I have heard it said that non-profits are 10 years behind for-profit companies when it comes to technology. And, that congregations are significantly farther behind than non-profits. So, bringing a congregation into 21st century computing takes more than just a leap of faith. Join me as I chronicle the congregational journey into the cloud.
At the first two congregations I worked for, the membership directory was sacred. Most people had copies that were dog eared and frayed from constant use. At the second two congregations I worked for, membership directories were taboo. They had never had them and there was a fear surrounding the divulging of any member information. Despite the fact that we now have the technology to offer online, opt-in/opt-out directories (saving us printing and posting costs), the debate continues.
The irony is that anyone under the age of 30 would be baffled by the controversy. With all of their personal details on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like, today's young adults thrive on information sharing. Their idea of community is based on the concept of relating to others via almost constant tendering of the intimate details of their lives.
And, what membership directory naysayers may not realize is that everyone's contact information is available on the internet, anyway. Just plug a name into 411.com and get their phone number and address. If they are unlisted or you aren't provided with the information you need, not to worry. For just a few dollars charged instantly to your credit card, you can find out the contact information for almost anyone, plus every address and spouse they've ever had, their children's names and ages, their age, and plenty more.
In order to attract the next generation of members, congregations will need to rethink their idea of what it means to be a community, and they will surely need to reconsider what is truly private in the 21st century.
NewCAJE is sponsoring a webinar with one of my favorite teachers, Rabbi Rami Shapiro.
Filling Heads and Opening Hearts: Teaching a Judaism of Compassion
Thursday March 29, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. EST
Rabbi Rami Shapiro will discuss the new reality that our students and children live in the age of Google when information is readily available. They don't need us as much to provide them with facts, but rather to help them make meaning of the information at their fingertips. He shares his vision of a Judaism based on Compassion and helps us better understand how we can become spiritual mentors to our students and our children. How do we teach finding meaning in prayer? How do we find meaning in both the simple and the difficult passages in the Bible? How can we create a compassionate classroom/or a compassionate home ? How do we answer when questions of belief are raised?
Click Here to Register
With our children growing up in a technological world that is vastly different than even a decade ago, what kind ofsynagogue will attract them? What do we need to do as Jewish organizations to ensure that we are viable for the next generation? I've just ordered Rabbi Hayim Herring's new book, "Tomorrow's Synagogue Today," and I'm anxious to hear what he has to say. I was an avid fan of Herring when he was at STAR and coined the term "synaplex." I'm looking forward to reading about his new thoughts/ideas about the future of the synagogue. Love to hear your comments, as well.
Once you sign your contract with Pogstone, the first thing you need to do is get them your DNS server and Domain name username and password. Luckily, both were being hosted at Network Solutions and the member who had been taking care of our website had the information. Sometimes, this kind of data gets lost...especially if your website was initially set up by a lay leader. If you are even thinking of switching website systems (no matter what vendor you choose), you need to get your hands on this information.
Within days, our generic ShulSuite site was set up at www2.bnaitorahhighlandpark.org.
About 10 days ago, there was a major storm, complete with microbursts, that passed through Chicago. Along with much of the North Shore, B’nai Torah lost power for 24 hours. When the power was restored, re-booting the servers wasn’t enough to get them working. So, the IT guys were called in. 12 hours later, they finally declared that our Microsoft Exchange Server (the one that powered our email) was dead and gone. The choice was to buy a new server or immediately switch to Google Apps. Since I already had everyone on a Google Apps trial, the choice was clear. A server costs money and Google Apps costs, virtually, nothing.
Luckily, the number of employees that needed emails was 10 so we didn’t need to go to the version
that required payment. Plus, Sarah at Pogstone clued me in that you can have unlimited forwarders. So, for instance, I created “president@bnaitorahhighlandpark.org” in the groups area and added our president’s personal email address as the only member of that group. That way, he could publicize his president’s email address but he didn’t take up one of our 10 free email accounts. I did this with school@bnaitorahhighlandpark.org and info@bnaitorahhighlandpark.org, too. I had school@ forward to the school administrator and info@ forward to me. Pretty cool!
When I started at B’nai Torah a few months ago (as Membership and Programming Director), I wanted to experiment with moving the staff to Google Apps. I’d been using it at Pogstone and I really thought that the features would be beneficial to synagogue administration. You can access your email from anywhere without having to log-in to a Microsoft Exchange server. You can use your own domain name as the extension on your email addresses. You can share documents, calendars, and contacts. You can chat with your co-workers, and so much more. But, I knew the switch wouldn’t be easy for everyone. So, I decided to allow everyone to continue to have access to Outlook while we tested Google Apps.
One glitch did happen. I applied for Google Apps for Non-Profits and was rejected. This would have allowed us to have Google Apps for free. I thought the problem was that we weren’t listed on GuideStar. So, I had to ask the admin staff to dig through years of paperwork to find some evidence of our Federal ID number. They came through and we were accepted and listed on GuideStar within a few days. I re-applied for Google Apps for Non-Profits and was rejected again. What I found out was that Google no longer allows membership and religious organizations to have the free version. Now that was a disappointment. The congregation wasn’t going to pay $50 per person, per year for the for-profit version. So, somehow I was going to have to make do with the for-profit, free version which limits you to 10 email addresses. But, at least I was moving forward!
