That’s a Wrap!

The 2021-2022 season is in the books – and once again, our Federation’s program department provided a range of meaningful engagement opportunities to meet our community members “where they were at” with “hybrid” events allowing for both in-person and virtual participation.

As we look to the 2022-2023 season, we are eager to learn how to best serve your interests and needs as we plan primarily in-person programs.

To do so, we are asking you to take a few minutes to participate in a survey more in-depth than in year’s past.  Knowing we can always improve, we will ask you to reflect on the past year of programming and share constructive feedback.  Additionally, as we emerge from the constraints of the pandemic, and begin planning a season of in-person programming, it’s time we leverage the findings of our 2019 demographic survey, which was completed just a few months before we were forced to pivot to completely virtual programming.

As a reminder, here’s a bit of what we learned about the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish community: We are growing fast, staying in town longer, and living further north and south. More are looking to engage Jewishly outside of a synagogue, and over half (51%) feel social justice causes are important to them. Our community is getting younger, with number of Jewish children more than doubling in the last 20 years. Nearly 20% of Jewish households include individuals who are not Jewish. With respect to Israel, nearly 90% of our community feels a connection and well over 50% have been to Israel at least once. Our community is increasingly worried (nearly 80%) about the rise in antisemitism, with 27% personally having experienced antisemitism in the previous 3 years.

Our 2019 demographic survey can help point us in the right direction for long-term planning. Additionally, an annual survey (not scientifically valid, but still very useful!) can help us get a snapshot of who we are, how we feel, and what interests us as far as broadening our connections with each other, our engagement with society around us, and our understanding of the world.

What Will Next Season Look Like?

Israel @ 75 – in 2023, Israel will celebrate its 75^th Anniversary, so you can be sure that Israel will be a strong thread throughout the year (films, speakers, authors, etc.)!

Cohorts & Ambassadors – Most of us interact with someone who’s not Jewish daily – whether a neighbor, golf partner, classmate, grandchild, or colleague. Do you feel comfortable having a conversation or answering a question about antisemitism or Israel? Many of us don’t. We are looking at ways we can help you feel more confident and equipped to bring your Jewish self and your Jewish voice into those conversations and spaces in a constructive way.

Please help us shape the future season of Federation programming by completing our new Programs Survey: Past ~ Present ~ Future (the link is below). Your participation will help us improve and ensure we’re innovating in the right direction to provide meaningful engagement opportunities for all.

Please visit this link to take our survey: jfedsrq.org/ProgramSurvey