Getting on the Data Bandwagon
Source: eJewish Philanthropy
JData is a shared resource for Jewish education in North America. Each year, JData collects information from the primary Jewish youth educational institutions – day camps, day schools, early childhood enters, overnight camps, and part-time schools – and delivers assessments on the health and wellness of the Jewish educational endeavor.
We focus on six core metrics: recruitment, retention, staff development, financial health, fundraising capacity, and governance. Thanks to our robust platform, we are able to track these metrics over time. We work with a range of national organizations and communal-based institutions to look at segments of the data of particular importance to them, providing them with the information they need to evaluate the present and plan for the future.
Individual organizations use JData to create a confidential, ongoing profile, with information about their enrollment, budget, staffing, and governance. They can then generate detailed reports for planning, recruitment, communications, and fundraising—all at no cost.
JData helps federations, central agencies, foundations, movements, and other umbrella organizations work more efficiently and effectively with their constituent schools and camps. JData's tools help them monitor comparative trends in enrollment, capacity, fundraising, and other critical indicators of organizational health.
JData is the only comprehensive census of the more than 3,000 Jewish educational programs in North America. Journalists, academics, and others concerned with the current and future strength of Jewish education now have an objective, go-to resource.
To be on the data bandwagon requires a willingness to be open and honest, to be willing to share and hear the good and not-so-good news. Even harder is being able focus on trends and patterns, to take in the full picture, and not get bogged down (or let others get bogged down) by one or two particular data points.
If you are engaged in the Jewish educational endeavor, and are interested in getting on the data bandwagon, we would love to talk to you.
Read more at eJewish Philanthropy.