MEMBERSHIP - ASSET TO GROWTH
Most Lodge leaders, at the present time, are content to
wait for new members to arrive at the door and ask for a petition. As a
concession to Grand Lodge, once a year they will mention in passing that the
Lodge Secretary has a good supply of "Friend To Friend" pamphlets, if anyone
needs some. Although solicitation is still prohibited, even the most naive
member has to see a certain level of "dereliction of duty" here.
Your membership is your only essential asset. You can
have your building burn to the ground. Your Lodge furniture can be broken to
splinters by vandals. Your regalia might be shredded by rodents. You can lose
your Lodge minute book and you can be completely broke with bills to pay but as
long as you have your membership, you have your Lodge. Since it is a biological
fact, however, that people age and die, the only way membership can be
maintained over long periods is by bringing new members in. Keeping the
membership you already have, and those you will get, happy and active is
something we will deal with in another module.
In studying the core research of the Masonic Renewal Task
Force along with the successes and failures of several corporate membership
drives, certain factors consistently come through. First, a knowledge of an
organization and what it stands for is critical to making a man stop and
consider taking out membership in that organization. Secondly, peer pressure has
been proven the number one most effective tool used in membership programs that
experience significant results. Third, most men who seek to join Freemasonry
have had at least one memorable experience with a Lodge or a Mason somewhere in
their travels.
Understanding these three principles and utilizing the
various tools that we currently have at our disposal, it is not just possible,
but actually fairly easy, to put a membership development program together.
To accomplish the first principle, of imparting knowledge
to the general public about who and what we are, there are three general methods
available. First, we can use an unfocused, overall approach and simply show
people what we are like by doing some community projects that we can handle with
the resources and manpower available to us. For instance, each spring when the
snow finally goes, every playground in New Brunswick looks like a disaster area.
Garbage needs picked up, equipment needs cleaned and oiled and often a new coat
of paint will completely change the looks of a playground. This is a low cost,
labor intensive project, specifically for kids that can immediately enhance the
image of the Lodge in the community. Lodges that are financially capable may
even wish to donate a new piece of playground equipment as well as performing
the clean-up. Other such projects could include things like adopting a section
of highway to keep clean and tidy, collecting food for the local food bank or
shelter, setting up a Santa's workshop to repair second hand toys just before
Christmas or collecting second hand clothes for the poor in the community. The
list of projects is endless but the principle remains the same, you are trying
to show the community what you believe in by working at projects you believe in
and having them see you do it. Consequently you must develop some means of
recognition for the community to identify. A light weight vest with the Square
and Compasses on it will work as will a baseball cap with the Lodge name on it
or a placard placed strategically near where you are performing one of these
good deeds. Older members will immediately say that we are advocating that the
Fraternity become a service club. This is not so. We are advocating that we get
recognition for the things we do so that the men in the community who may be
potential members may see us, recognize us and identify us as good corporate
citizens.
The second means of imparting knowledge is focused and
much more detailed. The Lodge can hold an open house. The actual format of the
open house is up to the discretion of the Lodge but could follow a pattern
similar to this. First, clean the Lodge thoroughly and then set up the dining
room and the Lodge room. Place the aprons and collars at their appropriate
places as well as the rods, batons, scepters and gavel. Set up a few small
tables around the room displaying such things as different types of aprons,
different awards and different types of jewels worn by Masons. Place a
knowledgeable Brother at each of these tables to explain the things that are in
front of him. Don't forget to explain the various wall hangings. The walls of
every Lodge are covered with memorabilia that would be of interest to most
people. Next design a menu for a supper or a luncheon that is within the
abilities of the Lodge to put on, both from the standpoint of manpower and the
potential of the kitchen. Arrange for an effective speaker on the topic of
Freemasonry or obtain one of the informational videos available from the Masonic
Renewal Committee. Now comes the critical part for the success of the operation.
Have your active membership invite the men, and their wives, in the community
who they believe would make good Masons. Give all of your invitees a complete
tour of the Lodge in much the same way you would receive a guided tour at a
large museum. Be sure to answer all questions honestly. One thing we are trying
to do here is dispel the image of the "secret society". Make sure that the
questions of the wives are particularly tended to as we will need her later as
an ally or at worst, neutral. Be prepared for questions about time, money,
family involvement, community work, leadership and religious affiliation.
Following the tour, serve your meal and turn loose your guest speaker or your
video. Be prepared again to answer numerous questions. Follow your meal with an
informal coffee and desert time where people can ask questions they may have
been embarrassed to ask in front of a crowd. Make sure all your Masons are
clearly marked so that the people can pick them out to ask questions to. This
can be done with a distinctive lapel pin, a Camp Goodtime hat or simply a blue
armband. Velcro fastening armbands can be made up very economically. Always
remember that your primary goal is to disseminate knowledge about the
Fraternity, not to solicit membership. If you have done the job properly they
will ask for applications as they should.
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The last approach to educating the public is very focused and very personal.
This is the standard one to one, Friend to Friend, approach that requires more
or less finesse depending on how you wish to employ it. Several information
pamphlets are now available from Grand Lodge and several more can be purchased
through Masonic Renewal. It is possible to bombard a potential candidate with
information to the point he simply runs away. We also have a "Friend To Friend"
video which is very well done and though produced by our American friends, a
solid attempt has been made to distinguish the accomplishments used as examples
of Freemasonry, to be just that, accomplishments of Freemasonry, not of American
Freemasonry. All these pamphlets and videos are available to be used with a
friend or a friend and his wife and/or family. This type of program has been in
effect for some years now and has not paid the kind of dividends it is capable
of. One possible reason for this is that the Masons handing out the pamphlets in
many cases backed off from contact with the people they gave the pamphlet to for
fear of being called upon to answer questions about the Fraternity. An alarming
number of the Brethren are unsure what they can and cannot say about
Freemasonry. This will form the topic for a complete module all by itself.
There is a new suggestion for personal contact that may appeal more to the
members of the Fraternity and it goes something like this. Each active member of
a Lodge prepares a list of the men he knows in the community, his friends and
acquaintances, who he believes would make good Masons. He keeps this list to
himself and reveals it to no one. As the Lodge organizes projects and events in
the community, or for that matter even a breakfast for Camp Goodtime, the Master
asks all the active members to go to their "pocket list" and invite one or two
of the men on the list to join in and help the event. An example might be a food
drive for the local food bank. A member would call up his friend and explain
what the Lodge is doing and ask him if he has any canned goods he could spare
for the drive. Then simply mention that if the friend has some free time
Saturday morning the Lodge could sure use an extra body or two to help receive
the food and package it up for the food bank. This is a slightly more subtle way
of bringing your friends to the Fraternity. The other good thing about a pocket
list is nobody really knows who invited whom to help.
If the Lodge opts to use all of the methods above for information transfer
then it is also employing the principle of peer pressure and is giving outsiders
that all important contact with the Fraternity that has been so important in the
past.
Peer pressure has been a proven and reliable tool for increasing membership
and some of the most successful membership drives have started with focused peer
pressure. No stranger can ever influence you the way your friends can. A natural
response to seeing a friend experience something good in his life is to want to
join with him in that good experience. The quickest and easiest way to turn one
new member into several new members is to properly assimilate and educate the
first new member and then let him talk to his friends about the Fraternity. Do
not send him out to solicit, send him out with the confidence and pride that he
should have, to tell his friends of this great new experience he has just gone
through. If he is comfortable talking about the Fraternity you will almost
certainly acquire more new members through him.
Every Mason knows several men who have the qualities necessary to make them
good Masons. As a Fraternity we must become more comfortable discussing the
Craft, what it means to us and what it does for our communities and our
province. If we appear comfortable and proud while talking about Masonry we will
have a positive impact on our audience. If we remember that 71% of the
population has no idea about Freemasonry, and that another 26% has only a vague,
but generally positive impression of the Fraternity, then we are in the unique
situation of being able to create our own public image from scratch. Not many
institutions find themselves in that situation after 500 years of existence.
There are two other factors that should always be remembered when attempting
to put a development plan into place. First, the more you rub the Fraternity up
against the community the more comfortable the community becomes with the
Fraternity. This leads to questions, which leads to the formation of opinions,
all of which is in our control to influence positively. We literally hold our
destiny in our own hands.
The last factor to remain conscious of is the Family. The wife who works
shoulder to shoulder with her husband to earn the family's daily bread is going
to have a lot to say about the organizations her husband joins, especially if
that organization is perceived as taking time away from the family. It should
also be noted that total family involvement can be a significant selling feature
for the Fraternity if the appropriate concordant bodies are readily available
(i.e. the Eastern Star, Rainbow Girls and Demolay).
We must never intentionally leave the wife out of any information session we
have for the husband. Doing so will only sew the seeds of suspicion in her mind
and tend to turn her opinion against us. It is a fact borne out by research that
75% of men will not join an organization that their wife disapproves of.
Remember, peace at home is often hard enough to find without doing something you
know your wife disapproves of.
To sum up, new membership in Masonic Lodges can no longer be left entirely to
chance. We must become much more active in leading members to our doors, not
soliciting, but leading. By public education, by being seen working in the
community and by singling out individuals for special attention we can change
our current membership situation. In addition, proper treatment of new
candidates as they advance to become Master Masons will give us happier and
better educated new Masons who will be willing to discuss the Fraternity openly
with their friends. Each new Mason can mean a potential of five or six new
Masons as his influence spreads among his friends.
Enhanced treatment of candidates is the subject of the next module. Look for
it.
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