Summary of January 2021 Board Meeting

January 14, 2021 Meeting Summary

Introduction of Early Education Director Sara Goldfuss: Sara has been with us about one year, and is grateful to be in our community. Athough we lost about half our enrollment at the start of the pandemic, some came back later and we gained a few new enrollments, so that currently with 42 students, we are at full capacity that allow us to follow the COVID protocols and keep us safe. We already have 44 students for the ’21-22 season,  and ultimately expect to enroll 58 students for the fall. We did experiment with an afternoon kindergarten enrichment program.  For this summer, we’ll have a camp.

Consent Agenda presented by Nikki Morris – all approved

1. Approval of December board meeting minutes from Terry Hirshorn
2. Community Committee report from Eileen Dwell: We have continued with our cooking for stocking up program, which supplies meals to those in need. Our virtual volunteer appreciation celebration was a big success and raised significant funds for Annual Giving.  We will soon resume our Challah Bakes with the preschool and are planning an inter-generational “read to” for EC students as well.
3. Adult Education Committee report from Ivy Weingram:  The many events sponsored by Adult Education Committee can be found on the BZBI web site under Events.
4. Tikkun Olam Committee report from Rosalie Kurz: We have knit caps and scarves, bought socks and boxer shorts and donated baked good, sandwiches and a Christmas meal to various organizations serving the Philadelphia homeless population. The anti-racism book club remains very active with the last meeting on February 2.
5. Governance Committee report from Deena Kobell: We have reviewed the bi-laws with respect to work of the Board and its committees, to determine if the names and functions of the committees are still aligned with the bi-laws and if not if one or the other should be amended to reflect current practices. We will schedule a workshop with the board in the fall to review the bi-laws.
6. Ritual Committee report from Larry Kessler: The Ritual Committee with the Community Committee will take over overseeing the monthly Shabbhakti yoga classes. In July 2021, Deborah Glassman will begin receiving compensation from BZBI for her classes and participants will be asked to contribute to BZBI for this programming.

Discussion items presented by Nikki Morris

1. Clergy report from Rabbi Abe: We look forward to planning for Purim, perhaps with an outdoor event, and hope to be back in the synagogue for the High Holidays. For special events, like B’nai Mitvahs, we will continue to offer hybrid services, but it is too complex to provide that option each Shabbat until we can have about 75 people in the shul.
2. Executive Director’s report from Rebecca Slavin-Phillips. We saved ~$20K last month  from various sources. We wrapped up the membership drive with 425 families/members and very few non-renewals (around 4). The HVAC pipe repairs are complete. We have started the work on a re-envisioned Tallit closet; our phone system has been upgraded with more capabilities; the kitchen renovations are also moving along, and may be done by the High Holidays. Purim planning is well underway.
3. Membership report by Sharon Greis: Our effort to reach out to regular congregants was successful and we also brought in 2 new members. The video we worked on will be reviewed at the end of the month, and be ready to go on website in near future.
4. Development report by Suzanne Litke:  As of 1/13/21, counting our Annual Giving in hand and pledges, as well as other donations, our yield is significant this year. All board members have received a list of congregants to call before the middle of February in an effort to reach out and connect with our congregants and thank them if they have already given to AG. We are convening a sub-group of Ivy Weingram, Matt Whitehorn, and Rebecca ​Slavin-Philips to create a ​program describing good ways to donate to the synagogue or put us in a will.
5. Finance committee report by Brian Bushee: We have all good news – we were forgiven for the EIDL loan, and we can apply for over $200K in a second round PPP loan.  This will cover the current short-fall in ECE.  All our audits are now done.  Our investments are doing well.

Visioning & Survey updates – Cara Levinson & Gary Bramnick

This was the third year of the survey and participation remains strong with 215 people completing the survey.

• • The survey was distributed to the congregation through emails and promotion in e-Cong and the survey was fielded using SurveyMonkey.
  • About 27% were single adults; 5% single adults with children; 35% married without children; 29% married with children; 7% Hebrew School families; 12% Post-B’nai Mitzvah families; 1% Preschool families; 1% student. (Note: more than one category could apply).
  • About one-third have been members under 5 years; one-third 6-20 years; and one-third more than 20 years

Key Takeaways

• • As a whole the congregation was very impressed, appreciative and positive about the shift to virtual shul, especially the High Holidays.
    • There were many, many comments about how surprised they were that High Holidays were so meaningful and engaging over Zoom. There was great recognition of all the hard work of the staff, Clergy, and volunteers to make this happen.
  • Respondents especially called out Minyan and Zoom Shabbat Services in very positive ways. They especially like the Kiddish breakouts and how Minyan provides an opportunity for connection.
  • There were many positive responses about the engagement and outreach as Covid-19 set-in and they really appreciated the phone calls and engagement for Shavuot.
  • Our congregants really appreciate BZBI and all the shul has done during this trying time, but they really hunger to be back in person, in any way possible.
  • However, many people commented that they hope Zoom services, and virtual programming continue.
  • As positive as the comments were, some respondents do not prefer engaging virtually.
  • There were many accolades for the clergy, collectively as well as individual callouts of praise
    • Rabbi Abe (“becoming an intellectual powerhouse AKA Rabbi Stone,” “Very moved by Rabbi Abe’s High Holiday sermon”)
    • Rabbi Annie (“Love hearing her sing with Rabbi Yosef on the holidays,” “Appreciate her perspective through a female lens”)
    • Rabbi Max (“We have been very happy with the improvements in the Hebrew school experience this year over spring of last year. We appreciate Rabbi Max, Ms. Mallory, and all their work in ensuring that our kids stay connected and engaged.”)
  • The comments were much more positive compared to the past years’ surveys.
  • There were many fewer negative comments about services overall.
  • In the past most negative comments about the services were focused on the Torah Service.
  • There were still some comments however about needing a Cantor, but fewer than in past years.
  • Some negative comments about Shabbat services being too long, too traditional, too boring and not engaging enough.
  • As in past years, while there were many who loved the High Holiday singing there were those who did not like “banging and clapping” and some who did not like the singing. Overall though, most loved the singing, especially the duets and spiritual the services were. There were many kudos to Rabbi Annie and Yosef.
  • Also, while many mentioned being engaged by the High Holiday sermons, and in particular Rabbi Abe’s sermon about Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and overall sermons about Black Lives Matter, there were those who found them too political. Most were stimulated, inspired and engaged by the sermons and really appreciated the need and challenges of taking on the weighty topics of our times. Threading the needle of satisfying our diverse membership will continue to be one of BZBI’s challenges.
  • While all of the programming and engagement opportunities received high scores, two areas that require continued focus are “being an engaging and warm place” and Neziner Hebrew School.
  • Specifically, around being a warm place, BZBI does make strong efforts here, which are acknowledged as individual events or points in time, but the opportunity is to dig deeper to find the right ways to change perceptions overall
  • There is opportunity to promote some of the vehicles we have for connection/communication for people who don’t know about them or maybe forgot. This includes the Shofar blog, YouTube channel, and Facebook page. People need to be reminder that the minutes from Board meetings are posted to the blog. There is also opportunity to help more people get on ShulCloud and to remind them that there is a member directory accessible through ShulCloud.
  • In summary, the majority of respondents were tremendously positive about the shul and the clergy and how we have been able to pivot to the online environment and keep people engaged.

Detailed Responses

Experience

• Respondents report the most important elements of their member experience at a synagogue as: clergy, warm/hospitable environment, sense of Jewish community, egalitarianism, location, diverse/inclusivity, religious services, communications.
• In terms of how BZBI was assessed on those attributes most important to members:
  • BZBI scored the highest on location, egalitarianism, our clergy, sense of Jewish community, religious services
    • Clergy was rated higher this year than last year
  • Warm/hospitable environment, diverse/inclusive and communications are areas BZBI scored as doing well on, but with opportunity to improve
  • Additionally, BZBI scored high on intellectual and teaching tradition, members and daily minyan however these were less important to most respondents.
  • The majority of respondents rating Hebrew school and youth groups a 3 out of 5 – middle of the road. However, compared to the other attributes it was at the bottom of the list and is a place to focus on improvements.
  • Financial Resources/ability to raise funds received the lowest rating.

Communication

• Almost 75% report receiving communications during COVID-19 from a Board Member or volunteer.
  • A few respondents said “lovely,” “thank you,” and “not necessary”
• 87% reported having made connections with other individuals at BZBI.
• 26% feel they would like more communication from the synagogue.

Engagement

• On engagement measures, respondents strongly agreed that they felt engaged by BZBI, and are satisfied with quality and quantity of programs offered
• 84% agree BZBI has top-tier clergy; 84% agree that they would recommend BZBI to a friend (14% were neutral and only 4 people disagreed).
• 85% expect to be a member 3 years from now.
• 73% are satisfied with level of support for lifecycle events.
• 32% agree that Neziner provides top-tier educational experience (42% are neutral and 27% somewhat or strongly disagree).
• 36% feel Tot Shabbat/Bonim is high quality with 62% neutral).

Satisfaction with Programming

• Respondents were very satisfied with all of the programming. High Holiday observances and Shabbat services, morning minyan and adult classes received the highest satisfaction ratings.
• Sisterhood, afternoon minyan, social justice work, volunteer opportunities and book club and community dinners were also satisfying experiences but with about one-third of respondents rating them as neutral.

Connection during Covid-19

• 80% felt connected to BZBI even though we have had limited access to the building.
• 90% felt BZBI maintained a high quality of programming and 77% felt BZBI has kept them engaged.
• 89% felt BZBI has maintained high quality of religious services.

Annual Giving

• 67% reported giving in 2019/2020
• The reasons people gave were because they believe in supporting the shul, see it as an obligation/loyalty/responsibility, the synagogue has needs, because they were asked, they know dues do not cover all the needs, because they love BZBI and want to give back.
• 51% said they gave because they received a letter asking for annual giving, 28% said they give at the same time of year, 20% gave spontaneously and 14% gave when somebody asked.
• 93% plan to give again this year.
• Those that did not give said it was due to financial circumstances, money needs to go elsewhere, two members felt that past gifts were not acknowledged and two said they did not feel connected.
• 16% participated in the Easy-Giving program.

Shul Cloud

• 22% report using ShulCloud regularly, 21% checked it out but don’t use it and 12% would like to understand it better. Many commented that they find it useful.

Communication

• 93% report reading the eCongregational email newsletter on a regular basis, 22% read the Shofar blog, 35% view the website, 11% Facebook page, 50% mailings/postcards and 4% YouTube Channel (very few respondents knew there was a YouTube Channel; 28% did not know about the Shofar blog, 33% did not know about the Facebook page).
• Comments included more insight into Board of Director decisions, missing the paper newsletter, enjoyed the monthly mailings of what is going on, we need a mitzvah corp to check in on members, bimah announcements in person were too long.
• “BZBI has increased its regular communications and I feel like I receive regular communication and know what is going on. I was disappointed in the communication regarding bnai mitzvahs – in terms of roles/responsibilities, timelines and scheduling of tutoring. I had to keep reaching out to ask questions and if I didn’t know to ask for certain information, I would have been operating even more blind than I did.”
• “The board should send out a monthly overview of their activities so that people would have an idea of what they do.”

Demographics of the survey respondents

• 65% female; 45% male; 0% non-binary
• Age: under 30 3%; 30-49 21%; 50-59 13%; 60-69 27%; 70-79 30%; 80+ 6%
• 25% have children under 18

Visioning: It was last done ~10 years ago.  Then it centered on life and learning in center city, and what the future might look like. Phil Warmflash, who has done this with other synagogues is working with us. Cara and Gary and Phil and 9 other people (Doug Barg, Liza Hillel, Jill Jokelson, David Lerman, Jennie Pritzker, Jenny Saltzman, Aliyah Stanger, Kati Steiner and Bryon Wasserman) comprise a task force, working in February gathering members points of view.  We plan to get together in March and make a presentation before Pesach or shortly after.  Then we will create committees to address the issues we have uncovered.