In creating the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund, we set out to find new tools and platforms that would strengthen innovation within the Jewish community and thereby enhance jewish life, learning, culture and community. Through this process we learned a great deal and invested in a handful of projects that are engaging new audiences and bringing a new and exciting energy to Jewish communities across the country. While our Foundations remain committed to this important work, we are not currently accepting applications for new funding for JNMIF at this time. We will continue to support innovation at different levels through our respective organizations. The Jewish New Media Innovation Fund is pleased to share the following resources that may be of interest to Jewish New Media innovators.Grants to Jewish Innovators
Natan supports entrepreneurial organizations with annual budgets under $1.5 million that demonstrate an innovative approach to addressing the challenges facing the Jewish people.
Covenant Foundation works to strengthen educational endeavors that perpetuate the identity, continuity and heritage of the Jewish people. The Covenant Foundation invites applications for innovative programs in Jewish schools, agencies, community organizations, and other institutional settings.
Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund (JVPF) is a group of individuals who have pooled financial resources and business planning skills to fund and support new and innovative programs, consistent with Jewish values. JVPF makes targeted and significant venture-level investments in creative new programs and organizations that have the potential for impact, scalability and sustainability.
Capacity Building and Support for Jewish Innovators
Joshua Venture Group identifies emerging leaders in the Jewish world and champions their visions for social change. Social entrepreneurs selected to participate in their Dual Investment Program receive over $100,000 in funding and support – including training, exposure and access to networks in the Jewish world – which equip them to realize their visions and to transform the Jewish landscape.
Bikkurim: an Incubator for New Jewish Ideas energizes and enriches the North American Jewish community by finding innovative Jewish ideas and nurturing them to organizational sustainability. Bikkurim participants receive free office space and professional support while in residency in the incubator, a period which may last for up to 5 years.
ROICommunity is a global community of young Jewish leaders that was created by Lynn Schusterman. ROI’s objective is to cultivate a prestigious international network of young Jewish leaders in their 20s and 30s who are at the forefront of local, global and virtual initiatives that offer innovative and diverse paths for connecting to Jewish life. ROI’s Micro Grants program gives ROIers access to small amounts of funding, facilitating more innovative accomplishments
PresenTense Group is a largely volunteer-run community of innovators and entrepreneurs, thinkers and leaders, creators and educators, from around the world who are investing their ideas and energy to revitalize the established Jewish community. For their summer institute this year, PresenTense will support ideas in five tracks: Jewish Gaming, Jewish Education, Israel Education, Social Action and the Environment. Affordable workspace available in Jerusalem. PresenTense also offers affordable workspace to Jewish entrepreneurs in Jerusalem.
UpStart Bay Area is creating a fertile environment for entrepreneurs, start-ups, and organizations that re-imagine and expand Jewish life. They achieve this by cultivating new programs and organizations, consulting with Jewish organizations and individuals seeking innovation and change, and connecting a community of change makers to ideas, resources and to each other. UpStart also offers affordable workspace to Jewish entrepreneurs in San Francisco.
Jewish Jumpstart develops, strengthens, and learns from emerging Jewish organizations that build community at the nexus of spirituality, learning, social activism, and culture, in order to transform the broader Jewish community and the world. Jewish Jumpstart also offers affordable workspace to Jewish entrepreneurs in Los Angeles
Makom Hadash is a residency center for second-stage Jewish non-profit organizations in New York. Combining affordable space and office services with a community of colleagues and regular opportunities to learn, socialize and collaborate, it enables its member organizations to focus more on their missions, develop more sophisticated organizational infrastructure and collaborate more effectively together.
Resource Guide for Jewish Innovation
Slingshot Guide is a resource guide to 50 creative and effective Jewish organizations and leaders across the country, all of whom offer valuable projects with different missions, perspectives and strategies. Slingshot is meant to be used by funders of all sizes and ages who want to support contemporary Jewish life.