year, but securing new donors grabbed the
NEXTGen spotlight the past two years. In
2012, NEXTGen attracted 1,200 new donors,
not a sustainable model as Jewish Detroit
strives to find resurgence and stability after
years of young adult flight.
"That is why we are putting all our energy
into retaining those who have made a
commitment in the past," Rosenzweig says.
"That is why the fact we are 400 donors
ahead of last year — and of that, 325
are returning donors — is so important.
We are increasing numbers in our core
demographic."
As NEXTGen looks to heighten Jewish
communal engagement, it has set its sights
on the University of Michigan and Michigan
State University, which have the most Jewish
students from Metro Detroit in the state.
"We want to build a relationship with
these students while they are on campus,"
Rosenzweig says. "Hopefully by connecting
with us now, they will choose Detroit after
college and immediately connect with the
Jewish community."
Giving Follows Engagement
"Clearly, we're more focused on attracting
and retaining young people so we'll have
a generation that cares about the Jewish
community," says Federation CEO Scott
Kaufman, one of the staunchest NEXTGen
advocates. "We want a relevant, exciting
community where young people want to be
and where they care about being Jewish."
Kaufman underscores that playing the
young adult engagement card primarily to
expand the Federation donor base is a loser.
"Young people have to like you and trust
you before they'll give," Kaufman says.
"Landing new donors isn't a hidden goal, but
it's a secondary goal. Their giving becomes an
ancillary result."
The bump in young-adult donor numbers
is a nice start, he says, but the better return
for NEXTGen has been in more young
people doing more Jewish things, from Torah
on Tap to deeper Jewish learning, social
justice programs and synagogue or Chabad
initiatives.
"We're getting away from the old
command control and moving toward
connecting and collaborating," Kaufman
says. "NEXTGen is the impetus for that, but
we want that to spread to the rest of the
organized Jewish community."
Stepping Up
NEXTGen has become a national example
for the core values and working philosophies
employed to engage young Jews. Both
Rosenzweig and Kaufman are in demand as
speakers before other Federation CEOs and
young adult directors. Just last week, they
hosted 18 such retreat-goers for 21/2 days at
the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit Hotel.
In February, the Oklahoma-based Charles
& Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation sent
a member of its senior leadership team, Seth
Cohen, here to study the NEXTGen model.
The next day, Cohen posted on Facebook:
"I've seen the future of Jewish young
adult engagement in America and it's in
Detroit. Really. Special thanks to the entire
NEXTGen team at the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit for an amazing day of
learning, dreaming and scheming. The entire
Jewish world should be paying attention to
what they are doing. I know I am."
Another top NEXTGen goal is helping
30- to 45-year-olds feel the pull of Jewish
communal involvement, not just the
warmth of a fun night out. Via NEXTGen's
Hub, young Jewish professionals will be
able to network while also discovering
Federation on their terms.
What Now?
On a broader spectrum, creating follow-up
event experiences that sustain and elevate
interest levels among 22- to 45-year-olds
remains a NEXTGen priority. The challenge lies
in setting goals that look four weeks and six
months out following events. That's a lesson
Taglit-Birthright Israel quickly learned after
finding its trips were wildly successful until
the afterglow dimmed. Then, nothing was in
place to secure the fragile ties that trip-goers
had built with the ancestral Jewish homeland.
Wright was part of Birthright in 1999.
NEXTGen calls this excitement vacuum the
"And then what?" factor.
Says Rosenzweig: "The 'And then
what?' will look different for each of our
programs. It needs to be tailored, but equally
important, it must be documented so we can
measure real impact."
NEXTGen has
addressed the Birthright
dilemma locally by
integrating the trip into a
Jewish Detroit experience
in Israel. Following his
December 2012 Birthright
trip, Sean Martin, 27, of
Sean Martin
Rochester told the
Federation Board of
Governors about the experience, then said
about NEXTGen: "We get off the plane and
they were ready for us."
For example, he and other Taglit alums
enjoy the Good Shabbos Detroit dinners
hosted by NEXTGen and local synagogues.
Ditto for Torah on Tap, co-hosted by
Federation and the Southfield-based Yeshiva
Beth Yehudah's Jean and Theodore Weiss
Partners in Torah program.
Wright's zest for best practices and new
ideas imbues the NEXTGen board. President-
elect Hack says: "It's important to note her
focus is on making the board meeting a
leadership development tool instead of a
series of unending committee reports."
Wright embraces the thorny engagement
and retention challenges ahead for her local
leadership board, but is proud of all the
young adults who have answered the bell
since NEXTGen came calling as a full-fledged
Federation division last year.
As she puts it: "In a way, we have helped
amplify how many people wanted to say,
'Hineini. Here I am.' Now, we can show how
every single person is part of something so
much larger."
Helping Boost Our Central City
0
ne of the biggest hurdles
as a result of Detroit's
bankruptcy filing lies
in assuring the global
community that our central city isn't
dead; it's just in need of revitalizing.
"We have some
marketing work to
do, to let others
know we, as a
region, are open
for business," says
Scott Kaufman,
CEO of the Jewish
Scott
Federation of
Kaufman
Metropolitan
Detroit. "We get
that, but many others may not."
He adds, "In talking to people in
business and real estate who are
much more knowledgeable than
me, the filing is a necessary step to
right-size our city. Locally, people
understand what the situation
is; there's a lot of confidence in
Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr."
But there's no question professional
recruitment will present a challenge
given the perception in some quarters
that "we may not have the electricity
working," Kaufman says. "But I feel
the filing may be a more traumatic
thing to my colleagues elsewhere
than to us here."
Social media will prove invaluable
in helping spread the right message
nationally as will TribeFest 2014, to be
held March 16-18 in New Orleans.
Federation has a large stake in the
city of Detroit because of the Jewish
community's historical and business
ties as well as its philanthropic and
cultural support. NEXTGen Detroit,
Federation's young adult division, has
a vested interest in helping the city
resonate for young people looking for
a community with a strong urban core
to live, work, play and raise a family.
Thanks to NEXTGen, Federation
has increased Detroit-originated
programming 400 percent in the past
few years, Kaufman says.
The latest example took place this
past Sunday. For the first time, Pitch
for Detroit, a 12-team charity softball
tournament benefiting the Do It For
Detroit Fund, moved to Belle Isle
from the suburbs. The Fund, a great
promoter of what's right about Detroit
and the surrounding area, offers
micro grants, ranging from $500 to
$3,000 to support selected grassroots
initiatives designed to effect positive
social change in Detroit as well as
to engage Jewish young adults in
meaningful volunteer service. This
year's funding theme is health and
wellness.
"Our best brand ambassadors,"
Kaufman says, "are our people,
whatever their age — not just on
behalf of Federation and the Jewish
community, but also on behalf of our
city center, Detroit."
❑
Leadership-Building Bridge
At its first board retreat of 2013-14 on Aug. 11, NEXTGen Detroit
held a leadership exercise testing the ability to work in small
groups for the benefit of the whole. The 44 attendees split into
eight groups with each group receiving directions on how to build a
bridge from cardboard and duct tape. The idea was that once all the
groups connected their segment, the bridge would be able to sustain
the weight of a moving golf cart. "And we did it, as you can see
by the look on my face!" exclaimed board president Rachel Wright
after the successful test drive at the Jewish Community Center in
West Bloomfield. Cheering are Eric Globerman of West Bloomfield,
Kelli Saperstein of Detroit, Melissa Burstein of Birmingham, Ben
Handelsman of Birmingham, Sara Wohl of West Bloomfield, Emily
Reetz of Madison Heights, Jodi Soloman of West Bloomfield, Rachel
Lachover of Birmingham, Leah Bold of Birmingham and Adam Block of
Huntington Woods.
❑
August 29 • 2013
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