Youth Group Recruitment, Membership and Retention: It takes a village!

by Hope Chernak

Director of Youth and Informal Education at Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York, NY

For those of us in the field of Informal Jewish Education, we face the uphill battle every year recruiting students for our youth programs. We spend a good deal of our energy on retaining our students and another chunk of our time trying to get new members. While many of our congregations have fancy membership brochures, membership recruitment budgets and gimmicks, most of our youth programs' budgets are small or have fewer tools to focus on membership. Some youth professionals are even part-time and only can focus on the preparation of events or youth group board development. Read More: