Pledge FAQ

1. What is a personal pledge?

2. How does the personal pledge system work?

3. Does this mean that payment is optional (membership is free)?

4. Why is there a payment schedule when we didn’t have one in the past?

5. Won't members take advantage of the option to choose their own level?

6. Why is Temple Sinai changing from fixed dues to personal pledges?

7. How did Temple Sinai make the decision to move to personal pledges?

8. What did we learn in focus groups with Temple Sinai members?

9. What other financial models did Temple Sinai consider?

10. Do any other synagogues use a system like the personal pledge? What has their experience been?

11. What happens if Temple Sinai does not raise enough revenue to cover our costs?

12.  All households will be provided with the same sustainable number, regardless of the number of adults and children in the household. How is this fair?

13. What is the current dues adjustment process?

14. The sustainable amount seems similar to last year’s dues.What is different about a personal pledge?

15. How exactly did Temple Sinai determine the sustaining amount? What services or fees are excluded?

16.  Will I be asked to make other contributions to the Temple Sinai?

17. Why should I consider paying more than the sustaining amount?

18. Will I have to make a new decision every year?

1. What is the Temple Sinai Pledge 2017?

The Annual Personal Pledge (APP) is Temple Sinai’s replacement for our current system of fixed dues.  The APP is an amount that you will commit to each year, based on the value that Temple Sinai has to you and the amount that is needed to sustain Temple Sinai’s operations. 

2.  How does the Pledge work?

Beginning in 2017, and prior to the start of each fiscal year, members will be informed of the sustaining amount, which is the amount that each member would need to contribute, on average, to sustain Temple Sinai’s operations. Each member is asked to make an annual personal pledge based on this amount. Members will be asked to give as much as they can, to reflect the value of the Temple in their lives and the community.  They will be asked to pay their pledge in full over the ensuing ten months, either monthly, or in one, two, or three installments. 

3.  Does this mean that payment is optional (membership is free)?

No. All members are expected to make an annual personal pledge. 

4.  Why is there a payment schedule when we didn’t have one in the past?

Having a payment schedule will enable us to better monitor our income and meet our cash flow needs.  In addition, a schedule will allow us to to better track how well voluntary commitment is working for our congregation. 

5.  Won't members take advantage of the option to choose their own level?

“Free riding” can occur with fixed dues and any of the other common financial models used by synagogues and other religious institutions. Other congregations using a voluntary commitment model like personal pledges report that free-riding is not a significant problem. The lay leaders at Temple Sinai hope that the sense of community that the annual personal pledge engenders will encourage members to do what they can to sustain Temple Sinai. 

6.  Why is Temple Sinai changing from fixed dues to personal pledges?

Temple Sinai’s leadership believes, that a financial model based on fixed dues is not sustainable due to several factors. Members of the Jewish community engage in Jewish life in different ways, including the JCC, Jewish day school, and even the Internet. While these expanded opportunities may be good for Judaism as a whole, they present challenges for the sustainability of synagogues. These changes are coupled with financial constraints, particularly on younger members, leading many congregations to reexamine how synagogues provide value to members and what kinds of revenue models best attract and retain congregants. In addition, the dues adjustment process, used at Temple Sinai and many other congregations with fixed dues, creates embarrassment and distress for members of our community and is inconsistent with our congregation’s values of inclusivity.

In short, like many leaders in the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements, Temple Sinai leadership believes that a traditional financial model relying on fixed dues, endowments, and frequent fundraising, is out of step with contemporary Jewish values and culture.  Temple Sinai matters to our members, and belonging is a shared and personal responsibility.  A personal pledge system reflects that value.  Also, a personal pledge system makes it easier for younger families to join and for more senior members to remain a part of the congregation. This voluntary commitment model is welcoming and inclusive. As described below, other congregations that have moved to a voluntary commitment system find that it does not generate less income than a traditional dues model. 

7.  How did Temple Sinai make the decision to move to personal pledges?

The lay leaders of our congregation spent 18 months researching alternative financial models. They consulted with national leaders on this topic and created a task force at Temple Sinai.

The task force conducted a series of activities, which focused on soliciting input from our membership and the Jewish community more broadly. These activities included:

• Reading source material to learn about alternative financial models.

• Conducting interviews of executive directors, presidents, or other financial leaders of eight reform or conservative synagogues that have moved to a voluntary commitment system. These synagogues were located across the country and were diverse in terms of size.

• Conducting a focus group with members of the Board.

• Leading a Beit Midrash on Yom Kippur, 2015, to obtain members’ views on the role and value of Temple Sinai in their lives.

• Participating in discussions with the financial sustainability community of practice organized by the URJ, and in two sessions led by Dan Judson at the 2015 URJ Biennial, coupled with numerous informal discussions with members of synagogues that have moved to a voluntary commitment system.

• Conducting six focus groups with nearly 50 Temple Sinai members representing diverse demographic characteristics and levels of engagement.

Source material and findings from the other task force activities were shared with the Board at regular intervals to educate our professional and lay leaders. In fact, information sharing and transparency about the findings and the learning process were -- and continue to be -- key processes underlying this effort.

8.  What did we learn in focus groups with Temple members?

The focus group revealed important findings that are consistent with the impetus for considering alternative financial models. First, community is a key driver for engaging at Temple Sinai. Community is about developing and sustaining relationships, shared interests, and having a “second home.” Second, Temple Sinai is a Jewish community that matters to our members, and belonging is a personal responsibility that allows continuity of our community. Third, the role of Temple Sinai as a community for members changes over time. Its value is personal and is on members’ own terms. Fourth, belonging to Temple Sinai provides assurance that our clergy and the community more broadly will be available to members  during important life events – to rejoice together in times of celebration and provide support in times of need. The findings, emphasizing community, personal responsibility, and the differing needs of individual members, reinforced our mission to move away from dues and toward a personal pledge.  

9.  What other financial models did Temple Sinai consider?

In addition to traditional dues and personal pledges, the task force investigated two other models: a fee-for service model, in which members pay separately for each service or program, such as life cycle events and religious services, and a development model, in which financial resources are derived primarily from donations. We rejected these models because they are inconsistent with Temple Sinai values. Specifically, we rejected a fee-for-service model because it emphasizes transactions  and is the antithesis of building and sustaining a sense of community . We rejected a development model because such funding is difficult to obtain and tends to come from a small number of temple members, thereby creating a sense of “outsiders” and “insiders.”   

10. Do any other synagogues use a system like the personal pledge? What has their experience been?

A 2015 report by Rabbi Dan Judson, Debbie Joseph, and others at the UJA-Federation of New York identified 26 congregations using a voluntary commitment model. Some of these synagogues started using voluntary commitment beginning as early as 2004. Our task force interviewed members of eight of these synagogues. In general, these synagogues have found positive outcomes from moving to voluntary commitment.

Only one of the 26 synagogues mentioned in the 2015 report returned to a traditional dues system. In investigating that case, we found that the move to voluntary commitments was initiated by an influential member of the synagogue without buy-in from leadership more broadly, and that member subsequently left the congregation.

As of March, 2015, 35 congregations had adopted the voluntary commitment model, and Rabbi Judson had engaged with over 100 synagogues exploring or moving to this model.  Anecdotal reports suggest more congregations have moved in this direction in the past year.  

11. What happens if Temple Sinai does not raise enough revenue to cover our costs?

Neither fixed dues nor the personal pledge model by itself is sufficient to cover our operating costs. Synagogues using voluntary commitment rely on increased donations to meet costs.

Temple Sinai will implement voluntary commitment for a minimum of three years. A contingency fund will be established to address operating fund shortfalls.  If, after three years, we find that we are not meeting our operating expenses, the Board will consider returning to a traditional dues model.  

12. All households will be provided with the same sustainable number, regardless of the number of adults and children in the household. How is this fair?

Currently, Temple Sinai has a fragmented system of determining dues by type of household and other demographic features, and which may or may not align with a particular household’s ability to contribute. With the annual personal pledge, each household can see what is required to sustain Temple Sinai and commit to an annual personal pledge as they are able.  

13.  What is the current dues adjustment process?

 Over one third of members of our community do not have the financial resources to afford fixed dues. As a result, many congregants approach Temple Sinai staff to request paying a lower amount – an annual process that often causes embarrassment and resentment for our members. The APP eliminates the need for dues adjustments.   

14. The sustainable amount seems similar to last year’s dues.  What is different about a personal pledge?

Both the sustainable amount and dues were based on our operating costs (e.g., clergy and staff salaries, facilities, programming, administration), excluding religious school fees, bar/bat/b’nei mitzvot, confirmation, and endowment/capital funds. A annual personal pledge differs because the amount is a matter of choice. It enables members to determine their contribution from the heart and pay what they can. It does not limit membership to those who can afford fixed dues. Typically, under an  annual personal pledge, some members pay the average amount, some pay more, and others pay less. Annual personal pledges also eliminate the dues adjustment process, which often creates stigma and is at odds with fostering a sense of community. 

15. How exactly did Temple Sinai determine the sustaining amount? What services or fees are excluded?

 Like fixed dues, the sustainable amount will be based on our operating costs (per the budget approved by the Board) divided by total households. The sustainable amount excludes religious school fees, bar/bat/b’nei mitzvot, confirmation, and income from endowment/capital funds. 

16.  Will I be asked to make other contributions to the Temple Sinai?

Dues received in any form, whether by billed amount or annual personal pledge, will likely not cover the operating needs of the congregation.  As such, we anticipate that we will continue to have an annual fundraiser.  In addition, the auxiliaries such as WOTS, Brotherhood, Youth Group and the Religious School will have fundraisers to support their needs. 

17. Why should I consider paying more than the sustaining amount?

 One of the factors that makes an annual personal pledge system possible is having community members who donate over and above the sustaining amount. Doing so enables other members, who do not have the financial resources to pay the full sustaining amount, to maintain their membership and their contributions to our community.  

18.  Will I have to make a new decision every year?

Yes, to reflect your circumstances at that time and each year’s sustaining amount.