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Asking for Money and Not Feeling Any Shame

Dec 14, 2009
Funding Your Dreams

The word for money in modern in day Hebrew is kesef. This word appears in the Bible and Rabbinic Hebrew as well. Interestingly, in those strata of Hebrew, kesef means both silver and shame. I’m guessing that the connection is that silver is a pale color and when we feel shame, blood drains from our faces, giving us a pale appearance.

Perhaps there’s a deeper connection as well, namely some feel shame or embarrassment in soliciting funds from others for congregational needs. Let’s face it—you’re more likely to get someone to volunteer to paint the congregation’s bathrooms than to get someone to volunteer to solicit funds from congregants!

But we know that money is an essential part of congregational life, and we’re acutely reminded of this financial reality during an economic crunch. So what I want to do in the next series of posts is use the network that we’ve created through this blog to:

  • Hear from those of you who don’t enjoy fundraising.
  • Also hear from those of you who actually enjoy fund development (as I do and will explain later) or have overcome your hesitation about soliciting funds.
  • Share fund development issues and solutions with one another.
  • Exchange learning with one another around yearly fund-development activities.
  • Explore roles that you think staff members should play in fund development.
  • Offer each other resources that you’ve found helpful.
  • And—informally explore alternatives to the model of synagogue dues.

I’m going to invite some fund development experts to share their ideas as well.

So, let’s kick off the discussion by hearing from those who really do not like soliciting funds and also from those who tolerate or even look forward to the challenge of raising money for the congregation. Thanks!

Rabbi Hayim Herring

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5 Comments
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4 Comments

  1. Rabbi Paul Kipnes  •  Dec 14, 2009 @10:43 pm

    One of my rabbinic mentors taught me regarding fundraising that if you raise the funds, you necessarily will have a significant role in directing the organization. I have also learned that if we want to do great things through the shul, we had better be able to pay for them. Lastly, if the money situation is stable, the synagogue remains more stable. Taken together, these make a strong case for the rabbi being heavily involved in fundraising. And so I am…

  2. Kerry Olitzky  •  Dec 15, 2009 @7:57 am

    Fundraising is fine. I do it all the time. But I think that the real issue is a change in the way organizations/synagogues etc are funded. Dues are a myth. We are asked to pay membership dues in order to be given the privilege to pay a series of additional fees. And I think that there are alternatives. Chabad uses a different model–one worth exploring–called relationship fundraising. What about a barter system? Or a coop model?

  3. Daniel Alter  •  Dec 15, 2009 @10:08 am

    There are different development models in the religious world already.
    As an example- many sefardic members of shuls find dues to be a foreign concept. They will give money generously to buy an aliya but don’t pay dues. I have seen this be a challenge in shuls that have both sefardic and ashkenazic members.
    I was therefore not surprised, when I was once speaking to an imam from a mosque who told me has was really challenged to get any of his people to join and pay membership dues. (This was not a financial issue as donations were still coming in) When I asked him how much dues were, he told me fifty dollars a year. So clearly how we raise money is cultural.
    That being said, it is not easy to change a culture and requires a lot of work.

  4. Rabbi Hayim Herring  •  Dec 26, 2009 @6:34 pm

    I guess I’ll sound like a rabbi when I say that I agree with all of you.

    Kerry: could you say a few more words about a “co-op” model? I’m not sure what you mean. Your examples for changing the model really do suggest how limited our current thinking is about money and synagogues.

    Daniel–good point about how culture influences attitudes toward giving. In order to change the “membership” model, a cultural shift in thinking about the relationship to synagogues will be necessary, and successfully shifting an existing culture is a long-term process. And I’m not sure how much time synagogues have….Hayim

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