What’s the big deal?
There are a number of aspects to maximising membership. This involves maintaining the current membership as well as looking to expand the the numbers and ‘yes‘ I’m referring to the three R’s : Recruitment, Retention and Recall, but actually there’s a fourth that no one refers to and that’s: “Rework”.
Most Lodges, survive on the “seven percent” principle. That is “seven percent of the members actually play an active part in the Lodge’s well being and thus survival. Thus if you have twenty five or so members, you likely have a couple of members who drive the Lodge along and ‘yes’, this usually works. If your numbers fall below thirteen members, your seven percent is probably one person (who is likely already Secretary) and everything on one person’s shoulders, unless they are extremely highly motivated, has ‘off the scale control needs’ or is simply ‘exceptionally dedicated’ is generally simply too much of a burden for one person. In that instance, the Lodge’s issue then is if that one person has other pressures on their life, (financial, physical or mental health, family, work etc.) then those pressures can lead to the demise of the Lodge. Retention is thus PARAMOUNT but different members need different approaches:
Look at your membership and ensure that the members who regularly attend are enjoying their membership and that their concerns are listened to and if relevant, acted upon so that they continue to feel valued. Are they one of the members who offer their services to once again take office, or are they knife and form Masons who simply enjoy the company of a dinner with friends. The Lodge needs all sorts of Brethren, but often there is an opportunity to encourage a “knife and fork” Mason to take on a simple role such as Chaplain which might free up another Brother for a more important role and might make the new Chaplain feel more valued are possibly more likely to want to take a further part?
Then look at the ‘occasional’ attendees and work on them, ascertaining exactly why they miss certain meetings and how YOU might be able to encourage or in fact enable or them to attend the meetings that they are missing. Then review your membership and look at those who never attend. Are they keeping up their membership because they believe someone will look after them or their families if they become less capable or simply through a sense of loyalty? With this information you can review the benefits of membership and begin to work with them reminding them of any benefits which might be most relevant to them in their current circumstance in life.
Then look at those members who ‘no longer’ attend. Make sure that any approach is made with the knowledge of your Almoner who may have some useful background on the Member and can adise why they believe they do not attend or if there are in fact any issues with the Membership. Try and meet with these Brethren as a call, email or even letter can be ignored. Talk to them about the advantages of attendance, remind them that their friends miss them and always raise a glass to them at 9pm on Lodge evenings and let them know that it would be lovely to see them again at even just one meeting every year simply so they don’t completely lose touch with their friends. The truth is that once through the Chair, many brethren feel like they have ‘done it’ and do not need to advance any further of more commonly that a former agreement with their partner has to be honoured that “Once through the Chair that Lodge visits will be curtailed.” Promises made years ago need to be reviewed and family might now be pleased to see your Brother reunited with his Brethren. There is however one ESSENTIAL point here. If you’ve made that effort and been successful in encouraging the Brother to join you all, you must ABSOLUTELY ENSURE that your Brethren welcome their ‘lost’ Brother back into the fold and that they do not ignore or snub him as that will most certainly be the last time they see him.
Recruitment comprises attracting joining members and attracting candidates for Initiation. You are not on your own with regard to finding new members and other members including the Lodge Mentor should be ready and willing to work with you on this. The immediate ways forward are:
A joining member will necessarily be or have been a member of another Lodge so unless you form ties and relationships with other Lodges then you are doomed to failure. this is NOT a simple process but as are most aspects in Freemasonry, extremely rewarding if you take the time and make the effort. To encourage a Freemason to join your lodge you have to :
Finding him
This necessitates visiting other Lodges and forging friendships with Members there. This will naturally take a number of happy visits so may take a year or two, but it is NOT onerous and is in fact a natural and enjoyable aspect of Freemasonry and you’ll find that Lodges with members who visit frequently are often successful for this very reason.
Encourage him to visit your lodge
Think to yourself why the member would want to visit your lodge. Do you do anything unusual in your Ceremonies or Festive Board? Is your building or Temple special in any way? Do your members have any ‘special appeal’ (similar interests etc.) to him? Inviting guests is actually a significant expense and a Lodge truly interested in recruitment should perhaps consider a small budget for paying for guests meals so that the cost associated with the invitation is not borne just by one enthusiastic member.
Make him feel welcome
When he arrives for the first time make sure your members welcome him and make him feel at home. Prospects can easily bent should frightened off if the Members cluster together at the bar or naturally refuse to mingle with guests.
Understand what drives and motivates him
Discuss his family, friends, freemasonry, jobs, hobies, history, personal issues and achievements at the Festive Board. Use this information as ‘levers’ to encourage conversation and make sure that any chance to match his aspirations to any opportunities within your Lodge are met.
Ascertain if he has the resource (time, finance & enthusiasm)
Do make sure that he can afford the additional fees and that he has the time in his life to spend another evening out with new friends.
Discuss the benefits of joining your lodge
Benefits are broad. You have to ensure that you are not ‘stealing’ him from his other Lodge(s) but that you are offering him something additional that his existing Lodges are perhaps unable to offer.
Speak with your membership and put forward a plan for him
If he shows interest, then speak with your Brethren and ensure that they are ALL looking forward to him spending his time with them.
Approach him about joining your Lodge
Make sure that the relevant joining form is completed and given to Bro. Secretary in good time that his detail might appear on the Summons in good time.
A Candidate for Freemasonry will necessarily never have been a member of another Lodge.This again is NOT a simple process but as are most aspects in Freemasonry, extremely rewarding if you take the time and make the effort. To encourage a Candidate for Freemasonry you will have have to :
Find him
He may have been introduced through a member’s family or friends or work colleagues or in some cases through Provincial or Lodge web site enquiries, but in every case it is essential that he meets as many existing members as is possible. Thus if your Lodge holds regular or occasional events, then you should make every effort to get them to attend events. You should even consider hosting events (which might be a garden party at someone’s house) so they can find out about each other.
This is another enjoyable aspect of Freemasonry and you’ll find that Lodges that host events are generally more sucessful at attracting candidates.
Understand what drives and motivates him
Make sure you discuss his family, friends, job, hobbies, history, personal issues and achievements. Use this information as ‘levers’ to encourage conversation and make sure that any chance to match his personal aspirations to any opportunities that might arise your Lodge. Take with him at length about the many benefits of membership focussing on those that he reacts positively to. No one wants to hear a great long list of beneftis attractive to other members.
Ascertain if he has the resource (time, finance & enthusiasm)
Make 100% sure that he can afford the subs, charitable donations, alms etc., that he has the time in his life to spend another evening out with new friends and that his family are supportive of any application for membership.
Speak with your membership and put forward a plan for him
If he has shown interest, then speak with your Brethren and ensure that they are ALL looking forward to him spending his time with them.
Approach him about joining your Lodge
Make sure that you have a seconder for his application and that the relevant joining form is completed and given to Bro. Secretary in good time that his detail might appear on the Summons in good time.
It’s certainly worth reviewing members who have left and of course those reasons given for resigning. Peoples circumstances change and some feel that once they have left, that they are unable to return. Nothing could be further from the truth, so it’s worth undertaking that investigation and contacting past Members if they have left for ‘appropriate reasons’.
It’s also worth contacting your Province about any unattached Freemasons in your Lodge’s locality. A simple letter might result in a speculative visit and that is of course the very first step in recruiting a visitor and in fact joining member.
If your membership has already dropped to a level whereby you are doing nothing but recirculating Past Masters through the Chair, then your lodge is possibly already beyond the Three R’s and in order to survive drastic measures must be taken. In this scenario, you have ensure that the membership have already:
- Made every effort to ask friends and family if they are interested in membership.
- Spoken to work colleagues about the Benefits of membership.
- ‘Approached the Province about by introducing potential new members from the web site.
- Approached other struggling units about a possible merger in order to an attempt at survival.
When you have tried all of these, it’s clear that you are not going to attract new candidates, so your only option is to attract joining members. These might then in turn, attract new candidates. This however means the membership adopting a fundamental change to their membership which is not always well received. Lodges have handed in their warrants at this time because the Old Guard have stated that they would rather see the Lodge fold than make those sort of changes. This is of course a great shame, but it’s actually human nature. In this instance, the Lodge Elders should be encouraged to use any resources (Charity, Alms, Reserves, Regalia, Furniture etc.) they might have to support existing Lodges who might benefit and at least their demise might assist other Lodges. Members are then free to join other Lodges.
However if change is acceptable, then there are many ways forward. The simplest way is to convert the Lodge into a specialist Lodge. The best specialism is ALWAYS one that sits comfortably with the existing membership. Ask of the membership what their hobbies are and look for any commonality. Specialism Lodges that have succeeded include:
- Real Ale Lodge
- Secretaries Lodge
- Treasurer’s Lodge
- Vintage Car Lodge
- Rugby Lodge
- Football Lodge
- Caravan Lodge
- IT Lodge
However, once the Lodge has changed and attracted new members, it is ESSENTIAL that the membership feel that their new membership has value to them, so you can NEVER rest on your laurels. You might now have a strong membership, but unless you have decided that the Lodge should be ‘non-progressive’, you HAVE to actively encourage your Members to begin to look to attract candidates willing to apply for membership of your specialist Lodge simply because of your specialism.
