In many ways, the tables have turned: Now it is the prospective members asking the synagogue to fill out the information application. When a prospective member visits your website, that is exactly what they are doing: determining if the synagogue is right for them. And unlike the brick-and-mortar days, you may not even know they are visiting.
How well your website attracts prospective members can make a dramatic difference to your synagogue’s bottom-line, and is just one of many advantages to catching up with the times. Consider these 10 key reasons to update your site:
- Other synagogues in your area have more vibrant, engaging, aesthetically pleasing sites.
- Other synagogues make it really easy to find contact information, driving directions, etc., thus making the synagogue feel more accessible.
- Your religious school is only a page on your website, instead of a vibrant stand-alone site within your site.
- Your content management system needs an engineer to facilitate updates, limiting who can manage and update content.
- Your calendar is not interactive, precluding users from signing up and paying for events online.
- You are not linked to your Facebook page.
- Your rabbi should be using a blog as a key membership recruitment tool. Over time, a rabbi’s weekly posts will comprise a rich library that shares your synagogue’s points of view on many topics.
- You are not offering a portal opportunity into Judaism. We Jews are always searching, and rich linked content on your site provides an entry way into Jewish exploration.
- One word: Fundraising. Synagogues are leaving money on the ground. Increase your fundraising efforts by making it easy for “guests” to contribute to your synagogue.
- A vibrant Jewish marketplace will offer your members a chance to buy the Judaica they need, while you get a percentage of those sales.
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