Synagogues have long been central to Jewish life, serving as places of worship, study and community. They are more than just buildings; they are the heart of Jewish connection and identity. In today’s digital age, synagogues and Jewish organizations are turning to data to improve their operations, enhance experiences and achieve their goals.

As community-centered institutions, synagogues can benefit greatly from adopting a data-driven approach to track engagement, grow membership and ensure meaningful connections among their congregants. By utilizing data and analytics, synagogues can not only streamline their activities but also deepen their impact, creating a more vibrant, inclusive and engaged community.

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At its core, tracking engagement is essential to understanding what resonates with congregants. By tracking key metrics, we can learn how members and non-members engage with our communities. We can assess trends in involvement and find out who are those individuals so “adjacent” to our community that they are worth approaching for membership.

At Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., we have become a data-driven synagogue. In so many aspects of synagogue life — from services and events to educational programs and volunteer efforts — data has the potential to illuminate how well these areas are performing and where improvement is needed. Each individual’s participation (with the exception of traditional worship or school enrollment) is logged in ShulCloud, our customer relationship management (CRM) platform; this enables us to determine which programmatic offerings are most popular, which demographics they are successfully reaching and how to consistently attract a dedicated group of participants with a particular interest or need. While the mechanism may differentiate by community, we have leaned into the “tagging” system (using labels or keywords to categorize and organize data, enabling efficient searching, filtering and segmentation for targeted marketing and communications) and in turn have seen our membership and participation grow at a time that many houses of worship are seeing declining numbers in both categories.

Having data is great, but the real key is the investment in both personnel and time in using it. In addition to the programmatic details that are now logged, we are populating data on both our members and non-members’ accounts within the system in a manner comparable to the medical records at your doctor’s office — the notes the physician reads before an appointment as a reminder of prior conversations, health issues and concerns or goals presented during past visits.

The bulk of our data usage ties directly to work prior to/and or after a program, including:

Targeted outreach

We analyze involvement alongside demographic data (i.e. age, family status or location), we are initiating contact with individuals to steer them to specific offerings of the congregation. This has become increasingly more critical as our synagogue like many others tries to “meet people where they are” and goes outside of the traditional “brick and mortar.”

Appropriate follow-up steps

Before a program occurs, we are reviewing appropriate follow-up steps. Is there a program or happening that makes sense to send to a group after they have engaged in a program? Were there tangible next steps to include in the correspondence (i.e. making a donation, voting in the World Zionist Congress, etc.) that stems from the program? And are their thoughtful questions we are asking for feedback?

Watching participation

Do we have a non-member who continually engages with us? What is their backstory, what are their interests? We have found that engaging non-members new to our orbit has in led to relationships with outside organizations, aided efforts of our security personnel in preparing for an event and more times than not, led to the creation of new member households. I must share that the “m-word” (membership) is never mentioned in initial outreach or conversations, that the non-member typically initiates that on their own.

Social cohesion

Data can reveal which individuals or groups are most actively participating in communal life. We have been able to make meaningful connections between those who have engaged in our programs. We have a stated goal of driving connections to one another, to our congregation as a whole and to Judaism. Whether it’s connecting new parents with others in the same life stage or creating intergenerational opportunities, data helps to ensure that no one feels isolated.

More data for potential donors

With our recent engagement tracking measures, our development office also has more background on potential donors prior to these meetings. Is a prospective donor actively engaged in one of our small groups, a regular attendee at Israel-specific programming or participating in our support groups? This data allows us to understand more than the demographics or prior financial support, but what moves this person or family to engage with our synagogue and perhaps direct funds. Alongside these tools, we are also actively watching retention metrics and engagement for our new members; accounts that have not been “activated” in terms of engagement over any given period of time; and any other trends that we can ascertain from the data.

I jokingly refer to my slide deck that features many of these reports as a “choose your own adventure,” as I base what information that I share on the group, time of year or needs of whom I am presenting to. A synagogue’s strength always lies in its community. If we can utilize data to help ensure that members feel connected — that they have received outreach and feel seen, valued and supported — it goes a long way in ensuring the vibrancy that our synagogues seek to establish.

As synagogues continue to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the modern world, embracing data can be a powerful tool to help them fulfill their mission of serving their congregants and strengthening Jewish life for generations to come.

Jason Plotkin is the executive director of 3,000-household-strong Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich. A senior member of the National Association of Temple Administration (NATA), Plotkin is also a past president of Program & Engagement Professionals of Reform Judaism (PEPRJ) and serves as a North American Board member for the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ).