Today I have a very practical question. It’s about fundraising.
Many of our Lodges hold the same fundraisers that they have held for a great many years. For some, those efforts still work extremely well. For others, the drop in the amounts raised have been significant.
I’ve thought about this recently because a Lodge in Tennessee made something really unique and cool to sell for a pretty significant but I thought fair price as a fundraiser. I bought one, and a heck of a lot of other people bought them too. That Lodge has made a lot of money off of it these past few months, money from all over the United States.
The second thing that caught my eye is that I have the opportunity to age and flavor my own little barrel of whiskey. I could buy the thing with unaged whiskey, shoot for a specific flavor profile, and give it as much age as I desire. I could then have it bottled up, and give the bottles away for donations. With the proceeds going to charity. I’m pretty curious how much interest there might be in a bottle of Grand Master’s Rye for example, if folks knew that all the money they donated for it was going to a Masonic charitable endeavor.
But beyond that, I’m wondering about Lodge fundraisers.
What do our Lodges do?
Does it still work well?
Do we need to consider changing what we do?
What are some creative and interesting ways that we might be able to raise funds, especially given that we can easily advertise, for free, online, reaching people all over the world, just like that little Lodge in Tennessee is doing?
Let’s chat about it…
As with every Thursday, we will have a Live Open Thread today for those with a paid subscription to Emeth. The email opening it up will go out at 8:00 AM. I hope you will join me there!
You’re referring to the lansdowne portrait. Our lodge bought three. It helps when you have a past GM going to all of the lodges in the jurisdiction acting as a salesman. We donated ours to local jr high schools.
Our lodge years ago raised money by running a bingo night. It left us a very healthy nest egg that has been of great benefit. They sold the equipment to the eagles after the smoking laws changed, which they still use today.
The internet has created options for a whole lot of different fundraising options. I'm of the throw things at the wall and see what sticks mentality on the subject.
When I first became a Mason, we did two breakfasts a year to raise funds for our B4B program. They were great fun and built brotherhood. We then tapped into different government contractors and local businesses for donations and we stopped doing the breakfasts. We then went into mission drift, and started losing the kind of brotherhood that comes with working together toward a common goal. Three years ago we held a dinner and silent auction and invited public. We did very well for a “one and done” event. We held a second event the following year, didn’t do as well but still had lots of fun. Last year of course, we took a break. The sky’s the limit when it comes to fundraising. We’re currently looking at hosting a BBQ competition that will be done outdoors. The main thing with fundraisers is to include the community. If we only invite Brothers and their families, the well will most certainly run dry. The cause also has to be something that will be supported by the community, ie; scholarships, B4B, etc. we don’t have to re-invent the wheel, just be willing to put in the work. Get 2-3 local/regional craft brewers to bring some beers out, sell drink tickets, set up an axe throwing event, get a dunk tank. Work with another lodge. Grow the fraternity and build bonds with one another along with your community.
We don't do fundraising. Just commenting that I do like Rye.
You’re referring to the lansdowne portrait. Our lodge bought three. It helps when you have a past GM going to all of the lodges in the jurisdiction acting as a salesman. We donated ours to local jr high schools.
Our lodge years ago raised money by running a bingo night. It left us a very healthy nest egg that has been of great benefit. They sold the equipment to the eagles after the smoking laws changed, which they still use today.
The internet has created options for a whole lot of different fundraising options. I'm of the throw things at the wall and see what sticks mentality on the subject.
When I first became a Mason, we did two breakfasts a year to raise funds for our B4B program. They were great fun and built brotherhood. We then tapped into different government contractors and local businesses for donations and we stopped doing the breakfasts. We then went into mission drift, and started losing the kind of brotherhood that comes with working together toward a common goal. Three years ago we held a dinner and silent auction and invited public. We did very well for a “one and done” event. We held a second event the following year, didn’t do as well but still had lots of fun. Last year of course, we took a break. The sky’s the limit when it comes to fundraising. We’re currently looking at hosting a BBQ competition that will be done outdoors. The main thing with fundraisers is to include the community. If we only invite Brothers and their families, the well will most certainly run dry. The cause also has to be something that will be supported by the community, ie; scholarships, B4B, etc. we don’t have to re-invent the wheel, just be willing to put in the work. Get 2-3 local/regional craft brewers to bring some beers out, sell drink tickets, set up an axe throwing event, get a dunk tank. Work with another lodge. Grow the fraternity and build bonds with one another along with your community.