26. Universal Jewish Membership Rewards Card
There are only six days left to 31 Days, 31 Ideas. My how the time flies. Today’s idea begins a new theme. No more Web sites from here on out. The next six projects will all be big ideas for organizational initiatives.
As I’ve oft stated over the last month, being Jewish is really expensive. Combine the cost of synagogue dues, High Holidays tickets, JCC membership, Federation donations, day school tuition, kosher food and so on, and weigh that total against the fact that the average Jewish household income is only $50,000/yr, and you won’t be surprised by the fact that most Jews tend not to affiliate Jewishly.
What might be a helpful step towards remedying this problem is incentivizing affiliation by providing universal access to all local Jewish institutions for the cost of membership to one. Join a synagogue, a JCC, donate to a Federation or send your kids to day school, and you should be able to gain access to, or at least get discounts on, other Jewish institutions in your area.
Let’s say I become a paying member of a local synagogue: For the cost of my annual dues, I should also receive a membership card that would entitle me to city-wide rewards: Free and discounted tickets to events and classes at any JCC or Y in the city, free entry to local Jewish museums, discounted rates on school and camp tuition, discounts at local Judaica shops, kosher restaurants and grocers, special offers on airfare to Israel…
It’s not a new idea: The JCC in Manhattan, for example, offers its members discounts to local retailers through its Neighborhood Partners program. And it’s a great incentive. But let’s think bigger, and cast our net wider.
Such a membership program could even be offered as a stand-alone, like Entertainment. For a low annual fee, subscribers could get a coupon book and a membership card for ongoing discounts at partnering organizations. Leveraging the cardholder community, you could offer big membership discounts, a la Groupon, where the Jewish Museum, for example, recently offered 63% discounts on memberships, pending 40 people would commit to purchasing them. Imagine if that were five or ten thousand.
By working together to create a truly beneficial rewards program, Jewish organizations locally and nationwide can help each other in increasing one another’s program attendance and memberships, while Jewish retailers can boost sales from new and repeat customers.
In this economy — and even before this economy — every little bit helps. A universal Jewish membership rewards card can go a long way in bridging the gap, giving struggling individuals and families greater opportunity to enjoy the benefits and appreciate the value of our communal institutions.
