Who manages your synagogue website?
It sounds like a simple question.
But at many synagogues, the answer is something like:
“Well, it depends.”
The executive director updates some things. The communications person handles events. The rabbi sends changes to someone else. A volunteer knows how one particular part works. And there’s a web developer everyone contacts when something breaks.
That arrangement isn’t necessarily a problem.
In fact, more than one person probably should be involved in managing a synagogue website.
The important thing is that everyone understands who is responsible for what.
There’s More Than One Kind of Website Management
One reason this question gets complicated is that “managing the website” can mean very different things.
There’s content management:
- Updating service times
- Adding programs and events
- Changing staff information
- Posting announcements
- Updating photographs
- Creating and revising pages
Then there’s technical management:
- Keeping WordPress, plugins and themes updated
- Monitoring security
- Maintaining backups
- Troubleshooting errors
- Addressing compatibility problems
- Making functionality enhancements
- Handling hosting or server issues
And there’s strategic oversight:
- Deciding what belongs on the homepage
- Keeping navigation organized
- Maintaining a consistent voice
- Determining which information is most important
- Making sure the website continues to reflect the congregation accurately
Those aren’t necessarily jobs for the same person.
In fact, they often shouldn’t be.
Someone Inside the Synagogue Should Own the Content
No outside web designer will ever know your congregation as well as the people who are part of it every day.
Someone inside the synagogue needs to know that Friday night’s service time changed.
They need to know that a new staff member started.
They know which program needs extra promotion, when registration opens for religious school and that the membership page is still referring to a policy that changed last year.
That’s why responsibility for the content of the website should ultimately live inside the synagogue.
Ideally, one person serves as the primary website owner.
Depending on the congregation, that might be an executive director, communications professional, administrator or another staff member.
That doesn’t mean this person has to personally make every update.
It means someone knows:
The website is part of my responsibility.
Without that ownership, websites tend to become everyone’s responsibility — which can quickly turn into no one’s responsibility.
Other Staff Members Can Own Their Areas
The primary website manager doesn’t need to become a bottleneck.
A preschool director may be responsible for keeping early childhood information current.
An education director may review religious school content.
Clergy may provide updates to worship or lifecycle information.
A development professional may oversee giving content.
The important thing is having a process.
Who notices when something changes?
Who provides the new information?
Who actually updates the website?
Who makes sure the update happened?
The answers can vary by congregation.
What’s dangerous is when nobody knows the answers.
Volunteers Can Still Play an Important Role
Volunteers can be tremendous resources.
A congregant may be an excellent writer, photographer, designer or technology professional. Another may have the time and enthusiasm to help keep event information current.
There’s no reason not to take advantage of that expertise.
The problem comes when the synagogue becomes dependent on one volunteer.
People move.
Board terms end.
Priorities change.
Someone who enthusiastically took responsibility for the website five years ago may eventually decide they’ve done enough.
And sometimes the next volunteer doesn’t have the same skills.
If volunteers are involved, make sure the synagogue itself retains control.
Website accounts should not exist solely under a volunteer’s personal email address. Important passwords shouldn’t be known by only one person. The synagogue should know where its domain is registered, where the website is hosted and whom to contact when something goes wrong.
A volunteer can help manage the website.
The volunteer shouldn’t own the website.
Don’t Have Everyone Share One Login
If several people update the website, give them separate accounts.
Don’t create one username called something like synagogueadmin and give the password to six people.
Individual accounts provide better accountability and make access easier to manage when responsibilities change.
They can also have different levels of permission.
Someone who needs to update page content doesn’t necessarily need permission to install plugins, change website settings or modify other users.
Give people access to what they need.
Not necessarily everything.
Content Editing and Website Design Are Different Jobs
Modern website tools make it possible for staff members to edit content without knowing how to code.
That’s a good thing.
But there’s an important distinction between updating a website and designing a website.
Changing the time of a service is content editing.
Adding an upcoming event is content editing.
Replacing a staff biography is content editing.
Redesigning a page layout, introducing new functionality or changing the site’s navigation structure is something different.
A well-built website should make routine content updates easy without requiring staff members to become web designers.
That helps preserve consistency and reduces the chance that a simple update accidentally creates a larger problem.
Technical Maintenance Shouldn’t Be an Afterthought
Someone also needs to take responsibility for everything visitors don’t see.
WordPress needs updates.
Plugins need updates.
Backups need to work.
Security needs to be monitored.
Occasionally something breaks.
And when it does, someone needs to know how to diagnose the problem and respond.
These responsibilities are easy to ignore because, when everything is working properly, they’re largely invisible.
Until they’re not.
That’s why I like separating content management from technical maintenance.
Synagogue staff can concentrate on keeping the website accurate, useful and current.
A web professional can concentrate on keeping the underlying technology healthy.
Neither side has to do everything.
What About Website Updates That Staff Don’t Have Time to Make?
There’s another reality worth acknowledging.
Even when synagogue staff can update the website, that doesn’t mean they always have time to do it.
The executive director has a dozen other things happening.
The communications person is trying to get the weekly email out.
Someone needs a new page added before tomorrow.
That’s where outside website support can be useful beyond purely technical maintenance.
Staff can make the updates they want to handle themselves and send other changes to their web professional.
It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
The goal is to keep the website current without turning it into another source of stress for an already busy synagogue staff.
Create a Simple Website Responsibility Plan
You don’t need a complicated governance document.
But every synagogue should be able to answer a few basic questions:
Who is primarily responsible for the website?
Who updates routine content?
Who decides what appears on the homepage?
Who reviews information for accuracy?
Who handles technical maintenance and security?
Who gets called when something breaks?
Who controls the domain, hosting and other important accounts?
What happens when the person responsible for any of these things leaves?
If the answer to any of those questions is “I’m not sure,” that’s worth fixing before it becomes a problem.
Plan for Turnover Before It Happens
Synagogue staff changes.
Volunteers change.
Board leadership changes.
Your website management structure needs to survive those transitions.
Document the important information.
Use synagogue-controlled email addresses where appropriate for critical accounts.
Make sure more than one authorized person knows how to access essential services.
Remove user accounts when people no longer need access.
And when responsibility for the website changes hands, include it in the transition process rather than assuming the new person will somehow figure everything out.
The goal is institutional continuity.
The website should belong to the congregation, not to whichever individual happens to understand it best at the moment.
The Best Model Is Shared Responsibility
So who should manage your synagogue website?
Probably not one person.
A strong arrangement usually has several layers:
Someone inside the synagogue owns the website content.
They understand the congregation, know what needs to change and make sure the website remains a priority.
Other staff members and volunteers contribute where appropriate.
They provide expertise and help keep their particular areas current.
A web professional handles the technical side and provides support when needed.
They maintain the underlying website, troubleshoot problems and help with changes that go beyond routine content editing.
That division of responsibility plays to everyone’s strengths.
The people inside the synagogue know the community.
The web professional knows the technology.
And nobody has to do everything.
Make the Website an Organizational Responsibility
A synagogue website is too important to depend on one enthusiastic volunteer.
But it also shouldn’t be something completely outsourced to a web company that has no way of knowing what’s changing inside the congregation.
The most sustainable approach sits somewhere in between.
Give someone inside the synagogue clear ownership.
Create a process for keeping information current.
Use volunteers where their skills are valuable.
Make sure the congregation controls its accounts and information.
And have professional technical support available so staff members don’t have to become website experts themselves.
A successful synagogue website isn’t simply built well.
It’s managed well after it launches.