We are making a major stride tonight, assuming we pass our budget and take on our share of FICA, but we still have a way to go. While much of our staff is now being paid competitively some of them are, still, way below what other congregations are paying. One of our most senior positions has the dubious honor of being among the five lowest in the country for comparably sized temples. Fundraising will have to be increased. We will have a major mortgage bill to pay each month.
Attitudes have to change.
We are not the small kid on the block. We are a major congregation and we need to begin to act that way. Yet at the same time we cannot be fiscally irresponsible. If we want to attract quality members we need to act and operate like a quality institution. To use an analogy, I have shared with staff, we need to act like Nordstrom's and Bloomies and not like KMart.