Biennial, Day 1 (content observations)

The first session I attended at the Biennial was Marketing for Small Congregations. Despite being 45 minutes late, I think I got a lot out of it.

Newsletters:
--try and use them as learning tools (ie. history, Torah, holidays, etc)
--have youth group students write a column
--have regular congregants write a column
--have a pull-out calendar that people can post on their fridge or bulletin board

Websites:
--make sure the first page has the service times displayed in prominent place
--make it easy to find contact information for the president, rabbi, administrator, educator, etc.
--make sure that if people are e-mailing those people they will get prompt responses
--have a link for people interested in joining
--links for people interested in conversion where some basic questions can be answered
--give detailed information about upcoming programs and services
--don't have large areas of text people need to scroll through and read on the first page; if you want to post sermons or columns, link to them or provide downloadable PDFs
--don't have music automatically begin playing when you enter the site
--have clear navigation bars
--update regularly!
--make sure the look reflects the other materials the temple uses (stationary, logo, colors)
--if you have pictures, make sure there are pictures of the sanctuary w/ people in it, of the temple with doors open, of a good cross-section of the congregation

I think they also talked about having a logo and colors, and a "brand," but I feel like we already have that, so I wasn't worried about missing it.

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The 2nd workshop I went to was on Outreach Programs (I forget the actual title). I'm not currently on the outreach committee, but I though there would be some good ideas to that I could share, and there were. I was most interested in the one about attracting people in their 20s and 30s to join.

--stop calling due "dues" and members "members." Call them "support" and "partners. Don't make belonging to a temple like belonging to a gym or swim club (b/c those are places that hope that you don't really used them once you've joined; we want you to come to shul once you are a member).
--don't just provide social opportunities for young people to get involved; do something that includes a service opportunity and community support
--have reduced or no dues for the first year and reduced up to a certain age, but try to instill in them the value of supporting the temple financially so that when they can, they will.*
--do a program where you provide free or reduced membership for the first 6 months; get people in the door so they can see what goes on
--do new member classes (such as who are the committees, the board, the administrator, etc.) along with mixers where new members can meet current members
--make sure you do a new member survey after the first year; find out what worked for them, what didn't
--make it a priority that the rabbi and president contact each new member/family at least once over the course of the first year.

I have more notes at home, so I'll add to this later. But I felt like this gave me a lot of ideas about outreach.



*I think it is a common misperception that young people don't understand the value of supporting their temple financially; for a lot of people my age (20s–30s) I think they realize that they would be doing something good and valuable, but when you don't make a lot of money you have to make sacrifices and choices as to what you can support, and for many it probably comes down to being able to pay bills or joining a temple. I can say for certain that despite having a decent paying job it is still a bit of a struggle to pay my dues each year, especially as I am trying to save money at the same time for the future.