2004-12-10 Reaching unaffiliated Jews |
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remember market segmentation Jewishsightseeing.com, Dec.
10,
2004 |
CARLSBAD, Calif—The subject that the boards of synagogues and Jewish agencies perennially ask themselves came up during an enjoyable dinner party which Nancy and I had the privilege to attend this evening at the home of Gerry and Marilyn Greber. How can unaffiliated Jews be attracted to the fold? Among
those taking a stab at the question was Fred Daniel, a retired marketing
executive for Sears. First, he said, people need to understand that
unaffiliated Jews occupy the entire spectrum of age groups, so therefore
have different needs at different times of their lives. An approach that may
appeal to retired persons may not appeal to young marrieds with children, nor to
single persons just starting to climb the ladder of their careers. He explained that many people who retire to San Diego County have contributed to synagogue building funds in their previous cities of residence—in some cases, in our mobile society, not once but on several occasions. Join a synagogue and build a structure? "Not again!" many unaffiliated seniors respond. Gerry Greber pointed out that seniors often are on fixed
incomes, and some simply can't afford to commit to yet another building fund. He
said that Congregation
Beth Am is willing to make dues adjustments in such cases. This
prompted a chorus from other dinner guests about other synagogues that also
modulate fee structures according to a congregant's ability to pay.
Certainly it is true of Tifereth
Israel Synagogue, where Nancy and I worship. The same phenomenon may be true of Jewish agencies, Daniel said. Sometimes agency leaders give the impression that they don't care about the people, only about extracting fundraising pledges from them. This, of course, is anecdotal evidence gathered during a dinner conversation. But suppose further research indicates "building-fund fright" is indeed a major impediment towards affiliation for this market segment. Would synagogues be wise to waive building fund payments for seniors who say they just don't want to go through all that expense all over again? Additionally, it is fair to ask, just how friendly is your
synagogue? Are there procedures in place for welcoming and learning about the
newcomers? —Donald
H. Harrison
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