, Happy Chanukah or Good Pesach; and ask for their feedback regarding their temple experiences. Be sure not to ask the member to contribute to or volunteer for anything during these phone calls. Instituting this practice once, twice or even three times a year will reap untold benefits for you, the synagogue’s leadership: The members will appreciate the board’s effort; the call will help the members identify temple leaders and learn about what they do; and the contact will permit members to express their views in a nonconfrontational way.
Kathy Ryman, the president of Falmouth Jewish Congregation in East Falmouth, MA (400 households), said that her board could not believe how many members expressed their delight that the sole purpose of the calls was greetings. She felt that by spreading some good will among the congregants, the calls were well worth the time and effort. Douglas Small, the president of The Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom, Nashville, TN (765 households), scheduled two evenings for the board members to get together at the temple to make calls and then enjoy dessert, coffee and a discussion of the results. Most of the board participated and took pleasure in the opportunity to connect with members, who appreciated and enjoyed the effort.
Consider the following script used by Temple Har Shalom in Warren, NJ (450 households), courtesy of its immediate Past President Wendy Piller, last Chanukah:
Hi, my name is ________ and I am a member of Temple Har Shalom’s Board of Directors. As our temple grows, we want to try to maintain a feeling of community. With Chanukah just a little over a week away, the board, clergy and professional staff wish you and your family a Happy Chanukah. Over the next few days, we are reaching out to the entire congregation, not only to send greetings but also to invite our members to a Board Breakfast on [date] from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. This will be an informal opportunity to have a bagel and a cup of coffee and get to know board members as well as meet other congregants. I hope you’ll attend. Take care and Happy Chanukah!
The board members are asked to make the calls within a two- or three-day time frame so that no one feels excluded, forgotten or second-rate. The callers then write a very short report, and feedback is sent to the appropriate person for follow-up.
When such connections between the leadership and the members are ongoing and frequent, members consider it appropriate and natural that, upon occasion, they receive a call from the synagogue asking them to help out with something or make a contribution. In fact, they tend to regard such requests as just a continuing part of the leadership-member bond.
Because this year the first seder is on April 23, 2005, there is plenty of time before Passover for your board to consider this idea and create your own unique approach to calling your members.
For more information on creating a culture of voluntary participation in your synagogue, see the Union for Reform Judaism Ida and Howard Wilkoff Department of Synagogue Management publication Building Sacred Community: Volunteers in Your Congregation at www.urj.org/synmgmt/publications. For the full script and Suggestions and Guidelines from Temple Har Shalom (quoted above), see the Communicate! database of programming ideas at www.urj.org/comm and enter summary number 2052.
