WHC Survey Results


			Washington Hebrew Congregation



		The Results of the Congregational Survey (reprinted from the WHC Journal June 2, 2008) When we asked you to participate in the Congregational Survey several months ago, we promised a report on the results. Here it is. In the six weeks that the survey was up and open we received 763 responses, representing 20-30% of our membership. That’s an astonishing response to a survey of this kind, and demonstrates the commitment of WHC’s members to the Temple. One-half of the respondents went even further, adding constructive comments on what WHC does especially well and what they believe needs to change. The survey results are playing a critical role in the work of the Long Range Strategic Planning Committee, which is presenting a progress report to the Board this month and will be reaching out to the congregation for input in the months to come. We are grateful for your participation, which will help WHC strengthen its efforts to serve its members. The survey was based on a tool developed by Constant Contact — the same e-mail marketing and online survey company whose templates we use to design and distribute our online newsletters. The survey tool is easy to use and cost-effective. It is clear from the response to this first survey that this is a great way to collect feedback from our members, and we anticipate following up in the future. Unlike a poll that is designed to be statistically valid, the survey results are not a true random sample. That said, given the number of responses and the clarity of the results we think that the survey results present a valid and useful picture of what our members think is most important, and what they most value, at WHC. The survey respondents are slightly younger as a group than the Congregation as a whole. As you would expect active members are slightly overrepresented. Empty Nesters account for about half of all the responses. About 1/3 of the respondents use our website, and about 1/3 have family members (not living with them) who are also members of WHC. The key points that emerged from the survey are that our congregants believe that our greatest strengths are our programming and facilities; our greatest challenges are meeting our members’ yearning for a sense of welcome and friendliness and for a congregation that nurtures a sense of shared Jewish life and offers opportunities to meet others. To break it down a bit, taken as a whole our members: think that we do a very good job on services, but(except for the High Holy Days) don’t think services are extremely important. think that our programs are very strong – they think Survey Results from page 1 the Religious School is very important, but assign less importance to adult education, auxiliaries, trips, etc. think that our clergy and staff are strong, and believe that this is very important think that a sense of shared Jewish life and opportunities to meet and socialize with other Jews is very important, and believe that we could do a much better job at this. If you would like a comprehensive report of the results of the survey, please email our Executive Director, Steve Jacober at sjacober@whctemple.org.