That was the main message of JGooders first online fundraising seminar, held on April 26, 2009, at the GINA Gallery of International Naive Art in Tel Aviv’s trendy Dizengoff which provided it a warm hospitality. The overwhelmingly high attendance led to standing-room only (note for future attendees: PLEASE RSVP!).
The seminar moved from an overview of online giving trends to concrete changes in the online philanthropy world, and a sneak preview of the new JGooders NPO Center to be launched very soon.I presented a basic tool box of online philanthropy, trying to convey the mind shift needed in order to capture a surfers’ attention and turn him into an ongoing online giver. Our world is one of exponentially growing information and less ability to catch up with the pace of life. In this life, messages must fit the fast tempo and emphasis should be on visualization – or picking the right picture, concise and clear writing and on building ongoing trust.

Highlights from other sessions:

From traditional philanthropy to modern philanthropy introduced by Ronit Dolev (JGooders Co-Founder and board chair, pictured below) focused on current trends in the emerging industry. The unusual growth of 5400% in 8 years in online giving in USA alone from 200M$ in 1999 to 10.4 Billion $ in 2007 and other fascinating data on shift on age group behaviors and more. Success stories of E-philanthropy sites from Britain, United States and other countries in the West make room for JGooders as a parallel initiative in the Jewish world. The potential is there, the opportunities are many, but a collective effort is still very much needed.

The Internet Revolution is very much about the new ways people can communicate with each other. Tova Serkin (JGooders Chief Business Officer, pictured below left, with Eli Shua in the center and Smadar Fogel at right) in her session about online fundraising fundamentals talked about the use of online social networks as means to encourage people to take part in online giving. The differences between Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and LinkedIn. How to leverage these tools and others, all available on the web, to build a greater community of supports to your social cause.

Eli Shua (JGooders Chief Operating Officer) introduced the new JGooders NPO Center . With this new back-office management system, organizations can quickly and easily update their projects and make them more interactive. More about the NPO Center coming soon…..