Leora Hoffman Associates

(Washington, DC)

(Top Independent Matchmakers)

Address

3 Bethesda Metro Center

Suite 700

Bethesda, MD 20814   (301-961-1982)

www.LeoraHoffman.com  

Leora Hoffman, age 43, is a professional matchmaker in Bethesda, with over 700 clients. She started her business 11 years ago. Leora will personally arrange private meetings between you and persons she selects for you--persons with whom you share common interests, beliefs and goals. LHA says that it is not a “dating service”. Rather, it is a small, extraordinarily person-alized membership organization where clients invest in an annual member-ship, the costs of which are determined by the amount of time Leora devotes to the clients. While LHA employs consultants and networkers, you deal only with Leora, who is solely responsible for recommending the matches throughout the entire process.

Services

Hofman requires all new members to fill out an 11-page questionnaire, a Myers-Briggs test, used to help her better understand her clients’ personality and needs. Questions range from eating habits and spending tendencies to political orientation and drug use.   

Hoffman claims a 30% success rate (matches that lead to either marriage or a long-term relationship), with clients who pay the basic membership fee. She says, “I operate like a search firm, and actually go out and recruit people for my clients.”  

LHA offers its members:

1. Introductions… to people with similar goals and interests whom she feels can possibly lead to a committed relationship. All applicants for membership are screened with the greatest of care.

2. Individualized Searches… Leora will design an action plan specifically tailored to each client in order to recruit prospective, eligible candidates. This is accompanied by extensive networking, advertising, and community outreach.

3. Personality Assessment… The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is used to assist Leora to better understand your personality and needs. Results are professionally evaluated by an educational diagnostician.

5. Image Consulting…. Members are offered the option of consulting with a specialist whose goal is to enhance your personal style.

Fees

Fees are assessed by annual membership, rather than a quota of dates. The “average” client pays about $2,500 a year for a basic membership. However, fees start as low as $500 for the “contributing level” membership wherein someone just registers to be included in Leora’s “pool” or database. Fees can go as high as $7,500, where her firm acts more like an executive search firm, using a personality test and other more intensive methods.

She does very little paid advertising, but does write an advice column and does lectures and workshops about relationships. She also attends many singles fairs and claims that these events are a good recruiting vehicle for clients.

Ms. Hoffman could not estimate how many matchmakers there are operating in the United States, or their typical revenues, but felt that $100,000+ was a reasonable estimate for a successful matchmaker.  Ms. Hoffman says that it’s impossible to make any guarantees in this business, and occasional disputes will always occur between clients and matchmakers. She claims a 50/50% mix of male/female clients.