CJP's strategic plan will place emphasis on Israel
By Raphael Kohan
The Jewish Advocate
Federation rethinks its role in the community and abroad
As part of its first strategic planning effort in a decade, Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston has outlined five issues that it foresees affecting the Jewish community over the next 10 years. And fighting for Israel tops the list.
"CJP is trying to adapt to the new character of the Jewish community," said CJP's Strategic Planning Committee Co-Chair George Krupp. "What the world is about today is different than what it was about 10 years ago. So the issues are a little bit more complicated."
To gauge these issues, the planning committee, which formed in September, conducted focus groups, consulted with leaders in the community, and is now refining its findings with CJP's Board of Governors, Board of Directors and the agencies with which it works closely. Though still fine-tuning its report, the committee intends to officially release the document in May.
The most notable component of the proposed new direction is a stronger stance on Israel advocacy. When CJP's last strategic plan was released in January 1998 – prior to 9/11 and the global war on terror – the world was a friendlier place for Israel, according to local leaders.
"The threat to Israel and of global anti-Semitism is something we need to think about more actively," said CJP Vice-President of Strategy and Planning Gil Preuss.
But even as CJP's new mission incorporates the geo-political perils facing Israel and the Jewish people, CJP President Barry Shrage said Israel advocacy cannot overtake the other work of the federation.
"We haven't completed the struggle for a vibrant Jewish community yet, but we also need to focus on the dangers to Israel," he said. "We have to be able to focus on both these things at the same time."
Based on a drafted strategic planning report to CJP's Board of Directors obtained by the Advocate, the five main issues are: Stronger Community/Broader Participation, Jewish Education, Jews in Need Locally, Relationship with Jews in Israel and Around the World, and Relationship with the Non-Jewish Community.
Other specific areas of interest include the impact of the aging workforce, engaging young adults and confronting challenges of affordability.
The report's spring release will also kick off the second phase of the process, launching five sub-committees that will determine priorities within each of the core issues and develop strategies for accomplishing them. The sub-committees will do the bulk of their work next fall.
Two additional committees have also been charged with determining CJP's role in the community and what it means to be a federation in this day and age.
"The big question we're facing is not just what we want to accomplish but also how," said Preuss. "The way we may undertake the issues and the strategies we adopt will be related to our role in the community."
And that role, to the anticipation of the agencies that rely on CJP for financial support, is yet to be determined.
"You have to go through this process," said Harvey Lowell, chief executive officer of Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters, which receives 24 percent of its funding from CJP. Lowell also serves as the liaison for CJP and its umbrella agencies. "Everyone understands it's time for CJP to look at itself and for the community to say what's important to us. It implies change, which is not necessarily a bad thing."
In the draft of the strategic plan, CJP says it faces many urgent issues within the community, thereby requiring it "to reexamine some of what we are doing and make difficult choices."
Alan Ronkin, deputy director for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston, said his organization, which runs the Israel Action Center, expects to remain relevant under CJP's new plan.
"JCRC has a role to play in all of the areas," said Ronkin, whose organization receives approximately 90 percent of its funding from CJP or targeted gifts through CJP.
The final phase of the strategic plan, the implementation of strategies, will begin next winter.
Any substantive changes to CJP will surely ripple throughout the community. As the main federation and fundraising hub for more than 80,000 individuals in the Greater Boston area, CJP raised $34.4 million from nearly 13,000 donors during its 2006 annual campaign and expects to raise $38 million for 2007.
CJP's last strategic plan in 1998 focused on confronting Jewish identity, education and outreach, according to Shrage.
Added Shrage: "The main characteristic of the Boston Jewish community is a willingness to take chances and to change."
What do you think of CJP's plan?
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