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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 Towards the Overseas Work of the Federation

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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 the Last 5 Years

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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 Overseas Awareness and Involvement

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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

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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

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Issues in a Dissemination Strategy Who In what ways What messages and content Intensive vs. extensive Wide net vs. targeted Feasibility, costs and cost benefit Goal setting vs. opportunistic How coordinated among various areas of work Ongoing and periodic assessment