Project Lab: score, budget and pitch every idea

Everything you need to use this lab without any other document.

The community in brief

• Bendigamos was founded in Amsterdam in 2015 by Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira, whose family has belonged to the city's Portuguese-Jewish community for about four centuries. Services are Orthodox and follow the ancient Amsterdam-Portuguese rite.
• It draws 80–100 people on Shabbat morning (average age about 30), runs more than 80 activities a year and reaches about 2,000 unique visitors a year, with a waiting list because the synagogue is full.
• Its main needs: the final part of a community-centre purchase (a 310 m² listed building, about €440,000 in total; the fundraising page put the remaining gap at €110,000, so confirm the current figure), a kosher student house about €12,000 a year short of break-even, and running costs for rapid growth.

The fitness score

Each project is scored from 1 to 5 on seven criteria. The fitness score is the weighted average of those scores, shown out of 100. A score of 75 or more is marked Strong, 55–74 Promising, and below 55 a Long shot.

• Mission fit: how well it serves Bendigamos's community and heritage.
• Chance: likelihood of approval or of customers paying, judged from the funder's rules and track record.
• Money size: how much it can bring in.
• Speed: how soon money arrives.
• Ease: how little volunteer and staff effort it needs.
• Safety: low financial, legal and reputational risk.
• Synergy: how much it also builds the heritage recordings, courses and research (with Meldar and KST).

The starting scores are judgement calls based on research in October 2026. Change them in each project as you learn more.

The assessment (no AI needed)

Open any project and use Assess this project. It has two parts, and works the same way every time, so two people answering honestly get the same result.

• Go/no-go checks. Five yes/unsure/no questions: eligibility, excluded costs, Shabbat and festivals, a named lead and rabbinic approval. Any "No" marks the project Blocked. Any "Unsure" marks it Check first. All "Yes" marks it Cleared.
• Scoring questions. Thirteen multiple-choice questions, each worth 1–5 points. Each criterion's score is the average of its answers, rounded. Money size is set automatically from the budget: under €2,000 = 1, €2,000–5,000 = 2, €5,000–15,000 = 3, €15,000–50,000 = 4, over €50,000 = 5 (grant requested, or yearly net income).
• Answering the questions replaces the starting scores. You can still move a slider by hand afterwards.

Funder recommendations

When you write a new project, the form suggests funders as you type. Each funder has a list of keywords, target audiences, categories and excluded costs. A funder scores points for every keyword your description mentions, two for each shared audience and three for a matching category; projects of the wrong type lose points. The form also warns when your text mentions something a funder excludes, such as buying premises. Picking a funder fills in a timeline from its calendar: preparation three months before the deadline, a draft one month before, submission, the expected decision and the start of delivery. Dates are marked Official, Expected (based on last year) or Our target.

Status, the Next Year shelf and the Archive

Every project has a status: Idea, Planned, In progress or Done. Two places hold projects you are not working on now: the Next Year shelf for good ideas to pick up later (named after the hope "next year in Jerusalem"), and the Archive for finished or dropped projects. Nothing is lost; move a project back at any time. Deleting a built-in project hides it, and you can restore it from the Archive filter. Your own projects can be deleted permanently.

Priorities and lists

A project can sit in as many lists as you like (like playlists). Tick several cards to add them all to a list, change their status or priority, or duplicate them in one go. Give each project a priority (High, Medium, Low), or let the Tracker suggest one from its scores. Create lists to group projects for a meeting, a funder or a season, then filter by list everywhere and export just that list.

Following the steps

Each project has a steps tracker: tick steps off, add owners and due dates, and add your own steps. The Tracker tab shows all open steps by date, overdue ones in red.

Google Calendar

In the Tracker tab, Sync with Google Calendar copies deadlines and dated steps into your calendar and keeps them up to date each time you sync. Inside Claude it uses your Google Calendar connector (Claude asks your permission the first time). On the published website it uses Google sign-in, which needs a one-time setup described in the Tracker. Every date also has an "Add to Google Calendar" link that works anywhere without setup.

Editing and duplicating

Every project can be fully edited with Edit everything, including the ones that came with the lab: name, texts, audience, themes, funder, budget, timeline, key dates and steps. Edited built-in projects can be restored to their original text at any time. Duplicate makes an independent copy, with its scores, budget, steps and lists, so you can try variations.

Adding your own projects

Press + New project on the Projects tab. Give it a name, category, type (grant or earned income), funder, timing, description and budget lines, then run the assessment. Your projects work everywhere: in the plan, the pitch builder and the funder pages. You can edit or delete them at any time.

Budgets

• Grant projects: total cost = quantity × unit cost for each line. The funder share is the percentage the funder covers (for example, up to 80% for Portugal's DGACCP). The rest is Bendigamos's own contribution, in cash or in kind.
• Earned-income projects: yearly revenue = quantity × price for each line. Running costs are a percentage of revenue. Yearly net = revenue − running costs. Setup cost is the one-off investment, and payback = setup ÷ yearly net.
• All amounts are euros and planning estimates. Replace them with real quotes before any application.

Key rules to remember

• Portugal (DGACCP): Bendigamos must first be credentialed (email emi@mne.pt with statutes, KvK extract and board list). Its governing body must be made up of Portuguese citizens or people of Portuguese descent. Up to 80% of eligible costs, up to 3 applications a year. Windows: 15 March–15 April (projects July–December) and 15 September–15 October (projects January–June). It will not pay to buy or rent premises, or ongoing running costs. Applications go through the consular section of the Portuguese Embassy in The Hague.
• Never double-fund: each cost belongs to one budget only.
• Religion and culture: many culture funders exclude worship. Fund the cultural, educational and social side, and consider a separate cultural foundation.
• Commerce: keep trading activity off Shabbat and festivals, take payment in advance, run larger businesses through a separate company owned by the foundation, and get tax advice.
• Rights: get written agreements that give Bendigamos the rights to recordings, texts and arrangements before licensing or selling anything.

Saving and sharing

Your choices are remembered in this browser where it allows it, but not on other devices. Use "Copy plan summary" and "Copy outline" to keep or share your work.

Main sources