I hope that you and your family are enjoying the Passover holiday. Tomorrow the Jewish Federation office will be closed for the holiday, thus the reason for my weekly email coming today.

If you recall, some 15 months ago, the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland launched a new communications tool for our Jewish community – GrapeVine. All of you reading this email, plus many more, receive a weekly email detailing the myriad of programs happening in our Jewish community. This tool is not only a low-cost vehicle to share these various events, it is also a way for our community to better understand the programmatic interests of our community. We recently received our first year data analysis and I wanted to share this with you. (If anyone would like a copy of the GrapeVine report, please reply to this email.)

Since launching, the GrapeVine platform has almost doubled to approximately 12,000 users, representing 1/3 of the total Jewish population of Greater Portland (and an even higher percentage of Jewish adults). Our “opt out” rate has been very low while the number of users continues to increase. Some key information:

• The largest demographic group using GrapeVine are those ages 40-69. This is not surprising since the vast majority of users came from a culmination of membership/participation lists from a variety of Jewish organizations. We also have more male participants than female.
• Almost 70% of users live west of the river and 19% live on the eastside. The others live in Clark and Clackamas counties.
• Over 20% of users identify themselves as families with young children.
• GrapeVine is being used – over 57% of all users are interacting with GrapeVine on a regular basis.
• GrapeVine is a national program with additional communities participating (New York, Rhode Island, Atlanta, Chicago). We were the fastest growing community for GrapeVine usage. Our original goal was to have 8 participating Jewish organizations in the first year. We currently have 33 Jewish organizations participating with 94% of them actively posting their program opportunities.
• To date, nearly 1,000 event postings have been included on GrapeVine. This highlights the vibrancy of our Jewish community. In addition, this platform provides promotional opportunities for Jewish organizations reaching new and different audiences on a regular basis, plus providing them with valuable marketing data to assist in developing programs.
• One of the key aspects of GrapeVine are the user profiles. To date, 45% of users have filled out at least three or more data points on their profile. It is this aspect of the GrapeVine platform that is most important. The better we understand your interests…the more our Jewish community can do to enhance your Jewish experience.

One of the data points we are most focused on is what people are interested in versus what programs/events are happening in the community. In some cases there is a disconnect based on people’s profiles. Two examples: 28% of events on GrapeVine are social in nature, yet only 6% of people marked that in their profile. At the same time, 42% indicated interest in arts and entertainment programs, while only 29% of events on GrapeVine are in that category. How can we better balance our community’s programmatic offerings with the interests of the community itself?

I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to complete your profile (if you currently receive GrapeVine emails, sign in at the top right and then click on arrow at top right where the photo is located) so our community’s offerings (and weekly GrapeVine emails) can be more tailored to YOUR interests. The more you share…the more GrapeVine can share.

If you have any questions or problems please contact Rachel Rothstein at 503-892-7415.

Keys going forward:

• USE GrapeVine. The more you click on it the better GrapeVine works for YOU.
• We want to grow the numbers of users, especially those ages 22-39. Please encourage (regardless of age) your friends, children, relatives to sign-up for GrapeVine.
• Data from GrapeVine will help guide planning for our community going forward. 

Finally, I would like to hear from you about GrapeVine -- share your thoughts and feedback. We are interested in your thoughts about the platform…how you use the system…what works best for you…what would you like to see…etc. Please help us make it even better for you and your family.

I would be remiss if I did not thank The Holzman Family Foundation for their generous support of this new initiative along with that of the Jewish Federation Board. GrapeVine is a community-based program at no cost to partnering Jewish organizations to connect with so many people in our Jewish community – in a new and different way. It is working – and with your support – can be even more effective.

Please continue to enjoy the remainder of the Passover holiday and best (early) wishes for a Shabbat shalom.

Marc