Criteria: Venture Structure
Joshua Venture Group seeks Jewish social entrepreneurs with important ideas that will lead to positive social change in their Jewish communities. We are open to a variety of vehicles that Jewish social entrepreneurs may use, including nonprofit ventures, projects within existing organizations, and for-profit ventures. The sole criterion is optimal fit to the achievement of the idea proposed by the social entrepreneur.
All proposed ventures must:
- Be original and creative
- Address a demonstrated need within the American Jewish world
- Have concrete and measurable goals that include bringing about transformation through addressing the root cause of an issue
- Be based in the United States
- Be in existence less than five years
- Have a 2010 budget of less than $500,000
A project proposed from within an existing organization must have sufficient autonomy, including:
- Independent profit and loss control and accountability
- Hiring and directing its own personnel
- Governance that will allow for oversight in a manner that is aligned with the project’s mission and respects the value and needs of an entrepreneurial project
Projects not eligible for consideration:
- Political lobbying (beyond that allowed by law for nonprofits)
- Land, site, or major asset acquisition
- Political campaigns
- Any projects that discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation
- Any project serving as a pass-through grantor to other organizations or individuals
- Local chapters of national or global organizations
- Individual writers or artists seeking to develop / promote their works
- Local replications of already extant organizations (JCC, Y, etc)
- Research projects