1 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 University Jack Habib and Susan Elster of the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute

2 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

3 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

4 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

5 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

6 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

7 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)

8 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

9 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?

10 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%

11 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

12 Beit Shean/ Partnership 2000 (in %) Change in Importance in last 5 years ImportantEver InvolvedAware LessMoreVeryTotalOf Aware Of total

13 Don't know Not important Somewhat important Very important Beit Shean/ P2K Have heard of Have not heard of The Importance of Supporting Programs Like Beit Shean/P2K by Having Ever Heard of The Program (row %)

14 Change in Importance of Supporting Programs Like Beit Shean/P2K by Having Ever Heard of The Program (row %) Don't Know Equally important Less important More important Beit Shean /P2K Have heard of Have not heard of

15 Having Heard of Beit Shean/P2K by Visited Israel (row %) Not Heard of Beit Shean/P2K Heard of Beit Shean/P2K Have never visited Israel Have visited Israel Visited Israel since 2000

16 Importance of Programs Like Beit Shean/P2K by Having Ever Visited (row %) Don't know NotSome- what VeryPrograms like Beit Shean/P2K Visited Israel Never visited

17 Attitudes Towards the Overseas Work of the Federation

18 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

19 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 %) UnsureVery meaningful Total meaningful 65289Improving Jewish life in Greater Cleveland Improving Jewish life in Israel Responding to anti-Israel sentiment Helping other organizations in the economic and social development of Greater Cleveland Improving Jewish life in other Jewish communities overseas

21 Changes in the Last 5 Years

22 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.

23 Change in Importance  Number of Programs: Importance Today Relative to 5 Years Ago (%): More Less  None2565  One25 18  2 to  4 or more28 7

24 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)

25 Impacts of Overseas Awareness and Involvement

26 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

27 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

28 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… Strongly Agree Total Agree 2567Better informed about Israel 2570Better informed about other Jewish communities outside US 3164More connected to Israel 2467More connected to Jews around the world 1965More committed to the overseas work of the Federation 2968More connected to the Cleveland Jewish community 4770Prouder to be Jewish

30 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 Impacts Number 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 %) More committed to Fed. overseas work More connected to Clev. JC Number of Reported Impacts All 7 impacts0 impactsNo. of Programs Ever Heard of 55 (6)62 (19)**36171 to 3 62 (18)65 (28)39114 to 6 82 (34)79 (44)60[3]7 to (19)68 (29)4311Total * 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

33 Change in Awareness over Last 5 Years, and a Range of Impacts (in %) More involved in Fed. Greater Jewish activity Feel more a part of the Clev. JC More interested in Israel More interested in other overseas JC's At least 4 programs more important More aware Yes No

34 Differences Among Age Groups

35 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

36 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

37 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)

38 Further Steps in the Study  Completion of subgroup survey  Additional analyses of the community wide and subgroup surveys  Developing a dissemination strategy

39 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