Sometime around the July 1 start of the fiscal year, many synagogues send out bills for their annual dues. But two Milwaukee-area synagogues will not be doing that this year or in the future.
Instead, for the first time, Congregations Beth Israel Ner Tamid and Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun will be sending out pledge forms and requesting that present and future members make voluntary donations, with the amount decided by the givers.
This constitutes a new and pioneering model of synagogue membership and financial support that is being tried in an estimated 20 to 25 Conservative and Reform synagogues throughout the country — and that more are exploring.
The Chronicle heard first that CBINT was instituting this model. The congregation approved it at its annual meeting on June 2.
Benjamin F. Kranitz, CBINT’s executive director, said in an interview at his office that his synagogue is calling this the “Tzedakah [charity] Pledge Model.”
“It breaks down what we believe to be the barrier to synagogue membership,” Kranitz said.
Kranitz, CBINT spiritual leader Rabbi Jacob Herber and president Nathaniel Sattler all emphasized that this model expresses a philosophy of synagogue membership and life based on “relationship,” a word all three emphasized.
“I really think we need to move away from the mindset where people are looking at their affiliation with a synagogue in a transactional manner, where they’re paying fees for services,” said Herber in a telephone interview.
“The orientation should be, I believe, where people see the synagogue as the opportunity to be a part of a community where they feel that their values are shared by others, a place where they can be inspired, where they can also be supported, where they can share the joys of life, and where they can find support when they are going through a crisis or have suffered loss,” Herber said.
And as Sattler said in a telephone interview, in this new model, “We emphasize our mission and our interest in relationship-building with our membership and with the broader community, and with those who may have an interested in connecting with us.”
Herber said that the philosophy behind this model was expressed in the 2013 book “Relational Judaism: Using the Power of Relationships to Transform the Jewish Community” by Dr. Ron Wolfson (Jewish Lights).
When asked whether this new model will bring in enough money to enable CBINT to function, all three officials expressed confidence it would.
They did acknowledge that CBINT has instituted what Herber called “a financial safety net … in the event that we found a shortfall.”
However, said Sattler, “We feel pretty confident that we will come close to the revenues that we’ve generated in the past years through the old model… It’s going to take a little more work and effort, I think, on our part, but I think it’s good effort. It’s about relationship-building and demonstrating to people that we’re a community worth giving tzedakah to.”
Herber added that in other congregations where this has been tried, “they not only didn’t have a shortfall… in most cases the income was the same or it increased. And in cases where they broke even the first year after adopting it, in subsequent years there were increases in income.”
The response from the congregants, all three said, was enthusiastic.
Kranitz reported that at the “town hall meeting” CBINT held May 12 to introduce this idea, “People said, ‘Why haven’t you done this sooner?’ or ‘This is such a good idea’… Certainly we have people who have had reservations about it, but no one has said, ‘Don’t do this.’”
Although The Chronicle heard about CEEBJ’s effort after learning about CBINT’s, CEEBJ has been working on its project at about the same time and approved it earlier.
While the idea at CBINT came from Herber, inspiration and encouragement at CEEBJ came from the Union for Reform Judaism, the national organization of the Reform movement, according to CEEBJ spiritual leader Rabbi Marc Berkson and executive director Laurie Kestelman in telephone conversations.
Kestelman said CEEBJ is calling its model “Mission-Based Giving.” It was approved by the synagogue’s board of trustees on April 23, she said.
CEEBJ officials shared with The Chronicle two letters that had been sent to congregants, one dated May 8, the other June 20.
The May 8 letter referred to a survey synagogue leaders had taken of its members, and said, “You have spoken — few of us want to make a dues contribution based on an annual self-reporting of income…”
And the June 20 letter stated, “You are no longer being asked to pay annual dues based on the level of your personal income. Instead, every member is being asked and encouraged to make an annual commitment to support, maintain and sustain our congregation.”
Kestelman said on June 25 that CEEBJ is already “overwhelmed by responses” to the June 20 mailing. “Contributions have gone up, at least with the first batch” of returned pledge forms.
More information about this idea and its history can be found in the article “When Jews Choose Their Dues” by Rabbi Dan Judson in spring 2014 issue of Reform Judaism magazine, which can be seen online (reformjudaismmag.org).
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