Finding our Path Forward Together: Why Membership Matters – Especially this Year
by Jeff Katz, Executive Director

Thank you for being here. We feel incredible gratitude for the ways you, our congregants, are present for one other – particularly since mid-March.

Your presence creates and magnifies the joyous moments we have shared including our online Shabbat services, Torah Study, and when B’nai Mitzvah students lead us on Shabbat morning.

Your presence helps those who are mourning feel less alone when we gather for an online shiva, memorial service, or funeral. Your presence provides a Shabbat community for those saying Kaddish.

Your children’s presence in our virtual classrooms brings a powerful connection to each other and to our teachers – with record high participation.

Your presence provides a connection through outreach telephone calls and essential errands for fellow congregants.

Your presence as a donor to our newest tzedakah initiatives (the Neighborhood Social Justice Fund, helping support  neighborhood non-profits in need in this moment and to the Casino Building Staff Gift Fund, helping building services staff) makes our caring very real for the recipients.

Your presence for our Congregational Check-Ins, for our virtual New Days of Learning, for Pride Shabbat, for RS Women Rosh Chodesh New Moon Gatherings, for Young Friends Torah Study, for young children story time and Shabbat Sing – and so much more – enables us to lift each other’s spirits. What a joy it is to see your faces and share together in these ways.

Your presence, providing Zoom technical support to fellow congregants and your understanding, as the Rodeph Shalom operation is reinvented for virtual engagement and an evolving path forward towards the familiar, is appreciated.

And in the most recent days, your presence shows the power of community when we stand together to address systemic racial injustice and lift up the memory of George Floyd – and sadly, many others.

Especially today, we all need our Rodeph Shalom community. Rodeph Shalom is present for you and we are grateful you are present for one another.

Soon, membership statements will arrive in your mailbox and we want to ensure we continue to be here for everyone. We understand there are many challenges families are encountering, and we want to help. We want to make sure you remain a member, no matter your financial capacity. If your financial situation has changed, let us know. Please reach out to Jeff Katz, Executive Director. You are a valued member of Rodeph Shalom and we want to make sure our connections remain strong.

If you are able to increase your financial participation, we need your presence and your generosity more than ever. This year, each congregant is asked to make Rodeph Shalom your philanthropic priority. Committing to participate financially, as generously as possible, is essential at this moment.

Together, with your support and help, we will join together on the path forward, continuing to create profound connections with one another.

Warm Regards and L’Shalom
Jeff Katz

 

Financial Information: Why Your Membership is So Essential

Membership dues alone no longer sustain our – or any – 21st century synagogue. This past year, we made progress in focusing on additional and new revenue sources – generating 47% of total revenue from these sources including philanthropy, rental income, investment income and the Buerger Early Learning Center.

During this coming year, in the emerging post-pandemic environment, revenue from rental income will decline as group gatherings are deferred. With the temporary closure of the Buerger Early Learning Center for several months due to the pandemic, its bottom line contribution will be negatively impacted. This reinforces – especially this year – why your membership and philanthropic support is essential. 

 

Membership-Related Financial Information

  • Our operating costs are $3,900 per member unit.
    • This is calculated by taking total expenses and dividing by the number of member units = $3,900.
  • Regular membership dues including building and security for the year just ending were $3,650 for a family ($2,350 for a single membership)
    • Income from non-membership areas played a critical role in offsetting the gap between our total costs and membership revenue received. The sources that helped to offset the gap include Philanthropy, Income from Investments, Buerger Early Learning Center, and Facility Rentals.
  • The amount needed – on a household basis – from non-membership revenue is $250 to $1,550 (for a family/single household, respectively)

This information above is from the fiscal year ending May 31, 2020 and is subject to end of fiscal year adjustments.

Click here for detailed information from our annual Financial Statements.

 

                          

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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