Shul Consulting | ssmaximize

Consulting Services to Shuls

The primary purpose of a shul, of course, is to serve as a place of tefila and a makom Torah, and this far outweighs any other function. But our lives also tend to revolve around the synagogue, and the shul therefore has many other aspects to it - youth programming, adult education, social events, to name a few. The shul office is involved in administering all these activities, as well as managing financial operations, communications, technology, protocols and maintenance of records. We believe that work done by the shul office and officers should be done in a quality and professional manner.

My career as a pension consultant to large organizations and manager of a large department of actuaries always led me to strive for the highest quality operations and communications. As a past president of a large congregation in Teaneck, NJ, I brought many of the high standards used in private industry into the shul office. Now retired, I offer statistical and consulting services to shuls - at very low rates. We are available to advise any shul on how to discharge their various tasks in the most efficient and effective means possible, and assist in preparing quality communications or reports. We are also equipped to perform statistical, demographic or financial studies for your shul, while of course maintaining confidentiality regarding the data provided. Or, you can outsource your entire financial statement preparation task to us, at very low cost.

Click on the buttons to the right to see some sample reports or products that we used in our shul (note that names and numbers have been changed to preserve confidentiality) - you may find some of them useful for your shul as well, and we can help you produce them.

For example:

A demographic study (#1) is of interest to all members, and also produces useful planning information - e.g., to project youth needs for the future.
Who are the biggest contributors to the shul (all dues, fees and events combined) and how do they vary over the years? Any president or fund raiser would love to see report #4, which shows this for five years, ranked from highest to lowest amounts (names and amounts changed).
Financials are seasonal for a shul. Do you track historical bank reserve levels or monthly income and expense as compared to the prior year? Reports #2 and #7 are examples of this, and are very helpful in preparing a budget.
Multi-year statistical analyses of your primary fund raising events always reveal pertinent and relevant information - see report #5 as an example.
Does your shul inform members about shul activities when you have membership meetings? See presentations #11 and #12 for samples.