The Bronfman Youth Fellowships Alumni Venture Fund

Anyone who has ever run or attended a successful program knows how complicated it is to replicate the experience for alumni. Despite the difficulty, the Alumni Venture Fund (AVF) has been able to do this successfully for the large and diverse alumni network of The Bronfman Youth Fellowships (BYFI). BYFI has 623 alumni ranging 

in age from 18 to 41, now involved in every facet of Jewish and secular life. Through AVF, these fellows pool small gifts and make early grants to projects born within the network. For example, BYFI has supported the creation of the Food and Justice Haggadah Supplement; a do-it-yourself Judaism workshop in Toronto; and the Keshet Transgender Education and Organizing Initiative, which mobilizes the Jewish community to take action and become a visible force for transgender civil rights. AVF not only keeps alumni involved with the BYFI community, it also teaches them to be good grant- makers. AVF also harnesses the skills of alumni to provide peer-to- peer support to grantees. 

In 2010, AVF received a $10,000 matching grant from Repair the World (pro le 40) for service-related projects, which led to a 15% increase in donations from alumni. Also in 2010, AVF made its first three grants to projects led by Israeli fellows, creating new opportunities for innovation in Israel and education in North America. In the last year, AVF has worked with other alumni communities, including AJWS’s Rabbinical Students’ Delegation, Dorot, Birthright Next and PresenTense (profile 37), to replicate this successful model. 

Evaluators know it is “not easy [to] empower a group of alumni
of this size.” One evaluator has seen similar projects work in the secular world and is thrilled to see this “unique,” self-funded version work in Jewish life as well. Other evaluators hope to see more alumni organizations adopt this concept, which “teaches alumni about philanthropy and grantmaking” and is “a great tool to maintain the commitment and involvement of [alumni].”