In order to raise the money, NRE-DC charged
for an admission ticket. Since it was during Channukah, they
started with a Menorah lighting and welcome (with a slideshow
of global photos). Then, each participant was given a passport
(with which they traveled all around the "world" in groups). They
used these passports to taste food and learn about the local
Jewish/BBYO communities in each country. This fundraiser is
super adaptable and a great way to build passion around a
specific cause.
Start a Globalization “Movement”:
There is no substitute to learning personally from the international
members themselves. As stated earlier, globalization is a two way
street where we are learning about each other’s cultures. The way
we celebrate the holidays might be slightly different, but it’s important
to remember that we still read the same hebrew from the torah every
week. Recently, NTO utilized skype during a convention to speak
with teens from the UK, Ireland, and Bulgaria at one time. It is vital
that we embrace our cultural differences while sharing our rich
history and tradition through brotherhood and sisterhood.
At NSR's last convention, a member stood up in front of the
region to describe her passion for globalization and shared
some of the teen’s inspiring stories. Then, she put $5 into a hat
and passed it around and collected donations for global Jewry
on the spot. The “movement” slowly grew and everybody
realized how important it is to give to this cause. The positive
energy in the room inspired others to pitch in and make a
difference.
It doesn’t matter how much you are able to give or the size of
your fundraiser. All that matters is that you are contributing to
ISF to allow teens from all over the world to experience AZA and
BBG. As an International order, we must come together and
strive for a thriving international BBYO community. Whether you
do penny wars, “messy make-overs”, or I$F-o-grams, it is
important that every region contributes. Together, we will make a
better BBYO.
Make Giving a Tradition:
You can be the one that starts the tradition. Make donating to charity
and I$F a habit. Create a system where each chapter presents a
check with a portion of the money raised during different fundraisers
throughout the year that goes to I$F. Every chapter supports their
peers to raise as much money as they can for this cause that they all
care about. Year after year, chapters will be challenged to contribute
more money, and before you know it, you will be fundraising without
thinking about it.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Every Penny Matters:
“Jews went global long before it was fashionable. That means
we are perfectly positioned to take advantage of globalization,
but only if we work hard to nurture our common heritage,
honor our common ancestry and build a common future. Our
young people are among the most mobile in the world, but there
is a need to build connections that reach across boarders and
last a lifetime.”
— Sandy Cardin and Lynn Schusterman,
Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation
Fundraisers/Programs for ISF
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Plan a social event (dinner, dance, etc) and charge admission
with all proceeds going to the ISF charity. This can also be a great
opportunity for community press to expand the attention that you
are getting.
Host a ‘Battle of the Bands” of members’ bands (this way friends
of participants and friends of band members show up), and charge
admission.
Hold a Misloach Manot drive or sell Purim baskets: Your
organization sends a letter to its members inviting them to
purchase a gift basket to be delivered for the holiday. A portion of
the money will pay for the basket, and the rest will go to the ISF
charity. This also works well with events like the Superbowl, the
NCAA tournament, and other popular culture events.
"Steal the gate" at a popular nightspot: Try to get the owner of
a popular hangout spot or restaurant to give you a certain
percentage - or even all - of the cover charges or of the restaurant
bill for the night in return for you guaranteeing a larger than usual
crowd. This is best done on conjunction with a popular band, a
guest speaker or something to convince the owner that there will
indeed be a large turnout.
Sell merchandise: T-shirts, buttons, bumper stickers, etc., you
could set up a stand at a busy place (at a mall, a rally, a street fair)
and accomplish four things at once: inform people about what you
are doing, gain more sponsors and earn extra cash, all while
promoting your favorite cause and gaining publicity.
Service for service auction. As a group, decide on one service
that each participant can offer. You might even ask friends who
are not going on the trip to support you by auctioning off a service
too. This could include tutoring, a home-cooked meal, essay
editing, salsa dance lessons and much more. Make sure to
advertise your auction well and hold it in a busy spot. Having a
charismatic auctioneer doesn’t hurt either. Make sure that the
audience knows that by purchasing your service, they are helping
you to go do service in a community in need.
Monday, February 6, 2012
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Ask your home synagogues or local Federation to assist you in your
efforts. Federations already support the JDC tremendously, and if there
is an event at a synagogue that can be linked to the work of the JDC
there may be potential for partnership.
Letter to friends and relatives: You should send a detailed letter
explaining the initiative and what you hope to accomplish to 100 or more
people, including friends, relatives, former teachers or professors,
former co-workers, etc. Be sure to keep a list so that you can
appropriately thank everyone.
Local Businesses: Local businesses are far more likely to support you
than are corporations. The key is to make a linkage between the owner
of the business and you or someone close to you. You may want to
approach the businesses with a letter first, enclosing all the relevant
materials and a pledge form, then follow up with a phone call. Asking for
$100 or more is not unusual. You can honor them by highlighting them
on a T-Shirt or at a convention, or by agreeing to use their business for a
future event.
Special Collection: Take up a special collection at a general meeting of
a community group or at a synagogue function, coordinated with the
meeting/event organizers. It is important to educate the community
about what you will be doing before the collection is announces, via
written materials in the bulletin or preferably featuring a personal appeal
by you during the meeting/event.
Community groups: Civic groups such as B'nai Brith, Rotary, and
certain unions, special interest groups (like the Sierra Club or Returned
Peace Corps Volunteers) might be interested in donating, especially if
you can give them a special presentation about the initiative and why it
is important to Jewish youth.
Have a rummage sale: A rummage sale is a good way to sell your
possessions and gather support for your cause. You may want to
combine a raffle at the site of the sale, or an auction, especially if there
is a natural group that would support you in this endeavor (remember to
include or partner with: parent workplaces, synagogue, school clubs,
etc.).