Post on 16-Dec-2015
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Strategizing Impact
Report on a Study of the Exposure to and Impact of the Cleveland Federation's
Overseas Activities on the Local Community Partnership 2000 National Conference
May 8, 2006
The study is being carried out by Mark Rosentraub of the Department of Urban Studies,
Cleveland State UniversityJack Habib and Susan Elster of the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute
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Goals of the Study To examine exposure to the overseas activity of the
Cleveland Federation
To examine the impact of the Cleveland Jewish Federation’s Overseas activity on the broader Jewish community
To provide input into the strategic planning of efforts to enhance the local impact of the overseas programs
To develop tools to monitor both exposure and impacts over time
To provide a baseline for monitoring impact in the future
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Components of the Study
Documenting the extent of exposure through Federation data bases and staff records
In depth interviews Community wide survey Surveys of key sub-groups
Current and past OCC members Events and missions participants Jewish communal educators
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Relationships Among Variables
Awareness
Involvement
Importance
Contribution
Attitudes towards over seas:
•General•Federation specific
Local communal attitudes
Personal Jewish identity
Exposure Assessment of overseas activity
Outcomes
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Key Study Questions Exposure to overseas program (awareness,
involvement) Overseas attitudes (importance, contribution,
commitment to Federation) Local Jewish communal affiliation and personal
Jewish identity Interest in learning more and becoming more
involved With respect to the above, current condition and
changes in last 5 years
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The Survey Community survey conducted in January 2006
300 Cleveland households randomly drawn from among the 2,000 households surveyed for the 2004 Cleveland Community Study
The study is not designed to represent full Jewish population. Therefore, respondents are more involved. For example, 76% have been involved with Federation in some way.
Survey of subgroups is ongoing
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Cleveland Israel Programs Helping Israel to deal with the recent wave of
terrorism (IEC) Promoting educational opportunities for
Ethiopian children and youth (PACT) Assisting more generally in the successful
integration of immigrants Partnering with the city of Beit Shean to
promote development and people-to-people relationships in Partnership 2000 (P2K)
Promoting women's health services in Israel (ISHA)
Assisting the army integrate disadvantaged students (Havat Hashomer)
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Cleveland Overseas Programs Helping with the social welfare needs of poor
and elderly Jews in Russia and other overseas communities
Helping to build communities and strengthen Jewish education and identity in Russia and other overseas communities
Building a partnership with the Jewish community of St. Petersburg
Providing emergency assistance to the Jewish community in Argentina in light of the severe economic crisis
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Study Question:Can you tell me whether you have
ever heard of Partner with the city of Beit Shean to promote development and people-to-people relationships in Partnership 2000?
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Awareness of Federation Overseas Activities
95% are aware that Federation sponsors overseas programs
Regarding 10 specific areas of overseas activity: Significant degree of awareness of each
activity area – range: 21% to 64%
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Involvement with Federation Overseas Activities
Significant minority (30%) involved with one or more OCC activity areas – far fewer than those who are aware
Range among activity areas: 3% to 13%
No basic differences in responses to Israel vs. other overseas areas
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Beit Shean/ Partnership 2000 (in %)
AwareEver InvolvedImportant
Change in Importance in last 5 years
Of total
Of Aware
TotalVeryMoreLess
5613237433169
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Beit Shean/ P2K
Very important
Somewhat important
Not important
Don't know
Have heard of
50.943.25.30.6
Have not heard of
10.438.115.735.8
The Importance of Supporting Programs Like Beit Shean/P2K by Having Ever Heard of The Program (row %)
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Change in Importance of Supporting Programs Like Beit Shean/P2K by Having Ever Heard of The Program (row %)
Beit Shean /P2K
More important
Less important
Equally important
Don't Know
Have heard of
20.17.171.01.8
Have not heard of
11.211.241.036.6
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Having Heard of Beit Shean/P2K by Visited Israel (row %)
Heard of Beit Shean/P2K
Not Heard of Beit Shean/P2K
Have never visited Israel
33.966.1
Have visited Israel69.430.6
Visited Israel since 2000
83.016.9
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Importance of Programs Like Beit Shean/P2K by Having Ever Visited (row %)
Programs like Beit Shean/P2K
VerySome-what
NotDon't know
Visited Israel
41.040.010.09.0
Never visited
20.042.010.028.0
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Attitudes Toward Overseas Activity Areas
The vast majority feel that it is important for the Cleveland community to support each of the various overseas areas 86% say it is important to support 7 or more specific
programs The percent who feel that the areas are important is
much higher than the percent who are personally aware and involved
This sense of importance is shared by those who have never been involved with the Federation
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Contribution of the Federation to Jewish Life
The respondents were asked how meaningful the Federation's contribution has been to improving Jewish life overseas and in Cleveland.
The vast majority (75%-89%) felt that the Fed's contribution was meaningful or very meaningful both overseas and in Cleveland.
The reported contribution was greatest in Cleveland, followed by Israel, and followed by other overseas Jewish communities.
Attitudes Towards Contribution of the Federation to the Overseas and Local Communities (in %)
Total meaningful
Very meaningful
Unsure
Improving Jewish life in Greater Cleveland
89526
Improving Jewish life in Israel813416
Responding to anti-Israel sentiment
804314
Helping other organizations in the economic and social development of Greater Cleveland
803813
Improving Jewish life in other Jewish communities overseas
752520
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Changes in Overseas Programs
Increased awareness of Federation overseas programs (45%).
Increased sense of their importance (75% say at least one program is more important and 35% say it's less important).
Increased general interest in Israel (38%) and in other overseas Jewish communities (37%). Negligible decrease in interest.
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Change in Importance
Number of Programs: Importance Today Relative to 5 Years Ago (%):
More Less
None 25 65 One 25 18 2 to 3 22 10 4 or more 28 7
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Increases in Local Jewish Communal Affiliation
Increase in feeling a part of the Cleveland Jewish community (24% reporting feeling more a part and 13% less)
Increased general levels of Jewish activity (27% report increases and 14% report decreases)
Slight decline in involvement with the Federation (13%[18%] more involved with the Federation and 19%[25%] less involved)
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Impacts of Awareness and Involvement Various methods used to define and measure
impacts: Self reported impacts Statistical analysis of relationships between
awareness and involvement with overseas activities and:
Attitudes towards overseas activities Local Jewish affiliation
Analyses are still in progress Preliminary indications of these impacts
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Self Reported Impacts The respondents were asked whether as a result of
their awareness of, or involvement with, the overseas programs, they feel:
Better informed about needs in Israel and in other Jewish communities
More connected to Israel and to Jews around the world
More committed to the overseas work of the Federation
More connected to Cleveland Jewish community Prouder to be Jewish
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Significant Self Reported Impacts on Overseas and Local Affiliation
65-70% report that their awareness and involvement has resulted in being better informed, more connected and more committed to the Federation's overseas work.
A similar percent feels connected to the Jewish community and prouder to be Jewish.
But, when we look at those who strongly agree, the impact on prouder to be Jewish stands out.
As A Result of Awareness of, or Involvement with, the Overseas Work of the Federation, Percent Reporting Feeling…
Total Agree
Strongly Agree
Better informed about Israel6725
Better informed about other Jewish communities outside US
7025
More connected to Israel6431
More connected to Jews around the world6724
More committed to the overseas work of the Federation
6519
More connected to the Cleveland Jewish community
6829
Prouder to be Jewish7047
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Validation of Self Reported Impacts
In order to validate the self reported impacts, we compared the responses to the degree of awareness of Federation programs.
We found that as awareness increases, the self reported impacts of the overseas programs increase very significantly.
Validation of Self Reported ImpactsNumber of Reported Impacts* as a Result of Awareness of, or Involvement with, the Overseas Work of the Federation – in Relation to Number of Programs Aware of (in %)
Number of Reported ImpactsMore connected
to Clev. JC
More committed to
Fed. overseas work
No. of Programs Ever Heard of
0 impactsAll 7 impacts
1 to 3173662 (19)**55 (6)
4 to 6113965 (28)62 (18)
7 to 10[3]6079 (44)82 (34)
Total114368 (29)65 (19)
* Strongly agree and somewhat agree ** In parenthesis - strongly agree
Change in Awareness vs. Change in Attitudes
We looked at the impact of changes in awareness on a number of the outcome variables, both overseas and local.
We find that those whose awareness increased also significantly increased in the following areas: The importance that they attribute to overseas
programs Their interest in Israel and overseas communities Their involvement with the Federation over past 5
years Their level of Jewish activity over past 5 years Their feeling more a part of the Cleveland community
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Change in Awareness over Last 5 Years, and a Range of Impacts (in %)
More aware
At least 4 programs
more important
More interested in other
overseas JC's
More interested in Israel
Feel more a part of the Clev.
JC
Greater Jewish activity
More involved in Fed.
Yes364847363624
No 252531152013
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Differences Among Age Groups
Involvement with Federation lowest among those under age 40 (62% compared to 72-82% among older respondents)
Younger respondents are also less aware of the overseas programs (86% compared to 92-96% among older)
No significant age difference in: The importance ascribed to the overseas
work The assessment of the Federation’s
contribution Self reported impacts
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Changes in the Last 5 years by Age The younger show more increases in:
Awareness Involvement with the Federation Jewish activity Feeling part of the Cleveland Jewish community Interest in Israel and other overseas Jewish
communities For the younger the increases are greater than the
decreases regarding Federation involvement, whereas for the oldest group the decreases are greater
They show a similar change in importance
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Interest in Learning More or Becoming More Involved in Overseas Programs
A significant group is interested in learning more or becoming more involved in Federation overseas activities (25%)
Interest is similar among those already involved in some way with Federation and those who are not involved
A majority of the younger group are interested in learning more, but this interest declines rapidly with age (59% compared to 13% among oldest respondents)
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Further Steps in the Study
Completion of subgroup survey
Additional analyses of the community wide and subgroup surveys
Developing a dissemination strategy