Kulanu Volunteer Opportunities
Kulanu relies on volunteers for its endeavors. Our volunteers are a source of ideas and energy; they teach in our communities; welcome visitors and speakers to their communities; develop educational and economic projects; make presentations to local, regional and national groups; raise funds and rouse their communities; share resources; and seek grants from family and national foundations. And so much more!
To Apply
Read the descriptions below to determine which volunteer opportunity would be the perfect fit for you! Once you've read these over you can complete our online application form here, and email your resume and cover letter to volunteers[@]kulanu[.]org.
Volunteering Overseas
If you would like to volunteer in an overseas community, please first review the list of Kulanu Overseas Volunteer Opportunities to see which communities might interest you and be appropriate for your skills and abilities. You can read more about each of these groups on their respective community page (visit kulanu.org/communities for the list of pages). Then please download our Overseas Volunteer Application Form here and email it to volunteers[at]kulanu[dot]org along with your resume.
Thank you for volunteering your time and skills to Kulanu!
Position Descriptions
Personal Fundraising Pages
(Virtual) Want to use the web to make a difference? Kulanu has just launched Personal Fundraising Pages as a great new way to raise money online for Kulanu's projects around the world. With Personal Fundraising Pages, you can raise money for Kulanu's work in El Salvador, the Abayudaya schools, the Abayudaya nutrition program, or Kulanu's general fund. Just register on one of Kulanu's fundraising pages, set a goal, and tell your friends and family! In addition to individual pages, you and your family and friends can form a fundraising team to support Kulanu's efforts around the globe. If you're passionate about volunteering but have a hectic schedule, this is a great, low-commitment (but highly rewarding) way to support Jewish communities worldwide.
Top of Page ↑Online Learning Program
(Virtual) Teach students around the world using Skype and similar programs, or email to communicate lessons and facilitate discussions. Classes in Jewish study, Hebrew, songs and recipes, as well as secular subjects such as math or English are all in demand. Ability to speak another language is a plus. Click here to read a recent Kulanu Blog post about the development of this exciting new Kulanu volunteer opportunity. Check out this article for the story of how this program began.
Top of Page ↑Treasurer/Board Member
(NYC area preferred) The treasurer will be responsible for budgeting, financial reporting, overseeing the bookkeeping and accounting system and approving or paying larger payments. S/he will also be part of an active working volunteer board that has monthly two-hour meetings via conference call and very frequent email and phone communications.
More about this position...
Annual Kulanu-Abayudaya Fall Speaking Tour Coordinator
(NYC / Anywhere) Every year Kulanu brings a member of the Abayudaya community of Uganda on a speaking tour through the US and Canada - and hopefully more destinations in the future! - to garner support for Kulanu's work with the Abayudaya and raise awareness about this unique group's Jewish history and traditions. Assisting with the coordination of the speaking tour requires someone who is highly organized, deadline- and detail-oriented, skilled in creative problem-solving, and an effective communicator. This position involves collaborating with host groups all over the continent (synagogues, social action and adult education committees, schools, etc), coordinating schedules and materials for each event, and helping to ensure that our visiting speaker has a wonderful experience educating all of us on this side of the ocean.
We have also added two more speaking tours - one about the Jews of Kaifeng, China (2010, 2011), and one about the Beth Yeshourun Jewish community of Cameroon (2012). We are currently seeking someone to help us with the Kulanu-Cameroon speaking tour which will run from February to March, 2012. Click here to read about this exciting new tour, featuring Serge Etele.
Top of Page ↑Kulanu Boutique Marketing
(Anywhere / Virtual) Kulanu's online Boutique carries lovely Judaica products and fascinating books - check them out at www.KulanuBoutique.com. Many items are made by the communities we partner with in various countries, and all purchases benefit Kulanu and the work we do with these Jewish groups around the world. We are seeking a volunteer with marketing or business experience to help us promote the Boutique. Our first priority is marketing bulk sales of the Kulanu-published book "Under One Canopy: Readings in Jewish Diversity," edited by our own board member Karen Primack, to places such as schools, synagogues, senior centers, Jewish education committees, and book clubs. Your ideas are wanted! See above for how to apply for the Marketing Volunteer position. Thanks!
Top of Page ↑Multimedia Coordinator
(Anywhere / Virtual) Kulanu has a growing collection of beautiful photos and intriguing video and music clips that we want to post on our website, Facebook page and in our Phanfare photo albums, which we use for presentations, youth and adult education, and other Jewish multi-cultural events. If you have skills in photo or other media management, we would love your help to organize our files and develop multimedia presentations using PowerPoint, slideshows and videos. Experience with photo or video editing, graphic design or PowerPoint will be useful, though it's not required. Creativity welcome!
Top of Page ↑Bar/Bat Mitzvah Project Coordinator
(Anywhere/Virtual) Our Bar/Bat Mitzvah Project program is a great way for bar and bat mitzvah students to share the joy of this lifecycle celebration with Jews in faraway places, and to develop resources for Kulanu's work with these groups. Often all it takes to raise a substantial amount is a heartfelt letter mailed with the invitations to the event. Many mitzvah project participants come up with their own ways to support Kulanu.
We are currently searching for a creative, energetic, and responsible volunteer to help lead and expand this project. The Mitzvah Project Coordinator will:
- develop promotional materials and reach out to organizations and media outlets that provide guidance to bar/bat mitzvah students
-publicize the Mitzvah program to clergy, Jewish educators, students, parents, youth groups, camps, and school
-develop project ideas and materials to support bar/bat mitzvah students who want to do a meaningful mitzvah project
Prior experience in marketing/advertising, development and/or outreach to youth would be helpful.
Click here to learn more about the Bar/Bat Mitzah Project program.
Fundraiser Projects
(Anywhere / Virtual) Work on your own or with your congregation, youth group, or other friends to organize a Kulanu fundraising project. Check out the Mitzvah Projects page on our website for ways you can share your birthday, anniversary, or other special event with Kulanu. There are also great ideas for group and classroom tzedekah projects or social action committee/tikkun olam programs, and we invite you to use your imagination! Email us at mitzvahprojects @ kulanu.org to let us know what you'd like to do.
We also welcome people who are interested in helping Kulanu with our direct fundraising. Our new Personal Fundraising Pages make it easy for individuals or groups to coordinate effective campaigns - and the online pages are also a fun social networking tool!
Top of Page ↑Awareness- and Fund-raising Presentations
(Anywhere / Virtual) Enjoy informing and inspiring audiences? Love to link up with others interested in learning about and supporting Jewish communities around the world? Then this is the job for you! We have a great network of volunteers giving presentations in their own and surrounding communities (in the US and abroad), educating their friends and colleagues about the work Kulanu does and the accomplishments and stories from the communities we support, and we are always happy to add to that team. This is a wonderful - and fun! - way to help Kulanu identify potential partners and donors, and to provide the opportunity to connect with your neighbors as well as other Jews all over the globe.
Training and resources are available, and we are open to collaboration on developing new and innovative ways of raising awareness and funds for Kulanu through presentations at conferences and synagogues, adult education / social action programming, youth groups, or other creative and effective outlets.
If you are more of a behind-the-scenes person, we could also use assistance with coordinating and supporting volunteers who are giving presentations in the US and abroad. This involves mostly answering questions and mailing materials, but we'd also love to have someone who can bring fresh ideas on how to reach more constituents this way.
Top of Page ↑Social Networking
(Anywhere / Virtual) Know your way around Facebook, the Twitter universe and the "blogosphere," and savvy about all the other Web 2.0 and social networking tools? Then we want you! Kulanu has a blog and a Facebook page, and we recently joined Twitter (www.twitter.com/kulanu_inc). We are excited at how these forms of media increase the ability of "all of us" to connect on a larger scale. We are seeking people who can keep these sites active and dynamic by greeting and getting to know the fans of the Kulanu, Inc, Facebook page, starting discussions, and finding great stories, news, and events to post on our wall. We also welcome volunteers who can re-tweet our Twitter posts, suggest good accounts for us to follow and find ways to effectively manage our presence on Twitter.
Top of Page ↑Various Research Projects
(Anywhere / Virtual) Our research needs are mostly web-based jobs such as locating updated information for our constituents and for our newsletter, tracking broken links on our website, finding information about dispersed Jewish communities, relating relevant events, and identifying people and organizations as resources on assorted Jewish or international topics. Some of these projects are ongoing, some are on an as-needed basis.
Top of Page ↑Apply for any of these positions using our online application form, then email your resume and cover letter to volunteers @ kulanu.org. Thank you for your interest in supporting Kulanu and Jews around the world!