I could begin by arguing that we can’t afford NOT to publicize - most Jews, let alone interfaith couples - are not reading the Jewish News. But the fact is, if you don’t have the money, you can’t spend it.
So, let’s talk about money
Most people see the word “publicity” and think in terms of a monetary outlay for advertizing, something few non-profits can afford anytime but especially now. However, in today’s internet dominated environment any organization, even an organization without a website, can promote their events on free calendars and social networks.
But don’t look for fast results. Unless you have the money to advertize on TV you won’t be seeing sign-ups rolling in. You must go for what I can, the Grand Canyon Method - drop by drop, incessant bits of information raining down on your community. Put your events, every one of them, on the Jewish online calendars, the secular online calendars, all the local newspapers online and in-print community calendars. Don’t do it hoping to fill a program; do it to get your message out.
What result are you looking for?
When I moved onto a new street and met my neighbors one of them was a woman, a Christian, not married to a Jew, just a gal who reads the paper. She said, “Are you that lady who offers Jewish classes? I see them listed in the Montclarion.” (The Montclarion is a small, neighborhood paper that comes out twice a week.)
You must be tenacious and not expect immediate gratification. You are in this for the long haul.
Get yourself a website - a free one or just a Facebook page. You need a place to post your events. People no longer look in the phone book, they look on the internet, so get yourself a public face.
What should you say on your page/site?
Browse the sites of others in the interfaith outreach business. What do they offer that you want to emulate? Pictures? Stories? Links?
Be sure your site has your tone - that is, that it sounds like you/your program. Do you want to sound casual and accessible? Professional? Experienced? Compassionate? Be true to your own message and you’ll be fine.
If you want to talk to someone about your efforts, you may contact one of us from the column at the right.
Showing posts with label Think Tank 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Think Tank 2008. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Four Types of Interfaith Families
Jewish Demographics Studies
with Dr. Bruce Phillips
Over the course of years of studies, Dr. Phillips has come to identify interfaith families in four categories. They are:
Judaic - the only religion practiced in the household is Judaism.
Secular - no religion is practiced in the home. Both the Jew and the non-Jew (typically Christian) is not interested in religion.
Dual - two religions are observed, typically Judaism and Christianity. Family celebrates the holidays of both.
Christian - the only religion practiced in the home is Christianity.
There is an interesting error that most Jewish outreach stumbles on. The majority of outreach is directed at the Secular Family. This family has little to no interest in any religion. So efforts to draw them in are rarely successful. These individuals have no need or desire to have religion be a part of their lives. (I am using religion in its broadest terms here and including community.)
Additionally, Jewish outreach often shies away the Dual Religion family since Jews are uncomfortable with Christianity and do not support the idea of doing “both” religions in the home. Yet, these families are the most interested. Both partners are clinging to their religion and having trouble understanding how to sustain religion for each of them. They are the most receptive to learning about Judaism.
I do not want to down play how difficult programs for Dual Religion couples can be. They require a very centered and accessible facilitator who is comfortable with both hearing language that sounds like its neutralizing Judaism AND can express boundaries that are rational, not reactionary.
with Dr. Bruce Phillips
Over the course of years of studies, Dr. Phillips has come to identify interfaith families in four categories. They are:
Judaic - the only religion practiced in the household is Judaism.
Secular - no religion is practiced in the home. Both the Jew and the non-Jew (typically Christian) is not interested in religion.
Dual - two religions are observed, typically Judaism and Christianity. Family celebrates the holidays of both.
Christian - the only religion practiced in the home is Christianity.
There is an interesting error that most Jewish outreach stumbles on. The majority of outreach is directed at the Secular Family. This family has little to no interest in any religion. So efforts to draw them in are rarely successful. These individuals have no need or desire to have religion be a part of their lives. (I am using religion in its broadest terms here and including community.)
Additionally, Jewish outreach often shies away the Dual Religion family since Jews are uncomfortable with Christianity and do not support the idea of doing “both” religions in the home. Yet, these families are the most interested. Both partners are clinging to their religion and having trouble understanding how to sustain religion for each of them. They are the most receptive to learning about Judaism.
I do not want to down play how difficult programs for Dual Religion couples can be. They require a very centered and accessible facilitator who is comfortable with both hearing language that sounds like its neutralizing Judaism AND can express boundaries that are rational, not reactionary.
Studies: Who is a Jew?
Jewish Demographic Studies
with Dr Bruce Phillips
One thing that became evident early in our discussion with Dr. Phillips is the high level of political influence there is in Jewish demographic studies and how this impacts the resulting report. A question that has repercussions for every study is how the study’s authors define “who is a Jew?”
If you define a Jew as an individual who is the child of a Jewish parent, raised Jewish, still identifying as Jewish, you fail to learn about assimilation. Studies that question those individuals who identify as half-Jewish, of Jewish heritage, Christian Jews, etc., allow us to understand who is leaving Judaism and at what rate.
We learned that when this data is perceived of as too depressing or negative it has been entirely dropped by the funders of studies.
While this information may indeed be disturbing we need to be aware of it.
with Dr Bruce Phillips
One thing that became evident early in our discussion with Dr. Phillips is the high level of political influence there is in Jewish demographic studies and how this impacts the resulting report. A question that has repercussions for every study is how the study’s authors define “who is a Jew?”
If you define a Jew as an individual who is the child of a Jewish parent, raised Jewish, still identifying as Jewish, you fail to learn about assimilation. Studies that question those individuals who identify as half-Jewish, of Jewish heritage, Christian Jews, etc., allow us to understand who is leaving Judaism and at what rate.
We learned that when this data is perceived of as too depressing or negative it has been entirely dropped by the funders of studies.
While this information may indeed be disturbing we need to be aware of it.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Think Tank 2008
I realized I never posted photos from our gathering! So let me share with everyone some of our moments together.
Our plan for the gathering was to spend one day in creating a foundation of common knowledge on the topic of INTERFAITH MARRIAGE in the Jewish community and to move from that into our communal, programmatic, and personal responses from around the country. To create this overview of all current research we invited Dr. Bruce Phillips, sociologist, demographer, and author of many Jewish communal studies.
Our first night together we went out to dinner and established the comraderie that flavored the entire gathering.
From the left are: Natalie Rose, Rockville, MD; Dawn Kepler, Oakland/Berkeley; CA, Elana Perkins, Boston, MA; Bridget Wynne, El Cerrito, CA; at the head of the table, Bob Bernbaum a local friend who drove Bruce from the airport; Eve Coulson, Princeton, NJ; Dr. Bruce Phillips, our scholar for the Think Tank; Debbie Antonoff, Atlanta, GA; and Lynne Wolfe, New Jersey (office in New York).
We began our first morning with a thorough overview of all the current studies covering interfaith relationships in the American Jewish community. Quite fortuitously, Dr. Phillips had been retained to survey this same material and he came with a 23 page outline to share with us!
From the left: Dawn Kepler, Dr. Bruce Phillips, Marjorie Schnyder, Seattle, WA.
It was a round table dialog led by Dr. Phillips.
Participants from the left: Karen Kushner, San Francisco; Helena McMahon, San Francisco; Adam Halpern, Seattle, WA; Rosanne Levitt, San Mateo; Elana Perkins, Boston, MA.
The conversation never stopped.
Dinner with Natalie Rose, Rockville, MD; Bridget Wynne, El Cerrito; Phyllis Adler, Denver, CO.
The second day was an intensive discuss of on the ground experiences. Our reactions and thoughts on the data presented the previous day, programmatic approaches, current challenges from funding to marketing. There was a presentation of an extremely successful program with the opportunity to ask detailed questions.
We brainstormed about creating a "general" plan for community outreach but after extensive discussion we agreed that there was no such thing. Each community would have its own challenges, assets, boundaries and needs. Instead we developed an outline of how funders could support extending outreach in their own community and as a national agenda.
We agreed that we would mentor and assist any professional or community seeking to create or build outreach in their own community.
Before dinner we gathered for the requisite group photo.
Front row from the left: Natalie Rose, Debbie Antonoff, Karen Kushner, Elana Perkins, Margorie Schnyder, Dawn Kepler. Back row from the left: Lynne Wolfe, Rosanne Levitt, Eve Coulson, Bridget Wynne, Adam Halpern, Phyllis Adler.
One of the most powerful things to come out of the conference was the question in the afternoon of the second day: How can we tell the funders how important this experience was for all of us and encourage them to do this again? Participants decided that they would each write a letter of thanks to be included with the grant report articulating how the Think Tank had helped them. It is our hope that the funders will understand the value of bringing together veteran professionals and will do this again.
Our plan for the gathering was to spend one day in creating a foundation of common knowledge on the topic of INTERFAITH MARRIAGE in the Jewish community and to move from that into our communal, programmatic, and personal responses from around the country. To create this overview of all current research we invited Dr. Bruce Phillips, sociologist, demographer, and author of many Jewish communal studies.
Our first night together we went out to dinner and established the comraderie that flavored the entire gathering.
From the left are: Natalie Rose, Rockville, MD; Dawn Kepler, Oakland/Berkeley; CA, Elana Perkins, Boston, MA; Bridget Wynne, El Cerrito, CA; at the head of the table, Bob Bernbaum a local friend who drove Bruce from the airport; Eve Coulson, Princeton, NJ; Dr. Bruce Phillips, our scholar for the Think Tank; Debbie Antonoff, Atlanta, GA; and Lynne Wolfe, New Jersey (office in New York).
We began our first morning with a thorough overview of all the current studies covering interfaith relationships in the American Jewish community. Quite fortuitously, Dr. Phillips had been retained to survey this same material and he came with a 23 page outline to share with us!
From the left: Dawn Kepler, Dr. Bruce Phillips, Marjorie Schnyder, Seattle, WA.
It was a round table dialog led by Dr. Phillips.
Participants from the left: Karen Kushner, San Francisco; Helena McMahon, San Francisco; Adam Halpern, Seattle, WA; Rosanne Levitt, San Mateo; Elana Perkins, Boston, MA.
The conversation never stopped.
Dinner with Natalie Rose, Rockville, MD; Bridget Wynne, El Cerrito; Phyllis Adler, Denver, CO.
The second day was an intensive discuss of on the ground experiences. Our reactions and thoughts on the data presented the previous day, programmatic approaches, current challenges from funding to marketing. There was a presentation of an extremely successful program with the opportunity to ask detailed questions.
We brainstormed about creating a "general" plan for community outreach but after extensive discussion we agreed that there was no such thing. Each community would have its own challenges, assets, boundaries and needs. Instead we developed an outline of how funders could support extending outreach in their own community and as a national agenda.
We agreed that we would mentor and assist any professional or community seeking to create or build outreach in their own community.
Before dinner we gathered for the requisite group photo.
Front row from the left: Natalie Rose, Debbie Antonoff, Karen Kushner, Elana Perkins, Margorie Schnyder, Dawn Kepler. Back row from the left: Lynne Wolfe, Rosanne Levitt, Eve Coulson, Bridget Wynne, Adam Halpern, Phyllis Adler.
One of the most powerful things to come out of the conference was the question in the afternoon of the second day: How can we tell the funders how important this experience was for all of us and encourage them to do this again? Participants decided that they would each write a letter of thanks to be included with the grant report articulating how the Think Tank had helped them. It is our hope that the funders will understand the value of bringing together veteran professionals and will do this again.
Friday, November 7, 2008
From a colleague:
Dear Lynne and Dawn,
This sounds like it must have been an eye-opening experience for all involved. I would be fascinated to know specifically what were the some of the most surprising elements of your work together with Dr. Phillips...
Do you have a plan in place to meet again? Thank you for continuing to include me in this valuable dialogue! I am often a silent participant simply because of the demands of my work, however I am learning more all the time about a new side of the Jewish tracks here at B'nai Israel
and am actively engaged in the work of Outreach as your partner even when you don't hear from me!!!
Thank you to all who attended the conference and for all the good work you are doing!
Very best,
Jane N. Young
Executive Director
Congregation B'nai Israel
Millburn, New Jersey
Jane -
We will indeed be sharing some of the fascinating information we learned over the coming weeks and months. There was SO DARN much that we'll be putting it on in manageable pieces.
We are hoping to plan another gathering. In fact that was the number one concern of the participants. They felt that it was so valuable to be together. We really are never together as experienced professionals. When there is a conference we are in the role of teachers and workshop leaders. We grab each other over meals and in hotel rooms to exchange ideas and experiences. This is the first time we were together for the sake of our own empowerment and education.
Dawn & Lynne
Dear Lynne and Dawn,
This sounds like it must have been an eye-opening experience for all involved. I would be fascinated to know specifically what were the some of the most surprising elements of your work together with Dr. Phillips...
Do you have a plan in place to meet again? Thank you for continuing to include me in this valuable dialogue! I am often a silent participant simply because of the demands of my work, however I am learning more all the time about a new side of the Jewish tracks here at B'nai Israel
and am actively engaged in the work of Outreach as your partner even when you don't hear from me!!!
Thank you to all who attended the conference and for all the good work you are doing!
Very best,
Jane N. Young
Executive Director
Congregation B'nai Israel
Millburn, New Jersey
Jane -
We will indeed be sharing some of the fascinating information we learned over the coming weeks and months. There was SO DARN much that we'll be putting it on in manageable pieces.
We are hoping to plan another gathering. In fact that was the number one concern of the participants. They felt that it was so valuable to be together. We really are never together as experienced professionals. When there is a conference we are in the role of teachers and workshop leaders. We grab each other over meals and in hotel rooms to exchange ideas and experiences. This is the first time we were together for the sake of our own empowerment and education.
Dawn & Lynne
Friday, October 31, 2008
A Community of Practice
Lynne Wolfe writes:
We solidified ourselves as a community of practice during three days in September
A lone thinker or a group within the same discipline could not bring to an endeavor the level of creative process that took place. This was an exceptional moment in time!
Five veteran Jewish Outreach Professionals who work with Intermarried Families planned, received funding, and brought together nine other “on the ground” colleagues from different parts of the country with considerable experience in this field. One day was spent with Dr. Bruce Phillips, a demographer/ researcher in the Jewish Community. He discussed with us his research and that of others. We shared and exchanged the experiences of those we have actually worked with who are in the world he studies.
The commitment to ongoing dialogue with Dr. Phillips became mutually evident. It was clear that we need to communicate and “feed off of each other” so that we know we are reaching out to all those possible, and that the questions asked of participants in a study and answers given in future studies, be looked at in ways that speak to us in what we do. This approach would assist in the possible redesign, or validation of our programs. We further suggested that we participate in writing the questions to be asked so as to know the results of our expected outcomes.
For me this was one of the important outcomes that I anticipate will help to move our profession/discipline forward. Many of us this past year have been asked by Jewish Philanthropic Foundations about best practices…as a pioneer in this work having done it for over 17 years, I am in a position to elaborate. However, I believe it is time for the researchers to know more accurately what we are doing in order to collaborate so we can honestly validate or redesign and be able to move more effectively to share and widen our Jewish World.
We solidified ourselves as a community of practice during three days in September
A lone thinker or a group within the same discipline could not bring to an endeavor the level of creative process that took place. This was an exceptional moment in time!
Five veteran Jewish Outreach Professionals who work with Intermarried Families planned, received funding, and brought together nine other “on the ground” colleagues from different parts of the country with considerable experience in this field. One day was spent with Dr. Bruce Phillips, a demographer/ researcher in the Jewish Community. He discussed with us his research and that of others. We shared and exchanged the experiences of those we have actually worked with who are in the world he studies.
The commitment to ongoing dialogue with Dr. Phillips became mutually evident. It was clear that we need to communicate and “feed off of each other” so that we know we are reaching out to all those possible, and that the questions asked of participants in a study and answers given in future studies, be looked at in ways that speak to us in what we do. This approach would assist in the possible redesign, or validation of our programs. We further suggested that we participate in writing the questions to be asked so as to know the results of our expected outcomes.
For me this was one of the important outcomes that I anticipate will help to move our profession/discipline forward. Many of us this past year have been asked by Jewish Philanthropic Foundations about best practices…as a pioneer in this work having done it for over 17 years, I am in a position to elaborate. However, I believe it is time for the researchers to know more accurately what we are doing in order to collaborate so we can honestly validate or redesign and be able to move more effectively to share and widen our Jewish World.
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