by Rob Berkovitz

If we examine carefully the ways in which we discuss dues with prospective members and respond to requests for dues adjustments, we discover that many times we do not act in ways that truly reflect the Jewish values we prize so dearly. The following “ten commandments” were created to engender discussion among temple lay and professional leaders as a first step in assessing productive ways to “talk dues.”

1. You shall create, from the very first encounter with prospective members, an atmosphere that invites and inspires a lifelong relationship predicated upon the ideals of mutual responsibility, honesty, and trust. (“The one who trusts need not fear.” Isaiah 28:16)

2. You shall discuss dues with a prospective member in the context of a broader conversation about the synagogue and opportunities for involvement in a personal meeting and not on the phone. (“…you shall not place a stumbling block before the blind.” Leviticus 19:14)

3. You shall educate congregants about the concept of a “Covenant of Membership” between the congregation and its congregants and the responsibilities of each partner to the other. On a regular basis, inform congregants about the range of programs and services the congregation provides to meet the needs of its members, the expenses involved in operating a synagogue, and, subsequently, the importance of members’ full financial support of the congregation. You shall communicate frequently with congregants about the current financial status of the congregation, not just in times of financial crisis. It is crucial to thank the membership for its ongoing and full support of the congregation. (“The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him …. And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:1-2,8)

4. You shall demonstrate through your actions that you care more about people than about their money. (“Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Eternal.” Leviticus 19:18)

5. You shall strive to establish an atmosphere of mutual support and understanding within the congregation that encourages fiscal responsibility from members and compassion for members’ needs from the leadership. Consider raising dues slightly each year, knowing that expenses will rise, rather than surprising congregants with a large increase every few years. (“Thus said the Eternal, ‘Execute justice; deal loyally and compassionately with one another.’” Zechariah 7:9)

6. You shall not keep the availability of and procedures for dues adjustment a secret. Anyone in need should feel comfortable requesting adjustment, thereby remaining a member of your congregation. (“Let your house be open for adjustment and let the poor be members of your household.” Pirkei Avot 1:5)

7. You shall respect and maintain the honor of a person requesting adjustment. Guard the confidentiality of the request closely, lest members be hesitant to request adjustment. Maintain good records from year to year so that the rationale for granting dues adjustment will be clear to those handling requests in the future. (“Let the honor of your neighbor be as dear to you as your own.” Avot d’Rabbi Nathan)

8. You shall respond speedily to requests for adjustment so as not to keep someone waiting anxiously for the response. You shall have responsible policies in place so that arrears are addressed in a timely manner. (“Precious is a mitzvah fulfilled at its proper time.” Sifra 25a)

9. You shall discuss dues adjustment with congregants in as personal a way as possible. Face-to-face meetings are always preferable. (“If an evil day befall your neighbor, consider how you can show him loving-kindness to deliver him from evil.” Pesikta d’Rav Kahana)

10. You shall conduct dues-related discussions in ways that exemplify how much you value the membership of everyone in your congregation and invite all who are interested to become part of your synagogue community. In every congregation there are members who cannot afford full dues and members who can afford to pay more than the minimum. You shall provide opportunities for those who have the ability to give more so that as a congregation you can afford to welcome all who want to participate in your synagogue community. (“My House shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Isaiah 56:7)

Rob Berkovitz is a former finance specialist for the URJ. He and his family live in Massachusetts.

All religious organizations need to raise money to operate. Synagogues and churches that have their own building need to pay operating costs, including electricity, heat, air conditioning, cleaning, building maintenance and repairs. Most have some payroll expenses, which include clergy, custodial staff, administrative staff, educators and more, dependent on the size of the congregation. And religious schools also have financial needs. Many schools pay their teachers and provide up-to-date educational materials and clean rooms that are furnished and well–lit. All these elements enrich your congregation, and they all cost money.

Someone who has not grown up with an understanding of why synagogues ask for dues may find it off-putting and compare it to the perceived welcome of Chabad or churches where there are no membership dues. But the comparisons don’t hold. Unlike churches, which “pass the plate” during services, synagogues are not able to ask for donations on Shabbat and holidays, which is when they are most able to reach their congregants.

There are several other mechanisms that churches use to obtain financial support:

• Many churches will send each congregational family an envelope, pre-printed with the congregant’s name. These envelopes are placed in the collection basked each week.
• Tithing is another vehicle churches use for financial support. The pastor and a congregational leader visit each household, discuss where the church and congregation are, and ask for a financial pledge payable over their fiscal year. (A tithe is a biblical measurement equivalent to ten percent of one’s income.)
• Just as synagogues have special appeals, so do churches and other houses of worship. Holiday collections centered on Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are commonplace.
• Like a church, Chabad does not have membership dues. There is an understanding that once you are engaged with that Chabad chapter, you will provide financial support.

There is no such thing as “pay to pray.”  Our synagogues and most churches are open to all for worship.  But the reality is that even our basic expectations—of a well-kept, “comfortable temperature” building with clergy who are there for us and a school that will educate our children—cost money. Membership dues are just another way of collecting contributions and enabling all houses of worship to keep their doors open and the lights on.

One final thought: Without bread, there is no Torah.  Without Torah there is no bread. We provide the financial sustenance for our congregational home, and in return we receive spiritual sustenance from our congregation, through worship, study and community.

by Rabbi David Fine

Changing demographics, declining religious school enrollment, troubled finances-a sure formula for frustration (to say the least). It could also be the prompt for thinking anew about the way we do business. This may not only be happening in our congregation, but also in our neighboring Jewish congregation. There will be those who will shrie (yell), “oy gevalt!” and want to walk away, and those who will shrie for merger. Before resorting to one or the other, let me offer several considerations:

• Try to remove the “M” word (merger) from the conversation. Rather than allowing for possibilities, it carries the sound of demise. Instead, consider ways in which the two (or even more) congregations might consider collaborating.
• Use metaphors to describe the potential alliance. Be creative in doing so. Will we be like conjoined twins, sharing a rabbi, an educator or staff members? Will one congregation absorb the other? Could we build a campus with several organizations housed in one facility? Should we cohabit, living together but not dissolving our organizational walls?
• If consolidation is the goal, don’t jump right in. Consider consolidation as a marriage. Before joining together for a common future (getting engaged) consider dating for a while. Do we get along? Do we have common values? Can we agree on what is important and what is a luxury?
• Remember that self-interest is key here. The model of success for collaboration is to ensure that our core values are preserved. The form, whether it is a free-standing, newly built synagogue or it is a storefront, is less important. The substance-why do we exist as a congregation-is vital.
• Do your best to get to yes. Follow the principles of William Ury and Roger Fisher, both of whom are members of the Harvard Negotiating Project, in their book Getting to Yes. (I recommend everyone involved in leading the process read this book.)
• Don’t bargain over positions
• Separate the people from the problem
• Focus on interests, not positions
• Invent options for mutual gain
• Begin with small leadership groups–both within each congregation and with teams composed of members of both congregations. Expand the circle as trust is built. There will be challenges along the way, but having a core team is vital.
• Utilize the wisdom of others who have travelled this path before you.
• Consider that if this is only about finances (rather than sustaining a sacred community) then we are only delaying the inevitable rather than building a future.
• Doing nothing, also known as “maintaining the status quo,” is also an option. Consider, instead, what your community’s trajectory will be if you continue along the current path.

Turn to your board for leadership. If you are on the board, lead. There is no time like the present, even amidst challenges, to build a stronger future.

Rabbi David Fine is a Senior Consultant with the URJ Congregational Consulting Group. Despite the fact that his areas of specialty are congregations in transition as well as mergers and alternatives to mergers, he remains a realistic optimist. He follows the thinking of Jewish historian Jonathan Sarna who notes that the Jewish community has consistently responded to external pressure with internal change and growth. Rabbi Fine can be reached at DFine@urj.org.

by Lindsey Sadler

This summer I experienced my first membership commitment recertification at Temple Sinai, Atlanta. As we operate on a fair share dues model, this is the time of year when we send our membership materials to congregants and ask them to strive towards contributing 2% of their annual gross household income minus costs such as alimony and child support. Simple, right? Members and their families do the math; a household earning $200K per year would contribute at the $4000 level, and a household earning $80K would contribute at the $1600 level. The distribution of wealth will balance out; costs will be covered and everyone is  welcome at Sinai regardless of wealth or lack of it. For the most part, it functions here; we continue to maintain a balanced budget, and many members claim to feel a unique and comforting sense of egalitarian community here.

As we worked tirelessly to recommit all of our members in dues for the 2011.2012 fiscal year, I began to realize just how complicated and delicate a Fair Share system can be. While speaking with members who were contemplating their dues levels and examining the dues commitment paperwork as it was returned, it seems that Fair Share dues is about more than the simple calculation of 2%. It’s about what’s happening in members’ lives and how connected they feel to Sinai. We got some pleasant surprises in increases and a few alarming shocks in decreases.

As this is my first time working in a synagogue, fair share dues isall I know, at the moment. I feel quite certain there is merit in astandard dues model. But I work with fair share, so my task is towonder, how can this  delicate and idealistic model of support work tosustain our shul?  How do we prevent it  from becoming a broken modelthat lacks integrity?

So, let’s just ask it, is Fair Share fair– to the memberand to the temple? The system relies on integrity of themembership-temple relationship. In examining the fairness, there arequestions that temple members, leadership, and staff must askthemselves. If private school tuition goes up or the family is taking asummer trip to Europe, should the temple dues be scaled back? If alucrative real estate deal is successful or someone makes partner,should the dues be  increased? Hopefully, it all balances out, andmembers do their best to pay fair share or close to it. What aboutthose who strive to pay their fair share, yet suspect their wealthierneighbors do not, or perhaps know they don’t through candidconversations. Should members invite friends, family, and colleaguesto join their shul when the first interaction with the temple may benot being truthful about their income? Does the fair share model providemembers with opportunities to act with integrity; and if not, is theretrust in the community for honest dialogue among members, leadership,and staff about the importance of everyone striving to pay fair share?On the staff and leadership side, do members feel connected and welcomeevery time they visit or call the temple? Are we extending enoughgratitude to members for their generosity?  Are we periodicallyexamining our membership and noting life changes such as retirement orone parent deciding to stay at home with the kids, and understandingwhen dues are decreased. And is it fair for us to believe that memberswill feel compelled to give at or above the cost of running the templeif we don’t tell them what the cost is? Are we doing the work it takesto maintain the integrity of the Fair Share support model?  All of theabove questions must be asked and honestly answered by members,leadership, and staff to work towards keeping Fair Share fair.  If the answers are no, then our fair share model probably isn’t fair, and we must work harder to make it so.

Lindsey Sadler has worked as the Development Director of TempleSinai, Atlanta since June 2010. She works under the supervision of SteveBram, Executive Director

Spotlight on Finance and Fundraising: This month we are highlighting the URJ’s resources for helpingcongregations with fundraising, budgets, annual commitments, survivingin the current economic crisis, and much more. Visit the Congregational Finance website for more info.

by Rabbi Howard Jaffe

Okay, it is not so modest. It may be a bit too ambitious. So how about this: can we at least rethink how we fund our synagogues?

We need a new financial model in North American Jewish life.

Once upon a time, Jews grew up, became young adults, almost always married other Jews, and within a few years, joined a synagogue. Whatever that synagogue asked for in dues, they paid (and did not see it as a contribution, but more of a Jewish tax). No more. Even so, the vast majority of our congregations still operate with models that were created in a different time, and reflect a different reality. Think about it: right now, if someone comes to one of our communities, we invite them in warmly, and ask them to commit to thousands of dollars per year to become part of a congregation with which they have yet to make a personal connection.

My synagogue is not unusual in relying on dues for the greatest part of our annual revenue. We are in good financial shape, and weathered the economic storm of recent years in large part thanks to two extraordinary well-timed gifts to our endowment. Our membership has increased over the past several years, and by most objective measures,we are thriving. And yet, in spite of the meaningful amount of interest that our endowment continues to yield, and in spite of our increased membership, our current financial model, the same one that is found in the vast majority of North American synagogue, is unsustainable.

Our congregation has a flat dues program, as opposed to a fair share or other somewhat less conventional model. And like most congregations, we are committed to the principle that no one will ever be turned away from membership because of genuine financial need.Beginning in 2008, when we first saw, as most congregations did, a sharp spike in the need for special arrangements, both the number of requests for such arrangements and the aggregate value of those arrangements have steadily increased.  While their numbers have been small, we have found, as have other congregations, that every year there are congregants who decide that the extent of their expected financial commitment to the Temple exceeds their sense of what is an appropriate annual contribution, and so, resign their membership. Many of them are quite blunt about this it: they would continue to be congregants if they could do so for a smaller annual commitment. There are congregations with flat dues that accommodate those requests,but most, including ours, do not. The result of all of these factors is that, even with careful controls and financial discipline, the income we receive from dues as a percentage of our annual revenue is decreasing, requiring us to increase revenue from other sources or,over time, dramatically reduce our expenses, resulting in a different synagogue than we have today. We are neither small nor huge (about 820 households), and we pride ourselves on the extraordinary efforts and leadership provided by our congregants, but with a smaller staff than we currently have, and without financial resources to support our efforts(as it is, a very small percentage of our budget goes to support programming), we simply cannot continue as we are today.

We have decided, then, to embark on an unprecedented effort (in our community, at least) to increase the level of philanthropy within the congregation, in a combination of endowment and annual giving so as to, at the very least, slow the pace of dues increases, likely reduce the standard amount of dues that we ask congregants to contribute, and perhaps even reduce the threshold amount of “standard” dues so that finance is no longer a barrier to the participation of anyone, not only those who are unable to afford that “standard” amount.  Imagine how wonderful it would be to be able to welcome any newcomers to our community to participate in the lives of our congregations, and only later raising with them the matter of financial support!

My own experience has been that raising the level of philanthropy has been much easier than I ever imagined. Ours is not an especially affluent community, though admittedly, we have a few folks who have been able to make extraordinary gifts that have made a great difference. Our efforts, however, are broad-based, as the vast majority of our congregants are able to contribute significantly more to the Temple on an annual basis than they currently do, but have never been asked. We know from the experience of other organizations and institutions that rely on philanthropy that a compelling mission and a compelling story result in meaningful financial support. As long as our mission and our story is compelling, we can experience the same results, and create a new model for a new time and a new reality.

Rabbi Howard Jaffe is the Senior rabbi at Temple Isaiah in Lexington, MA.

Spotlight on Finance and Fundraising: This month we are highlighting the URJ’s resources for helping congregations with fundraising, budgets, annual commitments, surviving in the current economic crisis, and much more. Visit the Congregational Finance website for more info.

(originally posted on the Camp Newman Blog)

Our 11th grade program is described as the first step in our camp leadership programs.  The three pillars of the program include personal growth, service to the community, and service to the world.  These full summer campers participate in service blocks helping around camp by sorting mail, picking up trash, finding lost & found articles, and helping in the dining hall.  As service to the community, they worked on a project to benefit camp building a mud oven and organic garden at our sustainable village, Kibbutz Yarok.  They also built a mosaic floor that will be part of a gazebo in the middle of our vineyard.  Servicing the world, Avodah did a variety of work regarding HIV/AIDS.

After learning about HIV/AIDS, the Avodahniks march in the Pride Parade in San Francisco.  Dancing the “Turkish Kiss” while walking, the Avodahniks demonstrate advocacy for personal pride.  Several fundraising projects, over the summer, also teach them the fundamentals of raising money for a good cause:

• Telling your compelling story and educating people to your cause,
• Asking people to give in a way that is meaningful
• Thanking donors for their generosity

Their efforts raised over $11,400 for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation this year alone.  In the last 10 years, Avodah has raised over $80,000 for the fight against HIV/AIDS.  The campers present their gift every year while participating in the San Francisco AIDS Walk.

Telling their story and raising money included creating this video and:

• Asking parents to give during camper drop-off.
• Calling people in their own circle of influence and asking for their support (Rabbis, parents, friends).
• Setting up a facebook presence in order to raise awareness.
• Events for the camp staff are the most fun.  “AvoSpa” is a spa night where camp staff is treated to massage, pedicure, manicure, facials and of course, snacks.  “Avodauction” is a live and silent auction which raises several thousand dollars.  Staff bid on items like: Director for a day, personal sunset tower climb, In N Out dinner, special parking spot, etc.

Finally, all the Avodahniks spent time writing special thank you notes to their contributors.  Amazing kids all the way around – and we are so proud of them!!

AIDS Stop Motion from URJ Camp Newman on Vimeo.

Spotlight on Finance and Fundraising: This month we are highlighting the URJ’s resources for helpingcongregations with fundraising, budgets, annual commitments, survivingin the current economic crisis, and much more. Visit the Congregational Finance website for more info.