Becoming a Connected Congregation

Presented by Lisa Colton

lisa@see3.com @lisacolton

#connectedcongs

February 22, 2015

Adapted from work with Connected Congregations: A UJA-Federation of New York Initiative with Darim Online

Our Plan Today

• Introductions – me & you• Exploring what it means to be a “connected

congregation”• Values, DNA and Expression• What is “Engagement”?• Examples of Designing for Social• Transparency• Adaptive Leadership• Reflections & Wrap Up

A Little About Me

Lisa Colton

Chief Learning Officer, See3 Communications

Founder and President, Darim Online

lisa@see3.com

@lisacolton @darimonline

434.260.0177

Now it’s about YOU

BRIEFLY with the

person next to you:•Share your name, •Your congregation and role,•One of your earliest childhood memories about money.

TODAY… Think Connected.

• Think big• Take risks, push yourself• Challenge each other (and me!)• Be ACTIVE!• Question your assumptions• Yes, AND… (not yes, but…)

I ndividual Relationships

Small Group I dentity

Community

Congregation

Synagogue

SYNAGOGUE STRENGTH & SUSTAI NABI LI TY

To strengthen the synagogue, we must invest in individual relationships, supportcollective identity and responsibility, grounded in Jewish values and action.The foundation of this is designing for social engagement with each other.

Congregation Beth Israel, San DiegoLisa Colton, August 2014

Traditional Mindset: Hub & Spokes

Connected Mindset: Social & Networked

I ndividual Relationships

Small Group I dentity

Community

Congregation

Synagogue

SYNAGOGUE STRENGTH & SUSTAI NABI LI TY

To strengthen the synagogue, we must invest in individual relationships, supportcollective identity and responsibility, grounded in Jewish values and action.The foundation of this is designing for social engagement with each other.

Congregation Beth Israel, San DiegoLisa Colton, August 2014

What is a Connected Congregation?

A connected congregation is one that deeply understands the meaning of community, and works explicitly to build a strong, meaningful and engaged Jewish community.

Connected congregations prioritize relationships and shared values, and align all aspects of institutional management in service of the community.

Those within connected congregations feel a sense of shared ownership and responsibility for each other and the collective, and are empowered to contribute their ideas, energy and resources.

What is “Community”?

Text Study

VALUES ARE YOUR

CONGREGATIONAL DNA

They areexpressed

everywhere

VALUES ARE YOUR DNA MOVING FROM

TRANSACTIONAL TO RELATIONAL

Temple Beth Abraham, Tarrytown, NY:

“Our board had to discuss our approach to financial relief. The question posed was this: When families ask for special relief are we having a conversation about the pain that family is in or the state of their finances? In other words, are we acting as agents of Acts of Loving Kindness or the IRS?”

-From “Tilling the Soil”, a case study on the Darim Online blogBy Allison Fine, Immediate Synagogue Past President

Where are you now, and where do you want to be? Complete on your own, then you might want to compare later with others from your congregation.

You can download the blank worksheet for your own use athttp://connectedcongregations.org/organizational-values-worksheet/

Organizational Values Worksheet

DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF “COMMUNITY”

A connected congregation is one that deeply understands the meaning of community, and works explicitly to build a strong, meaningful and engaged Jewish community.

What does your Community Look Like?

“Engagement” is the Process of Evolving the Network Map

• What IS engagement?• What’s the goal of engagement?• Who or what are we designing for?• What does it feel like to be engaged?• Whose job is engagement?• What kinds of cultural, programmatic or other

shifts are needed to enrich a culture of engagement?

At each step of design and decision making, we can ask ourselves

“is this in service of the community or the institution?”

OPERATIONALIZINGCONNECTEDNESS

Areas for Tilling Your Soil

1. Clarification of organizational values

2. Leadership alignment of vision

3. Deep understanding ‘community’

4. Transparency and openness

5. Comfort with risk

6. Psychology of money

7. Meaningful spaces

8. Communications and social media

9. Designing for social

10. Staffing, job descriptions and expertise

WALK THE WALK

CultureProcessProgram

MeasurementResource Allocation

Be Social. Personally and Organizationally.

Process: Engage the community in the process to find the answers.

• Values based• Nuanced protocols• Personal touch• Infused the DNA• Paying it forward

CARING COMMUNITY

Mike Moxness with Debbie Echt-Moxness On Living On After a Diagnosis of Cancer

TRANSPARENCY“Like authenticity, transparency is not defined by you as a leaders, but by the people you want to trust you and your organization. How much information do they need in order to follow you, trust you with their money or business?”

- Charlene Li Open Leadership (pg. 193)

How does this relate to the culture and function of your congregation and its leaders today and in the past?

What does it mean for you as a connected congregation?

“Our surveys of 20,000 synagogue members have shown that the key driver of synagogue membership is the perceived value for the dollar of membership. What most strongly correlates to perceived value for the dollar?

Budget transparency.

When leadership doesn’t share the true cost of programs, and uses funds to subsidize programs as it sees fit, not only do recipients undervalue the program, but they also feel a disconnect with the synagogue that ultimately causes them to the congregation. Including members in the conversation about budget priorities and explaining the rationale behind expenses is a great step to retaining members and ensuring financial sustainability.

-Sacha Litman, Measuring Success

“Show Them What You’re Working with: How Transparency Leads to Sustainability”

Organizational TransparencyWhat is today’s version of an annual report, congregational meeting, or a state of the union?

What kind of transparency, in what formats, helps stakeholders feel like insiders?

Informational -> RelationalTechnical -> Adaptive

Adaptive Challenges & Leadership

32

TECHNICAL CHALLENGES ADAPTIVE CHALLENGES

• Clear cut need• Can be fixed or addressed• Can apply current experience

or skills (or find it)• Developmental change

e.g. building a new website

• Complex issues, dilemmas• No set procedures or

policies• No analogous past

experience• No expertise• Issue is transitional or

transformational for the organization.

e.g. move to a new revenue/ membership model

Adaptive Challenges & Leadership

33

• People – skills, experience, roles

• Process – culture, communication, risk

• Pipeline – what you need to add, how you onboard and evolve

USE THE PERSONALITY QUIZ AS A PLANNING TOOL!

Matterness

Turn to the person next to you (other side from your money sharing from the beginning!)

Share a time when you felt like you really mattered.

REFLECTIONS

(If you’re staying for the cohort meeting after, please save your reflection sheet for the end of that meeting. Feel free to jot

down ideas now, but don’t turn it in.)