GrapeVine Exceeds Federation’s Expectations
By Anna Streetman
The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta has partnered with an app called GrapeVine to enhance engagement for Jewish people in Atlanta.
GrapeVine (www.grape-vine.com) aims to facilitate connections to Jewish life even as lives and interests evolve. It consists of a mobile app, a weekly email and a website that connects individuals to personalized recommendations for experiences and events in the local Jewish community. As individuals fill out their profiles and interact with GrapeVine, GrapeVine learns about them and suggests opportunities based on their needs and interests.
Every organization that posts on GrapeVine has its own portal to access data about the community, the organization and events. The app is aimed at young Jewish professionals and families and is available in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Ore., and Rhode Island.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta partnered with GrapeVine in March 2014 and has helped connect the app with local Jewish organizations trying to expand their community reach. Amanda Abrams, Federation’s senior vice president of strategy planning and impact, said GrapeVine has exceeded expectations in its first year in the community.
“We were blown away by GrapeVine’s success,” Abrams said. “We originally hoped to partner GrapeVine with 10 organizations in the Atlanta area. Today we have over 30.”
During the first quarter of GrapeVine Atlanta, almost 10,000 people interacted with the platform. Today, 6,000 people are active users. GrapeVine’s many partnerships give users access to a variety of experiences in the Jewish community.
Tommy Bledsoe, the associate director of outreach and engagement for GrapeVine Atlanta, said GrapeVine is constantly improving and listening to feedback to create a better user experience.
“We are launching a new website and mobile app this month that will provide an even more refined experience for our users and partner organizations,” Bledsoe said. “We’ve taken into account feedback from users, organizations, community partners and funders over the last two years and have created an updated platform that will better facilitate the connection between our users and local programming.”
Abrams said the app is an excellent example of the benefits of partnership: “Through our partnership, we’ve helped bring GrapeVine to young adults and young families in all of Atlanta. It’s just what the Jewish community needs.”
GrapeVine plans to launch in Chicago and is in continual communication with cities that want to bring in GrapeVine.
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