III. Context: Findings and Demographics Relevant to the Strategic Plan
In the process of developing this strategic plan, we wanted to understand what our present members think and feel, and also the context in which we are operating and planning. We looked at feedback received from the Village Temple community on our current state and opportunities for growth, recent demographic and financial trends of the Village Temple, what other synagogues in our community offer, and the demographics of the Jewish community in our neighborhoods and city.
A. Strengths and Opportunities
Based on a series of Board and leadership meetings and Town Halls that have taken place over the last year among the Clergy, Board and congregants, the following were identified as key strengths and areas of opportunity for the Village Temple.
Strengths
· Small congregation where members feel at home
· Strong and inspirational Rabbinic leadership
· Worship: Kabbalat Shabbat service, Synaplex services
· Music: in services, Children’s Choir
· Strong B’nai Mitzvah program
· Part of Reform movement
· Welcoming to interfaith families
· Social action: Soup Kitchen
· Committed lay leadership
· Convenient location
Opportunities for Development
· Growing and nurturing membership
· Engaging congregants more actively; increase connectedness among congregants
· New programs to meet member needs
· Keeping young adults connected post B’Nai Mitzvah
· Clergy and leadership engagement and sustainability
· Building and organizational management
· Communication
· Expanded social justice programs
B. Village Temple Demographics and Financial Trends
The Village Temple currently has about 230 member families, with around 750 individuals. Membership has been declining over the past several years, reflecting increased competition from other synagogues in downtown Manhattan, the increased number of Jews who say they don’t want to belong to synagogues, the cost of membership, and other factors. Membership has been as high as 300+ within the past decade.
The average age of our congregants is 38, and 73% of members list children as part of their membership, although some of those children are over 18 years old. We have few young adult members who are not considered ‘children’ on a family membership.
Although members travel from around Manhattan and even other boroughs and outside the city, half of our members live close to the Village Temple, within the area bordered by 14thStreet, Houston St., Lafayette Street, and Sixth Avenue.
We have 121 children (from 89 families), from pre-K through 9th grade, of in the religious school. This has declined in recent years, along with membership. The Village Temple conducts 12-20 B’nai Mitzvah per year.
Friday night Shabbat services typically have 75-125 people attending. High Holy Day services, held at Cooper Union to accommodate larger audiences, are attended by 700-800 people at peak times.
C. Financial Trends
For the past several years, the Village Temple has operated on an annual budget of about $1 million. Salary, benefits and expenses related to clergy (including Cantor or, for 2013-14 the Cantorial Soloist and other musical leadership) account for about 25% of total expenses. The Religious School is about 24% of expenses, primarily for salaries for teachers and the religious school director. Administration – office staff, occupancy costs, security and other operating costs – accounts for about 28%. Maintenance, primarily salaries, are about 10% of total costs, and a variety of other expenses account for the balance.
The temple’s funding comes from several sources, generally in a consistent pattern from year to year: dues (38%), contributions (24-27%), High Holy Day tickets and contributions (17-19%), religious school fees (13-14%), program and other income (6-8%).
Thirteen donors account for 30% of the temple’s annual revenue. One single donor provides about 10% of the temple’s annual income and, 12 donate at least $10,000 a year, for a total of $200,000 (not including the single $100,000 donor).
The temple has generally operated with a balanced budget. The Building Fund currently has a balance of $159,502 and the Operating Fund a balance of $115,556 – reduced by $167,000 this year, primarily due to the need to replace the temple’s air conditioning system.
D. Competitive Landscape
For years there were not many options for those interested in a synagogue downtown, however in the last decade the number and variety of competing synagogues and other Jewish institutions has grown. We looked at the websites of 11 downtown synagogues to get an overview of what they offer:
· Only one other temple downtown identifies as Reform. Five identify themselves as conservative or orthodox and four identify as egalitarian or progressive.
· Four of the synagogues use multiple or rotating locations for their offerings
· Several synagogues have a variety of offerings such as programs for 20's/30's, 55+, Sisterhoods, Women's groups, Brunch and Learns, Clubs (e.g. Mah Jong club, Club Shabbat/Shabbatini), Special dinners/happy hours/brunches.
· Several synagogues speak to social activism as part of their offerings. Many are connected to larger social justice networks and initiatives that provide more ways for their congregants to participate in such projects.
· There are three types of pricing structures – 1) income based pricing, 2) segment pricing (e.g. family vs. single) and 3) no fee/pay what you wish. The VT pricing is structured as segment pricing and is comparable with other synagogues using same structure.
· One of the temples explicitly states that they do not require membership to attend Hebrew School and do not require a minimum number of years of Hebrew School in order to have a B'nai Mitzvah
E. Jewish community demographic trends in lower Manhattan and the New York City area.[1]
What we learned from the VT community and other synagogues reflects demographic trends in the Jewish community in our city. In Lower Manhattan[2] there are 49,900 Jewish households with about 73,000 Jewish and 18,000 non-Jewish individuals. (Throughout the city, half of the non-Orthodox couples wed between 2006 and 2011 are intermarried.) There are low proportions of children and high proportions of adults who have never married or partnered. 18% of households have someone in the home who identifies as LGBT. There are many seniors living alone.
About a third of lower Manhattan residents identify as Reform, and a third identify as secular or having no religion. Another 15% identify as nondenominational or “just Jewish,” less than 20% as Conservative, and 5% or less as Orthodox. Less than a third of Jewish households in lower Manhattan belong to a synagogue. Many households who say they have “no religion” or with another religion in the household still engage in Jewish cultural events, activities, and seasonal holidays. More than half of Jewish children in lower Manhattan at some point receive formal Jewish education.
While income levels of Jewish households in lower Manhattan are relatively high, there are still many Jews in financial and other need-- single parents and seniors, in particular. Overall in New York City, 27% of all people in Jewish households are poor, with an additional 10% “near poor” with incomes close to the federal poverty guidelines level. Those with low incomes (other than the Orthodox) are less likely to belong to a congregation and enroll their children in Jewish education.
F. Key Questions and Considerations
The information we reviewed raised questions and highlighted issues for us to consider:
· Should we explore different membership and dues structures, and align options to a thoughtful philosophy and policies about membership?
· Should we revisit the religious school offerings and framework as well as what we provide to teens and families post B’nai Mitzvah?
· Can and should we be developing programs in order to better engage varying segments of our congregant population (e.g. young adults, ‘caregiver’ population, LBGT)
· How can we build on our ‘success’ with interfaith families?
· Our Temple is one of the few located downtown that have a permanent and single location – how can we leverage that within our community to further draw from our immediate neighborhood?
[1] This information is summarized from the Jewish Community Study of New York: 2011 | UJA-Federation of New York, which is based on 5,993 interviews with individuals in the New York City area, including Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties http://www.ujafedny.org/jewish-community-study-of-new-york-2011/
[2] “Lower Manhattan” is defined in the study as below 60th Street, and the data are analyzed by east and west side neighborhoods. http://www.ujafedny.org/get/494338/