How do we measure success?

Deborah R. Fidel, JD, MAJPS, Temple Shalom Executive Director

There are many metrics of success for nonprofit organizations. Most of them are quantifiable. How many people were fed and sheltered? How many animals were rescued and adopted?

Synagogues are fundamentally different. While we can always point to the number of children who become Bar or Bat Mitzvah in a given year or the attendance in our adult education programs, we feel strongly that attendance alone paints an incomplete picture of our performance.

For-profit businesses can tell their shareholders that earnings are up, shares are up, franchise sales are booming and the like. Similarly, we could point to our endowment fund that has tripled in the last two years, numerous successful grant requests and fundraising campaigns. The numbers tell the story.

Or do they? Business XYZ makes widgets. We make Jews. How do we know if we are on the right track?

Unlike businesses and other nonprofit organizations, we measure our success in terms of relationships. It’s in our mission statement — We are One Family, believing in the sacredness of relationships, fostering connections – one to another, Temple, Israel, Torah and God. Everything we do is furtherance of that overarching goal.

It is for this reason that Temple Shalom moved away from the traditional dues system in 2017. We want each member of our community to feel that their support of Temple comes from their heart and think of their gifts as exactly that — not a transactional arrangement where you give us x dollars and we give you Torah study on Shabbat morning or a hospital visit when you or a loved one is ill.

I meet visitors to Temple every week, who ask me some version of “How much will it cost me to be a member of your synagogue?”

I tell each one the same thing, “We share a suggested amount (the “sustaining amount”), which is based on our total expenses divided among all our members, but the decision is yours. All we ask is that the gift is meaningful to you. There are no questions, no committees and no forms.”

Many of our members contribute much more than the sustaining amount. Some of our members give less, based on their circumstances. Whatever the amount and the reason for it, we say the same thing to each and every person — Thank you!

It would appear that we are doing something right. We have seen meteoric growth, from 337 households to 800 households in a little over a decade. Since we implemented the voluntary dues system, which we call L’Shalom, the congregation has increased in size by 40%, from under 500 households to 800 today!

We have two full-time rabbis and an invested cantor. Our office staff is small. So, how do we serve 800 households, comprised of 1,327 adults and approximately 400 children? The answer is the incredibly dedicated and hardworking lay leaders and volunteers who make “One family, many connections” a reality.

Relationships lead to commitment — financial and otherwise. Our members continue to invest their time, energy and resources in Temple Shalom because we offer something they value.

Please join us for a Friday night service and stay for the oneg that our Sisterhood lovingly and generously provides each week. From the moment you enter our newly renovated, beautiful sanctuary and gathering spaces, where you will be warmly welcomed, you will understand what One Family means to us.

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