Growing A Synagogue Part 3: Communicating in the Twenty-First Century

    
A. Communicating in Print

The third leg of a successful congregation is communication. We can be the most welcoming organization in town, and have some of the most meaningful and innovative programming ever devised but if we can't get the word out about who we are, where we are and what we have to offer, we will be unknown for a very long time. There are many synagogues that have extensive advertising campaigns, but most of the information that I have seen indicates that display advertising, in newspapers and fliers, is of little effect. It is okay if all that is needed is name recognition, but this kind of advertising does not attract new members or new participants.

Everyone knows that the single most effective way to get new prospects is to have synagogue members personally invite friends and neighbors to join them at the synagogue. With the possible exception of the month before Rosh Hashana (when Jews do look for a synagogue to attend for the holidays), display advertising is of very limited use. Too many of the people we are looking for no longer get their information from print advertising.

For example, many newspapers and organizations use community calendars that offer free advertising of events. I don't know of any community calendar that publishes all events no matter who sends them in. Often events are published based on how much space the publication has available in the issue and if the program intrigues the editor. These events may only be published a day or two before the event occurs even though the deadline for inclusion is weeks in advance. Someone who is looking for something to do that day may read about it and decide to attend, but most of the time it only serves as a reminder for those who have already signed up.

Print display advertising for synagogues is expensive and never really very effective. To be fair, most synagogues have not really invested in a major advertising effort. Synagogues don't hire advertising firms to create eye catching and informative display ads. Most congregations just don't have the budget for that kind of marketing. My colleague, Rabbi Jack Riemer told me once that he convinced a major PR firm to do a series of ads for his synagogue for free, as a public service donation of time. That was a rare successful program. In these modern times, newspapers, magazines and other print media are a dying breed. The place to get our word out today is on the Internet. The good news is that it is fast and free. The bad news is that it is much harder to rise above all the other noise on the web.

Synagogue Bulletin/Weekly Announcements

Because synagogues are multi generational, there may still be a need for a printed bulletin. The bulletin should include your synagogue logo and should carry a professional design. There are many computer programs that can help design a very professional bulletin. There are also many good graphic designers for those who would like their bulletin, stationery, and logo to all have the same look and feel. The cost of a print bulletin, printing and postage, can be underwritten by a donor or there can be advertising sold to cover the costs. You never know in whose hands a print bulletin will end up so the bulletin should be only used as a way to advertise upcoming events. Controversial items or critical letters do not belong in a bulletin. If you can afford to print in color and include pictures, that is great. If not, find lots of graphics to highlight a page so that it is not just blocks of print. Pay attention to the color and quality of the paper and the quality of the printing. If you can't do a quality job in house, then pay to have the bulletin printed at a local print shop. A good graphic designer can, for a rather modest fee, create a template for a print bulletin that can be used over and over again. It is helpful to have good advice on the layout of the bulletin. The balance between text, graphics and white space, the use of logos and borders and matching the headings for regular columns in the bulletin often require the assistance of someone who has experience and an eye for graphic design. Once the design is finished, reusing the design every month should be easy for in house editors.

While it may be expensive, it’s worth thinking about, and good business practice, to have your print and web materials professionally branded. This includes consistency in the language you use as well as consistent use of fonts and colors to create a cohesive design. In this manner those who receive or view your material can instantly recognize that it’s from you and have a sense of what your congregation is about simply from the look and feel of your website or envelope.

Weekly announcement sheets can be put out every Shabbat for those in attendance to pick up at services. This is a good way to help those who attend on weekends receive information on upcoming events. Do not make the common mistake of thinking that if something is put in the weekly announcements that every member of the congregation will see it. In fact, only the small percentage of people who attend services will see the events posted. It is no more than a reminder sheet for those who are active in the congregation. It can be used to thank those sponsors and donors for events that weekend so they can see their name in print. Since it is handed out to members and guests, it is also a public relations document. It should be short, to the point and easy to take home. If a newcomer to the service picks one up, it can also include information about the service, the congregation and who to contact if they want more information. It should have all the contact information about the congregation including the web address and the names of officers and staff who can be contacted for additional information about the synagogue.

Because both of these documents, bulletins and weekly announcements, are put together by volunteers, it has become a kind of sport, over the years, to find as many typos and mistakes in them as one can. There are whole books written about the humorous things found in church/synagogue bulletins and announcements. It is crucial, therefore, to make sure that a qualified proofreader goes over the documents before they go to print. I know that this sounds obvious, but getting the names (the right name and the right spelling), dates and information accurate is not an easy job and somebody needs to be responsible to make sure that everything is as correct as it can be.

The information on both of these documents can and should be included on the synagogue website. If it is created on a standard word processing program on a computer, it can easily be reformatted to fit on an existing page or it can be posted to its own page in just about the same format as it was for printed distribution. It is a good idea to have a teaser for important items on the front page which click through to the full description of the program or event on a different page. Since people looking for a synagogue will be viewing your website, having the announcements on the website is a good way for strangers to get to know your organization and for regulars to easily find details for programs they’d like to attend.