Beth El fee structure

As members of Temple Beth El you are making a commitment to support the Jewish community and make it a priority in your life.  Your membership allows us to provide a variety of services 365 days a year for any and all members who need it.  In the interest of transparency we have laid out below all of our fees.

• Membership Dues – Each year the temple calculates a Sustaining Level of membership dues based on the support needed to run our programs and services.  This year, 2024-2025 our dues are $4360. Some of our members are unable to pay this level of due to personal circumstances, and it is our long-standing tradition to be flexible to ensure that no one is turned away based on what they can afford to pay.  If you can not afford temple membership, please reach out to Gennifer Kelly, Executive Director, at gkelly@bethelnw.org.  In order to cover those families who need to ask for a reduced dues amount, the temple fundraises via our Annual Fund.  If you would like to contribute to our Annual Fund, contact Carmen Stevens, Development Coordinator, at cstevens@bethelnw.org.
  • For our ECC families, membership fees are covered as part of tuition until the oldest child in the family reaches 3rd grade.  Upon graduation from our ECC our graduates are encouraged to continue onto our Kindergarten program in the Religious School; these families receive a special price of 50% of Kindergarten tuition to continue the following year after graduation.  After the Kindergarten year and for the years the ECC graduate is in 1st or 2nd grade, the family’s membership fee is then at 50% of dues (plus any tuition that applies).  Once any child in the family reaches 3rd grade, membership dues does go up to the full amount.
  • For any young family joining the temple for the first time with children not yet in 3rd grade, membership is 50% off for that first year.
• Security Fee – This fee is assessed to every family at Beth El.  It helps cover the costs of our enhanced security.  The current fees are as follows: $495 for our Religious School families, $695 for ECC families and $395 for all other members; and an additional $300 for our B’nei Mitzvah families (for the day of the ceremony).
• Building Fund – This fund was established to help the temple pay for large building maintenance and improvements.  We ask all new members to contribute to this fund in the amount of $1000 each year for the first seven years of membership.  This fee is billed to all new members once their youngest child has reached 3rd grade. If you would like to pay this fee upfront, the fee is reduced to $6500.
• Religious School – Each grade is assessed a tuition amount that can be found on this page: https://www.bethelnw.org/rs/2024_tuition_schedule.  Tuition covers approximately 70% of the cost in running our school.  The difference is covered by membership dues of the community, the Annual Fund and other fundraising.  Since our dues help to cover so much of our school, membership is a prerequisite to Religious School enrollment.  In addition to tuition, certain grade levels will be asked to contribute an activity fee if the child is coming off the bus to religious school (this fee covers the time of additional programming).  Also, large scale trips, such as our 8th & 9th grade trip to NYC, will have fees that are collected with RSVPs.
• B’nei Mitzvah Fees – In addition to religious school education, Beth El provides a robust program guiding our children through the Bar/Bat Mitzvah process.  B’nei Mitzvah dates are generally given out to families in the 4th grade year and upon confirming the date each family is billed a fee to cover all the meetings, tutoring, materials, clergy time and day of.  In July prior to your child’s simcha, parents are also asked to cover the cost of the congregation’s Friday night oneg and the flowers on the bimah for the weekend.  For the students becoming with a simcha July 2025-June 2026 the B’nei Mitzvah fee is $2700, or $3700 for an afternoon service, and the oneg & flower fees this year are $600 & $275.  These fees do increase about 5% each year.
• Confirmation Fee – Our 10th grade students are taught by our clergy and go on several field trips including a weekend overnight.  In order to cover the costs of the trips, fees will be collected via RSVP.
  
  We hope this helps you understand our fee structure.  If ever you have any questions about your financial bill, please do reach out to our Executive Director, Gennifer Kelly.