Big Tent Judaism

High Holiday Follow-up

Each year we see an increasing number of news articles covering the growing phenomenon of free High Holiday services. That’s because more and more synagogues and other Jewish organizations are recognizing that the “pay-to-pray” model can no longer serve as the only option, if we hope to provide meaning at the holiday time for all who would join us. It’s exciting to see an increasing number of free and low-cost options for those who are not yet fully on the inside of the community.

And yet, how do we measure success of these free High Holiday offerings? Certainly, a well-attended service that people feel good about is a positive result, in and of itself. If such programs really do provide people with the meaning and/or spirituality that they’re seeking, though, another important measure of success would be that we on the inside of the organized Jewish community won’t have to wait another full year to see these folks return!

In order to encourage deeper engagement in organized communal life by the unaffiliated who attend free High Holiday services, we recommend Jewish communal professionals consider the following actions:

1. Learn who the newcomers are by collecting contact information and other details;
2. Follow-up with them individually after the holidays to hear how their experiences were;
3. Have a number of low-barrier, “next step” program options available for people to learn about, either during the High Holidays themselves or on follow-up calls;
4. Invite them to a relevant next-step program, perhaps by providing free passes, and be there to meet with them and further learn about their needs and interests.

Gradually, through personalized follow-up, newcomers may find that deeper involvement in the community can provide the value and meaning they’ve been seeking.

To avoid turning people off, we recommend that Jewish communal professionals do NOT:

1. Dump all newcomers directly into a general mailing list where they will receive the same materials (and solicitations) as those already on the inside;
2. Believe that a general, mass-email to all newcomers constitutes “personalized follow-up”;
3. Immediately solicit newcomers for organizational membership or other high-cost, high-barrier participation, as that is often the exact reason they haven’t been participating in the first place; a major perception among unaffiliated Jews is that the Jewish community “just wants my money”—don’t prove them right.

Free programs of Jewish life are a good thing, if they are high quality and provide meaning, but they can also serve as an entryway for deeper engagement when outreach best-practices are utilized. For more information, please feel free to contact us at the Jewish Outreach Institute.

Comments

No comments yet.

Leave a comment