It begins:
This got me to thinking about a similar problem with Freemasonry. I got out the 2006 Proceedings and did a little research. The average Initiation Fee charged by Iowa Lodges in 2005 was $64.59. 158 Lodges charge $50. That is the lowest fee. They then go up to one lodge charging $225. Our Lodge charged $100 at that time along with 32 other Lodges. 52 Lodges charged $75. Of those fees the Grand Lodge got $15. (Ask yourself - What does it cost to open the doors of the Temple and purchase the Lambskin ($26.00)and other paraphernalia that is required to put on a degree.)
SCIENTISTS AT CALTECH and Stanford recently published the results of a peculiar wine tasting. They provided people with cabernet sauvignons at various price points, with bottles ranging from $5 to $90. Although the tasters were told that all the wines were different, the scientists were in fact presenting the same wines at different prices.
The subjects consistently reported that the more expensive wines tasted better, even when they were actually identical to cheaper wines.
Then there is the matter of dues. The dues that should support the day by day operation of the Temple. They ranged from $25. to two lodges charging $100. The average annual dues for that year was $41.42. At that time Arcadia Lodge charged $60. Last year we raised our dues to $80 and my other lodge (Acanthus) charges $75. That is a total of $155. which I pay for my Blue Lodge dues. Not much. When you figure it out it is about $13 a month or 43 cents a day. THAT IS LESS THAN I WILL PAY FOR MY COFFEE THIS AFTERNOON.
What do I get for that? I personally get a lot because I take advantage of my membership. I get to attend (and take minutes for one of the Lodges) meetings almost every week. I get the brotherhood and fellowship of (mostly) like-minded men. I also get to identify myself with the greatest fraternity in the world and proudly display my affiliations on rings, lapel pins, belt buckles and my car.
I get to visit with knowledgeable Brothers in person and on the Internets and I can discuss important topics with them.
Because of this article in the paper we have been discussing how Masonry sells itself short.
One brother wrote:
In the first two-and-a-half decades of the twentieth century, initiation fees and dues for someone petitioning an Iowa Lodge for membership would be somewhere close to $300 today. Adjusted for inflation, average dues would be (if I remember correctly) somewhere about $135, including the per capita.
...
...we STILL are slowly going bankrupt.
WHY is it that our dear Brethren are more than happy to pay $2,000 a year to play golf, but unwilling to pay $100 a year to keep their Lodge afloat?
The year before I was Master here, we raised our dues from $60 a year including the per capita to $100 a year EXCLUDING the per capita. We will need to raise them again in a couple of years. And out guys all understand that. I undertook a fairly extensive PowerPoint presentation to explain why we needed the raise. ... We lost NO members because of the dues increase!!
The CR Consistory is in even worse shape. If you go back to 1920, the initiation fees and dues for the Scottish Degrees in Cedar Rapids were the equivalent, in todays dollars, of about $3,000. Men STOOD IN LINE TO JOIN!!! Why? Because they were persuaded--correctly--that they were receiving something of greater value in return. THAT'S how Cedar Rapids--and Des Moines, for that matter--built AND PAID FOR IN CASH such wonderful Scottish Rite Temples in the late 1920s (same years, in fact...)
Today's men between the ages of 20 and 50 are ACCUSTOMED to receive equivalent value for what they pay
Another brother writes:
Actually, this can affect Freemasonry in complementary ways. (Not complimentary.) First off, we charge WAY too little. Something that only costs $75 a year can't be worth much.And the first Brother also wrote this little story which says a lot
On the other hand, we often grossly over advertise what we are actually going to deliver. (Not more than we should deliver, just more than we actually do.) So one act sets low expectations. One sets high expectation.
Perhaps the latter keep people hanging around for three years after they are initiated, even though they are not getting their moneys worth. Then after three years, they forget all those promises and lofty goals, and see only the low price.
There is a story, a true one, I believe, about an Iowa Brother who winters in Florida. While in Florida he was a regular attendee at a Lodge in that state. One day he was having lunch at the local Country Club where he was a member, and got to talking with a retired Admiral about our Gentle Craft. The more he spoke of the lessons and benefits of Freemasonry, the more intrigued the Admiral became. The Admiral was all ready to sign a petition, and excited about the prospect. He took out his check book. "What will it cost?" he asked.
Our Brother told him that the total fees and dues for the Florida Lodge were $150, and annual dues were $50 after that.
"Something that cheap CAN'T be everything you say it is. On second thought, I'm not interested."
YES, WE SELL OURSELVES SHORT, AND TO OUR DETRIMENT
Our Grand Lodge puts out a list of Ten Reasons To Become a Mason.
There is nothing really wrong with the list but I am not sure that those reasons would (by themselves) have influenced me to want to be a Mason.
My mother had mentioned to me that I "might enjoy" the Masons. My principal was wearing a Masonic ring and I noticed it and mentioned it to him and he brought me into the fraternity. I did not "enroll" in the fraternity right away. I had to come to Ames to get involved. Once I had my degrees no one really cared if I came to Lodge or not. I got involved in Eastern Star and the York Rite here in Ames and eventually my great aunt wrote me a letter and asked me "What are you doing for yor Blue Lodge?" She knew where my focus should be. So I went out and asked for the only office I have ever asked for in Freemasonry - the Junior Steward. This was really the beginning of my Masonic Journey. I have gotten full value for my money.
I am not sure that happens everywhere. Lodges who don't do much and don't charge much undervalue what they have to offer. They need to do a self-assessment and decide whether or not they are really giving their members value for their money. Sloppy degrees, little or no social events, boring business meetings. Who would want to pay much for that. Those lodges need to change.
Some have been saying that for several years. Charge a lot, and them make the product worth the price. That means included banquets (not soup suppers), real education programs (not 5 minute paper readings), social events, real community involvement, etc.If, I as a person in today's society cannot find value in my Lodge I will soon leave it. I have other things I can do. I am very fortunate in what occurs in both of my Lodges. We have capable Brothers who enjoy ritual and the degrees which are put on are of good quality (although some folks think they could be "better") and the candidates are impressed. We have dinners and social activities which include the family. One Lodge is going as a group to see "The Producers" when it comes to town. We have a lot planned. The other Lodge also has activities and both of them have Education programs which are involving the members.
The Scottish Rite has always been able to "sell" itself. That title of Thirty-second Degree really appeals to some people. The Des Moines Valley has a real program of activity which is varied and involves the membership. If you look at the report of the 2007 activities over on the Consistory Blog you will see what I mean. Because of that more people are participating. There was still a big loss of membership due to Non-payment of dues. So something did not appeal to those members. I would like to see a study of the age of those who dropped out and how long they had been members of the Rite. The dues there are high but not really all that high for what you can get.
I think our leaders (?) need to address the problems and find ways to combat them. One of the ways is to increase the "snob appeal" - Make being a Mason an important part of our society. There should be the perception that Masons are "special" that they are quality. We should charge for the quality product we offer and then deliver that product. People who "drink the wine of Freemasonry" should leave with the satisfaction of a wonderful wine, a quality wine that makes them keep coming back for more.
My grandmother always taught me that you were better off to purchase things of quality rather than a quantity of things which would wear out soon and be thrown away. Masonry should be like that - Quality is the keystone. It will save (complete) the Temple.
1 comment:
An interesting post. This is a dilemma that I too have come up against in considering my own time spent and efforts in an ailing lodge world. The answer I found for me, personally, was that if I felt something needed to be done, to do it.
This may seem contrite or lame, but I think we, the membership in general, have become contrite to think that there is someone out there running the system, when in fact it is a system ruled, managed, and governed by the lodge members themselves. There is no leadership in the sense that someone makes an executive decision to just do things differently. The system is not set up like that.
In the examples you cited, I think they were from an age when there may have been a perceived hierarchy that may have acted like one too, but in the end it came down to boots in the street to get things done. So where does that quality that your mother steered you to come from? It comes from us, from the works we do.
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