Week 9 at Jewish Family Services was more of the same last week. With the Business Services campaigns launched and the email campaign sent out, it was time to direct my focus to next week. We’ll be thanking volunteers that have greatly helped JFS carry out its mission and programs. I spent a lot of time going through JFS’ Sharepoint to find good photos to post. That was fun – it was nice to see lots of familiar faces in photos that are one, two, or even three years old.

This is something I’ve noticed at JFS. There’s a lot of discussion about employee burnout at nonprofits, and what happens when we try to compensate monetary shortcomings with “fulfilling” jobs. Of course, JFS is not immune, but I can see they try to do right by their employees. And its clear that many staff agree and are content to stay where they are. Many have been at JFS for years, or have changed to other jobs only to come right back. Something I’ve also picked up is that previous JFS clients come back to work for JFS and create those positive cycles.

While my project for JFS moves full speed ahead, my Google Ad Grant campaign has stalled. I’ve gotten the language together, gotten necessary approval, compiled my keywords, and was ready to launch. However, I’m hitting a snare with billing. Everything on their website states that nonprofits should not provide billing information since the Grant covers the cost, and yet I’m unable to move on. I went to get help and ended up resubmitting my request approximately 10 times. It was perfect timing when the other JFS intern and two staff members came by my desk to take me to lunch. Thankfully, when we returned, I was able to finally file a request. Next week I’m going to follow up with Google since I haven’t heard anything. I think this campaign has a lot of promise and can do a lot of good, and I’m committed to getting it off the ground before I’m gone.

This week we also had an all staff meeting, which was interesting. I always enjoy learning more about the organization, and currently they’re on a rising tide of success. The resettlement program is going very well and they’ve been able to welcome over 100 people in a little over 100 days to the Columbus region. I also got to meet another Board member. She shared her journey and what brought her to JFS, and I was reminded how many ways we can dedicate ourselves to being of service to causes we believe in.