Concepts for Organization Growth - Note

Just a note about the format of these posts.  I am going to talk from the perspective that your organization is a synagogue.  I started writing and it's how the topic best presents itself - at least going from my brain to the page - in a way that isn't bogged down by the grammatical issues of using the phrase "your organization" or "the organization" all the time.  This being said, I believe that the concepts and lessons presented are applicable to all Jewish communal organizations (and non-Jewish organizations too).  Just change the references in your head to what you need them to be.

Concepts for Organizational Growth - Introduction

Something I've been "studying" - if one could call the organizational version of people-watching "study" - is why some organizations are gaining members and raising money hand over fist, while other organizations are floundering trying to maintain their current membership and budget.  What is it about these organizations that are in an extreme "growth mode" that makes them so successful?  Or, what are other organizations lacking that creates barriers to growth?

What I found was simultaneously surprising and not.  What was surprising is that the vast majority of growing organizations belong to what I would term "fundamental" movements.  In other words, extremist and fundamentalist religious and political groups.  What is not surprising are the key reasons why these types of organizations are growing.

It did not surprise me that extremist groups are growing - the world around us today is an ideal breeding ground for such groups and people looking for easy answers.  Rather, I was surprised that there are few if any mainstream groups/movements that show any kind of growth.  Most mainstream groups are stable or in decline.  The few that are growing are growing slowly, and the growth is a result of "natural causes" - for example AARP is growing in membership numbers, but that's expected based on the rising number of Americans becoming "senior aged" in this country.

As you would expect, the cornerstone of most extremist groups' membership recruitment and retention plans is fear.  Fear is a great motivator - someone is out to get you.  It causes your membership to unify and circle the wagons, upholding your message and financially supporting your cause.  The other aspects of what an organization like this does to recruit and retain membership range from expected public relations messaging to cult-like brainwashing.

I spent some time looking into these recruitment and retention tactics to see if there was something to be learned.  I could, right now, give everyone an easy recipe for creating a grassroots "renewal movement" within your organization, with clear, easy to introduce and maintain steps for membership growth and maintenance, as well as high-powered fundraising.  The problem is, I don't think anyone would have the stomach for implementing it... and if they did, I wouldn't tell them how to do it.

So rather than dwelling in the realm of manipulation of our base human natures, I attempted to distill positive lessons that we could apply to our organizational development.

I combined the best and most successful parts of the programs I studied, broke them into related categories - concepts - and then defined what those concepts mean on the organizational level, and how to apply them positively towards membership growth and fundraising efforts.

Look for future "Concepts for Organizational Growth" (COG) posts on each topic.