Project Bina

Monthly Update: May 2023

Thanks again to everyone who participated in our first ever Congregational Kibbitz. We are still wrapping up some sessions for folks who could not join us during April. We had 25 facilitators who helped us talk to over 130 participants across 27 sessions so far. The sessions themselves were well-received with over 92% of congregants saying they would Definitely/Probably participate again in a similar event.

Our next step for the Kibbitz is to begin analysis of this very rich data, which the committee is doing in conjunction with an externally hired research analyst to ensure we are looking at this information in an unbiased and thorough way. 

We will be approaching our analysis in the following ways:

• Content analysis, which is reading thoroughly through all feedback and putting into format for analysis:
  
  • Coding of “meaning units” (which can be several words, a sentence, or a statement that represents a single idea or concept) 
  • Clustering into themes
• Looking at both surface structure (surface structure, answering “What has been said?”) and latent analysis (deep structure, ‘What was intended to be said?”).

Our results and presentation will cover the following:

• Summary insights for each of the 8 topic areas we discussed in the Kibbitz, which were Membership experience, Social Engagement, Adult Activities, Education & Social Justice, Youth Engagement, Worship/Communal Prayer, Rabbi Jason Levine’s Transition, Financial Health/Giving and Communications 
• Segment insights (e.g. demographic/lifestage, tenure, needs-based)
• Themes and opportunities emerging from higher order, cross-area learnings

All of our results and action planning will also be examined through the lens of our TBA mission: Deepening relationships to Judaism and our community by engaging the soul, heart, and mind.

As we are a volunteer group and we are moving into the summer months, it does take longer for us to work through this type of analysis than if we used a commercial research firm (which would have significant external cost as well.) We also have established a process that has multiple levels of review to make sure our clergy, staff and board has a chance to absorb these insights fully and they can be deeply integrated with our planning. Over time, we expect to improve the efficiency and speed of analysis and reporting.

Our general timeline for these results is:

• Data analysis and report writing: May-June
• Review insights and implications with our senior leaders (Clergy, Staff and Board): June-July
• Review insights and implications with lay/committee leaders/Project Bina facilitators: July-August
• Congregational sharing (live interactive presentation with highlights shared through email/TBA website): September

Other Project Bina Committee activities:

• On a regular basis, we are reviewing feedback that comes into our feedback@templebetham.org mailbox. This is an “always-on” place for you to share thoughts outside of our formal research initiatives. Feedback sent here is reviewed by Amanda Radman and is kept anonymous unless you request that we associate your name with this or provide permission for us to follow-up individually with you. Feedback related to the Kibbitz will be combined with the other data we collected and incorporated into our analysis and reporting.
• We provided input on a survey for Gan parents.
• We are working on the committee charter and calendar/workplan for the rest of the year. We are clarifying the role of the committee and the scope of support we’ll provide for research and data collection for TBA. If you are interested in joining our committee, please contact Stacey Symonds at ssymonds9@gmail.com

Project Bina Committee Overview

The Project Bina committee supports and guides the Temple Beth Am community in the collection of research and data insights to help inform the development of our programs, events and services. We are committed to transparency, best practices in collecting information and helping our clergy, staff, board and other lay leaders create insight-informed action plans.

Committee Chair: Stacey Symonds

Committee Members: Heather Camp, Corinne Fligner, T. J. Stutman, Rachel Zerrell

Staff Support: Amanda Radman, TBA Membership and Development Associate