New Fiscal Year Planning
– Sam Bernstine, JCLP Board Chair
The father of time management, Ben Franklin once said, “If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning To Fail.”
The Jewish Community Legacy Project continues to mature and grow in a highly successful manner because of our plan to be flexible, agile, and relevant to small Jewish congregations in small Jewish communities throughout the United States and Canada.
As the former President of Temple Hadar Israel in New Castle, Pennsylvania I had the very good fortune to work directly with JCLP who supported our small Jewish congregation, community and me with our myriad of needs. Two of the most meaningful results are the Temple Hadar Israel Legacy Endowment housed at the Pittsburgh Federation and the relationship with the Jewish Cemetery & Burial Association of Greater Pittsburgh that now take care of the two cemeteries. JCLP helped make both of these connections. Many of our needs are also referenced below in the “Scope of Services” chart.
I always knew about the power of planning, but I needed an organization like JCLP with its experts to help me and my congregation facilitate the actual planning process. Today, the small town Jewish Community of New Castle definitely has a living legacy because of the leadership that JCLP provided to us.
I am proud to be the Chair of JCLP as we prepare for our new fiscal year. During our Board Retreat this spring, JCLP further refined our Vision, Mission, Values and Goals, much of which I am excited to share with you below.
Our Vision: Every small congregation deserves a strategic and supportive planning partner to maximize its potential and legacy.
JCLP is indeed this partner as we currently work with over 250 small Jewish congregations to achieve this effort.
Our Mission: The Jewish Community Legacy Project (JCLP) is the only Jewish organization that works exclusively with small Jewish congregations in the US and Canada,
JCLP helps congregations plan so that they can successfully address their current challenges, as well as prepare responsibly for the future in order to ensure an enduring community legacy.
Our Values
- From Generation to Generation: transferring financial and Judaic assets to beneficiary agencies to ensure Jewish continuity and community well-being.
- Honoring their Memories: preservation of cemeteries: making a lasting commitment to a congregation’s loved ones: preservation of archives: commemorating the congregation’s illustrious history.
- Being Inclusive: strengthening engagement: participation, volunteerism, leadership succession.
- Building Community: creating conditions for flourishing Jewish communities; sponsoring regional cohorts of small congregations and a national presidents forum for collaboration around programming and planning.
Through our planning efforts, we have defined nine key elements that compose our broad range of services.
JCLP is oftentimes considered to be a lifeline to small congregations and small Jewish communities because JCLP is one of the only resources with expertise available to these Jewish communities.
Enhanced access and trust-building to outlying and marginalized Jewish community members is central to JCLP’s interaction with over 250 congregations.
JCLP’s core activity is to facilitate planning. In the course of this service delivery, JCLP responds to more specific needs such as assistance in managing a clergy support process; requests for disposition of sacred and secular objects; advice on how to maximize fundraising needs for cemetery and building preservation endowments; inter-synagogue joint activities, consolidation or merger; and strategies for reaching out to the unaffiliated in the community.
JCLP, through its regional cohorts, responds to programming needs that congregants alone cannot offer, JCLP provides an educational and networking opportunity for synagogue leadership through the JCLP Presidents Forum.
If Ben Franklin were alive today I think his new quote might read, “If You Fail to Plan without JCLP, You Are Indeed Planning To Fail”.