Transcript Slide 1

PEARL: Providing Education and Resources for Leadership
The Dynamics of Growth: Outreach/Inreach,
Marketing, Branding and the Covenant of
Membership II
Michael Clancy and Rabbi Shawn Zevit
May 11, 2011-12:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m.
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation
Transformative Judaism for the 21st Century
101 Greenwood Avenue
Beit Devora, Suite 430
Jenkintown, PA 19046
215.885.5601 / fax: 215.885.5603
www.jrf.org
Growing Sacred Community
http://63.115.67.94/cong/res-kehillah-builders-main.htm
"Being a Reconstructionist Congregation or Havurah means
taking the building of sacred community to heart. Our
purpose is to reach in and reach out - that is, to extend
ourselves inwardly to our existing community, and also to
reach out to the unaffiliated and the searching and offer
them ways into our community. It means conscious efforts
to grow, strengthen, and deepen the love for our
community, the Jewish people and the world at large."
- Adapted by Rabbi Shawn Zevit from the Inreach/Outreach
committee of Reconstructionist Congregation Beth Emeth, New
York
Commentary for Parshat Zachor –
Iturie Torah (a collection of Chassidic exegeses)
Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey after you left
Mitzrayim. How he surprised you on the march, and cut down all the weak
ones who were behind. When you were famished and weary and were not
God fearing. Therefore, when Adonai your God grants you safety from all
your enemies around you; in the land that your God is giving you as a
hereditary portion. You shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under
the Heaven. Do not forget! –Deuteronomy 25:17-19
Had the children of Israel not forgotten about the slower ones in back but
instead, brought them closer under the protecting wings of God’s
Presence, binding the slower to all of Israel, the Amalekites would not
have succeeded in their attack. But because you allowed the slower ones
to be aharekha (meaning both “behind you” and “other”), that you
separated them off from you and made them “other”, and you forgot
about your brothers and sisters, Amalek could viciously attack them.
Therefore, the Torah tells us to remember Amalek, so that we never forget
to bring our brothers and sisters who need special attention into our
midst.
Growing Sacred Community
Community building and membership growth is not exactly akin to
marketing a product and increasing sales. Genuine, dynamic changes can
lead to positive growth and increased participation and commitment. AND
(not “but”), there is a third “pillar” on which congregational growth stands.
In addition to internal (sometimes administrative) practices and external
marketing efforts, there is the all-important aspect of relationship.
Ultimately, it is not about the specific programming or the executive
functioning of the office or the pizzazz of the public relations, as vital as
they are. These are secondary and instrumental to the primary purpose of
fostering caring relationships that address people in their wholeness and
support them in their growth as Jews and human beings. Rather than a
“cafeteria” to which we invite folks to “buy” a particular product or
service, it is a community to which we invite them.
The Jewish Reconstructionist
Movement Today
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As of 2011,the Jewish Reconstructionist Movement (JRM) has 105 affiliates in the United States and
Canada, comprising a total of nearly 16,000 households, as well as international affiliates in the
Netherlands Antilles, the Czech Republic and Holland. (Here is a link to the directory of JRF congregations
and havurot on the JRF web site: http://jrf.org/node/13.) In 1983, we had about 40 affiliates in the United
States and Canada; in 1996, we had 75 such affiliates; and in 2000, we had 99 such affiliates.
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Using a rough estimate of the number of members of Reconstructionist communities (est. 55,000) and a
fairly conservative estimate of the total number of Jews currently living in the United States and Canada
(5.5 million), that means that affiliated Reconstructionists account for 0.8% of that total. Again using fairly
conservative figures, this also means that there are about 52 unaffiliated North American Jews for every
one affiliated Reconstructionist. Even if one rejects the proposition that “all North American Jews are
really Reconstructionists, they just don’t know it,” we have, to put the matter positively, an enormous
untapped market here.
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The mean size of a JRF congregation is just about 150 households, and the median size of a JRF
congregation is just about 100 households. We have more than 20 congregations with 200 households or
more. We have a lot of quite small congregations. Some of them wish to remain small, but many of them
do not.
Why Do Outreach and Marketing?
http://63.115.67.94/cong/res-kb-outreach-inreach.html
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Secularization (attitudes, values, behavior motivated by non-relig values & institutions)
Dissolution of community
Assimilation (social / cultural pressure,messages)
Changing demographics (today’s Jewish family / community are different)
Competition from other cultural /spiritual activities
Rising expenses of congregations
Scandals in religion (are we losing confidence in religion, leaders?)
A la carte membership (picking and choosing experiences)
Privatization of belief (trends toward anti-institutional, private practices)
Hidden treasures (e.g., what is the Reconstructionist approach?)
Making contribution to evolution of Jewish spiritual,
religious peoplehood and the global community
http://jrf.org/showres&rid=184
Inreach
Values Inventory http://jrf.org/showres&rid=185
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Message and Mission, Resources and Goals, Means and Ends
Roles to Play – Multiple Entry Points
Prospective and New-Member Programs
Mentoring / Pairing
Newsletters – More than “Upcoming Events”
E-mail – Short and Sweet
Personal Testimonials
Social Media
Coffee, a Phone Call, a Note
Outreach
A. “Members Beget Members”
B. Advertising and Public Relations
C. Community-Wide Offerings
D. Targeting Niche Demographics
E. “Friends of – ”
F. Website
G. Organizational Alliances, Coalitions, and Partnerships
Hitkashrut-Erekh: Jewish Values Based Communication
Branding and Marketing Your Reconstructionist Community
• This presentation reflects the creative ideas of Michael Clancy and
his advertising firm, Brandworks International, from Toronto,
Canada, on some new and exciting approaches to marketing
Reconstructionism and Reconstructionist congregations and
havurot.
• Michael’s work is the product of a strategic process overseen by the
2010 JRF Growth Committee. The Committee assembled a group of
Reconstructionist marketing experts, Michael included, to advise on
marketing Reconstructionism and marketing individual
Reconstructionist communities. That in turn led to the creation and
approval of a “creative brief” for the advertising firm to work
from. Offered at the 2010 JRF Convention, this presentation is still
a work in process and is available in our Keruv Resource Library
http://jrf.org/keruv-library and through this PEARL call.
Further Resources
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Keruv Library: Outreach, Newspaper and Magazine Ads and Press Releases http://jrf.org/keruv-library
Brochures and Program Fliers http://jrf.org/keruv-library/search/165
Frequently Asked Questions: http://jrf.org/resource-guide-faqs
Audio Programs: http://jrf.org/heart-mind-spirit
Webinar on using Facebook and Twitter http://jrf.org/keruv-library/search/225
http://stores.jrfbookstore.org/-strse-Congregational-Resources/Categories.bok
http://www.rrc.edu/ethics-center/publications/spiritual-community-power-restore-hope-commitmentand-joy
http://jrf.org/pearl/2009/dynamics-of-growth
http://jrf.org/pearl/2008/growing-your-congregational-community
http://jrf.org/pearl/2009/growing-the-soul-of-your-community
http://jrf.org/pearl/2009/innovations-in-outreach-reaching-out-to-unaffiliated-and-intermarried-jews
http://jrf.org/pearl/2008/using-the-web-and-newsletters-for-successful-community-building-andengagement
Becoming a "Kehillah Mekabelet,” The Struggles of Transformation
http://63.115.67.94/rt/transformation.html
JRF “Guide to Publicity.” http://63.115.67.94/cong/res-kb-guide-to-publicity.html
http://63.115.67.94/cong/res-kb-create-visibility.html.
Ways to Welcome New Members
http://www.jrf.org/showres&rid=188
http://www.jrf.org/showres&rid=186
http://jrf.org/resources-library&tid=2:13&show=#Membership
http://jrf.org/resources-library&tid=2:12&show=#Marketing