BELIN OUTREACH AND MEMBERSHIP AWARDS
Belin Outreach and Membership Application
The Belin Outreach and Membership Awards have been designed to encourage and honor Reform synagogues with outstanding Outreach and Membership programs that actively welcome and integrate those new to Judaism. Funded through the generosity of David Belin, z"l, the first chairman of the Union for Reform Judaism - CCAR Joint Commission on Outreach and Membership, awards of $1,000 each will be made to up to ten congregations at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in Toronto, November 4- 8, 2009.
In addition to honoring congregations that have developed uniquely innovative and effective Outreach program and programs, the Belin Outreach and Membership Awards also solicit programs that engage and retain members of our congregations. Winning programs are available in the URJ Press publications:
The winning programs of 2009 will be featured in the Outreach & Membership Idea Book Volume III.
Awards Categories
Programs will be judged on their effectiveness in fulfilling Outreach and Membership goals, their creativity and their ability to be tailored to use in other congregations. We are looking for programs that: 1. support interfaith families and invite and support conversion; 2. create a culture that welcomes diversity in your community; 3. focuses on improving membership recruitiment, integration and retention; and 4. honors longtime members. The programs should be designed to target one or more of the following groups:
- Interfaith couples*
- Interfaith families *
- Unaffiliating interfaith couples
- Children or adult offspring of interfaith families
- Interfaith families with children in religious school or deciding how to raise their children*
- Young adults, 20s or 30s
- Individuals exploring converstion to Judaism*
- Congregational programs for membership retention *
- Outreach to the unaffiliated utilizing effective print and other media publicity
- Empty nesters
*Particularly programs that promote membership retention, that honor and support the non-Jewish partner and that invite and support conversion.
Congregations that submit a full-spectrum Outreach or Membership program may earn an award for the whole program or for a single aspect of it. Be sure to include full documentation for each element.
In order to allow for differences in programming due to congregational size, the Awards Committee will designate at least two awards for small congregations (under 250 member units).
Application Process
Union for Reform Judaism congregations are invited to use the attached application form to apply for a Belin Outreach and Membership Award. Your regional Outreach and Membership director is ready to advise you on your application.
All applications and all supplemental materials should be submitted either
- on CD or
- As email file attachments (outreach@urj.org) in editable format
- Five (5) hard copies of all supplemental materials (bulletin articles, flyers, etc.) are also required.
All supplemental materials must be attributed where appropriate.
Please send application materials by April 10, 2009:
URJ Department of Outreach and Membership
633 Third Avenue, 7th floor
New York, NY 10017
Questions? Contact your Regional Outreach and Membership Director or the national Outreach and Membership office.
