As a EA I can only speak with limited experience, however I feel that dues being only 60 ish a year is amazingly low.. I feel that it is worth so much more. And we get way more out of the craft then 60 dollars a year.. personally I would have zero issue paying more then double that.. and emagine what that would allow for the lodges? I understand brothers might be onna fixed income witch makes things alot harder. But still at least 120 a year should be no issue....
Our yearly dues are $100 and the fee to an initiate is $150. I read once that paying a dollar a day to belong to our great Fraternity would be about right. I realize it would greatly reduce the number of plural memberships but that could also be addressed. I think the $150 fee for a new initiate is about right and would only increase it to assure the candidate received a true lamb skin apron. Raising dues before or after bettering the lodge experience is like, which came first, the chicken or the egg. I think if you raise the dues you better be making changes at the same time so the brother can see and experience what he’s paying for. I don’t have an issue paying more but I also want to see the return on my dollar. I don’t want to hear my increased dues are going to keep the building open. That’s an issue that should have been already been taken care of.
If things keep going at the rate they are going, GL assessments will be more than most lodges dues. That is an indictment against both.
I had did a report to the lodge a few years ago detailing some milestones. One was the cost of dues. I can’t recall the year, but at one time dues were twelve dollars, or the modern equivalent of $77 dollars, just slightly more than we are paying now. But times back then were different. There was no social security taxes, or Medicare taxes, or even income taxes. And lodges weren’t subject to the property taxes and other expenses like they are now. You bought a piece of land, you built on it, and the only expenses you had were maintaining it. GL didn’t tax lodges either.
In our current lodges situation, due to neglect, if we raised taxes to cover all of the repairs needed, no one could afford the dues. Getting our roof fixed alone is tens of thousands of dollars.
But the biggest factor is that if you value something cheap, it will be viewed as inconsequential. Especially if the lodge provides nothing else of intrinsic value to your life.
Fundraising is one way of attempting to cover expenses, but that usually entails hard work for a small handful of the members, and attendance is going to be a fraction of the lodge membership. Thus, it’s not very fair to have a small portion of the membership doing all the fund raising to keep the lodge afloat. Raising dues is the only equitable way to fix that.
But then, if you raise the cost of annual dues, you will suffer from people either sending in their demits, moving to another cheaper lodge, or buying a life membership. You can’t do much about the first two, but the last you can. But, that would drive the first two away even more. The
At certainly would expose just how little some people value their lodge membership, of course.
The entire dues issue is much more complex than you would think at first glance. Human nature being what it is, always tries to find the path of least resistance. But in the long run, you must provide value to the brothers above every thing else, in order to make it worth the expense.
We have $125 a year for dues. It went up a few years ago without too much of an issue.
Our fee for the degrees went down since I was Initiated in 1999. I think I paid (memory issue) $350 and it's gone down since. But we used to hand the new Brother a family Bible that he was Obligated on and a copy of The Craft and Its Symbols. Some reason I ended up with a year membership with the SCRL, but no one knew where that came from but would be a nice gift subscription.
I think maybe we cheapen the Degrees, but also took away things that helped to make memories of those days. A bump up in that fee should come also with something besides his Lambskin Apron.
As renters, I don't think we need a large amount of dues as long as we are not digging into our stocks and bonds beyond the interest.
When I was Raised in California, *37* years ago, the fees for the degrees were about $350, and annual dues were $120. In my home Lodge here, the fees are roughly $300, and annual dues are less than $60. Why? I don't know. I know of other Lodges where dues and fees are much higher than at my Lodge. Again, why? Well, that's the way it is, I suppose.
If we can't afford $10 a month to be a member, maybe we ought consider some other organization. Some people I know spend more than $10 *per* *day* on coffee, but squeal louder than a stuck pig when the suggestion is made to increase dues to match the cost of living. Our buildings ain't getting any younger, and require increasingly expensive maintenance--structure, furnace, kitchen, furniture, and so on.
Our Lodge came into a fair amount of money a few years ago. We invested some of it, put some into scholarship funds, and are now buying life memberships for all Master Masons of the Lodge. This makes good sense, for by doing so, we invest in our Lodge, the newly-Raised Brother doesn't have to be concerned with annual dues, and the Lodge receives dividends from this investment sufficient to pay the annual Grand Lodge assessment and have some left over to re-invest. Just a thought...
"Improve the Lodge experience" to justify an increase in dues opens a whole new train of thought. Do we come to Lodge for *education* or *entertainment*? We can certainly reduce the amount of time we spend on business, introductions, the same old, same old. We can offer "Master's Moments" for education. Heaven knows there's enough material to supply topics for discussion for years. The problem here is attention span. If the gavel comes down at 7:30 pm, the Brothers want to be on the way home by no later than 9:00. What parts of the "usual" Lodge agenda do we reduce or cut? Committee reports? Finance report? That will require some creative thinking.
At the end of the day Lodges have to be able to run with at least a balanced ledger. It's simply how things work. Some of our Lodges are still enjoying the advantages of investments (financial and real estate) made during the expansion in membership follow WW2. Other Lodges are not so lucky. In any case Lodges need a financial plan, that takes into account unexpected expenses. These plans need to be dynamic and updated annually. Income options are limited to dues, investments, fundraisers, donations and in some cases grants. The higher the dues, the less the Lodge will need from the other sources. Once the expenses are calculated then the question becomes is it worth it? Is the experience of being a Mason in that Lodge worth it to the member? Now, I have seen this balance done several ways. I have seen some Masters use fundraisers as experiences that the members enjoy. I have seen others increase dues and focus on Lodge programs that excited members, and of course I have seen a combination of the two.
I think Grand Lodge could look at creating an investment fund that Lodges could buy into, combining the economic power of our jurisdiction to the benefit of all, with annual dividend paid out based on how much was paid in to the fund. I think as a fraternity we are not super money wise. When it comes to money we make too many of our collective decisions based on emotions, and not good fiscal models. I also have seen a lot of decisions that are made with a mind on this year's needs with little thought about the future. We have touched on the expense of hanging on to our to large Temples, as an example. Having a profession financial advisor available to look at Lodge, and jurisdiction, finances (including real estate) would be helpful, and especially after this last year of reduced activity. Our numbers were dropping before COVID19 and the last year has not helped and I am sure that we will see the affect of this last year in our bottom lines for years. When I was Master of my Lodge, I personally projected (calculated) the membership rate (declining) and the bleeding of our investments (also declining) and determined the theoretical year that our Lodge would no longer be viable. That date was not very far into the future, and it was reflected in my decisions. It's a good exercise to go thru to wrap your head around the problems we are facing and how we collectively make decisions around money. Doing the math will bring specific problems into focus, like buildings that are not fiscally viable and declining memberships, and it will communicate exactly how severe the problem is for a Lodge.
$250 per year. $500 total for all three degrees including the first full year of dues. They are not high enough but the aging members are very sensitive. We have a 35,000 square foot building that can not because of zoning be used for business purposes. On the other hand we pay no property taxes. But run at a minimum budget the building alone costs about $30,000 a year. So dues need to be higher and a time will come when members will have to decide if they want to have a rather posh private club building that costs them significant $$$ or if the wish to sell the building. The sale would also be tax free. I fall on the side of posh private club building but I'm only one guy. Just installed a new boiler and about to do a new roof.
What is the value of being a freemason? Can you put a price on it? We're paying to support Grand Lodge and the upkeep of the Lodge. Inflation has affected all of us. Property taxes has not stopped growing every year. There are Brothers who are on a fixed income, that struggle to pay for medications and food, but how do they come up with dues? Some Lodges that can afford, pay for those Brothers dues to keep them on the rolls. I know Brothers in other jurisdictions who pay up to $2000 a year. There is the argument if we make dues too cheap, there is no intrinsic value. How do I feel about dues? I feel bad. We support 2 bodies with 1 dues, but because of the pandemic our coffers are nearly empty. Many Lodges are in the same boat. I believe we should not leave a Brother behind, because he is my Brother. Yet we need to survive. No easy fix.
“How much are your Lodge Dues currently?” Roughly $125, between the Lodge and the Grand Lodge fees. This is concerning my home Lodge, as I’m a life member of the other two Lodges.
“How much should they be?” For Tenino Lodge, that’s about right. I can see a Lodge in a bigger city with dues in the higher 100’s.
“Are the fees your Lodge charges for the Degrees high enough?” Initiation fees. Through researching old By-laws from a snapshot of a few Lodges in different areas, cities and economies, the Initiation fees were considerably higher 100 years ago. Over $600 in today’s dollars, even the Lodges in smaller towns with more modest economies. It’s almost universal that Brethren think that’s WAY too high. But few really sit down and think about why we had an increase in membership during that period of time, as opposed to the decrease that we’ve had for the past 50 years or so. Some have, and have had very good points, as we live in a totally different era today. And that’s true, so that’s why I don’t push for numbers like that. However, I think they should be high enough to cover the costs of furnishing a new initiate with a True lambskin Apron, a Holy Book of their faith (should they wish to disclose it,) and the proper books, such as a Standard Work, Cyphers, etc. Make sure the Brother gets a proper return on their investment.
“If your Lodge offers Life Memberships, are those fees high enough?” No. Even the Grand Lodge minimum’s aren’t even close to being high enough. Let’s think about it; Let’s say a Lodge has $75 annual dues. If a Brother pays $500 for a life membership, that $500, at a 5% return, is only returning $25. You’d need to triple the cost of the life membership in order to get that return to line up correctly, which means a $1,500 cost for the life membership. I know that’s super-basic, and is more complex than that, but it still shows the general issue with the low minimums in the WMC.
“If one or more of these need to be raised, what is the best way an increase can be sold to your Lodge?” If the Lodge members have a full understanding of their Lodge’s budget, it’ll be a lot easier for a Worshipful Master to bring it up, have a discussion that all can agree on. In fact, you might even have a Lodge member saying the Lodge isn’t increasing the dues enough! However, if your Worshipful Master mentions considering raising the dues AGAIN because of increased building costs, after raising them the last time for that reason, you’re going to get some Brothers who start questioning if they’re dumping their money into an albatross. This has been covered numerous times in this forum.
“Would you have to improve the Lodge experience to justify an increase in dues? If yes, what comes first?” Like is mentioned earlier in this thread, Chicken or the Egg. If your Lodge is currently giving your new members a Luthertex Apron and no Holy Book or other books, and plan to remedy that situation, your Lodge might want to bring that up, increase the initiation fees with the understanding that’s where the increase is going, then make that the norm once it passes. This is what Centralia Lodge did about a decade ago; I think Cameron might remember that. When Centralia Lodge started doing their degrees in costume, it didn’t need an increase in dues to make happen, so a Lodge doesn’t necessarily need to increase the dues to improve some facets of the Lodge experience. This is where the Lodge should first focus – the areas that don’t require additional revenue. Once those are improved, and more members are retained, you can then consider adding more programs that require revenue, and increase your dues to cover those costs.
As a EA I can only speak with limited experience, however I feel that dues being only 60 ish a year is amazingly low.. I feel that it is worth so much more. And we get way more out of the craft then 60 dollars a year.. personally I would have zero issue paying more then double that.. and emagine what that would allow for the lodges? I understand brothers might be onna fixed income witch makes things alot harder. But still at least 120 a year should be no issue....
Our yearly dues are $100 and the fee to an initiate is $150. I read once that paying a dollar a day to belong to our great Fraternity would be about right. I realize it would greatly reduce the number of plural memberships but that could also be addressed. I think the $150 fee for a new initiate is about right and would only increase it to assure the candidate received a true lamb skin apron. Raising dues before or after bettering the lodge experience is like, which came first, the chicken or the egg. I think if you raise the dues you better be making changes at the same time so the brother can see and experience what he’s paying for. I don’t have an issue paying more but I also want to see the return on my dollar. I don’t want to hear my increased dues are going to keep the building open. That’s an issue that should have been already been taken care of.
If things keep going at the rate they are going, GL assessments will be more than most lodges dues. That is an indictment against both.
I had did a report to the lodge a few years ago detailing some milestones. One was the cost of dues. I can’t recall the year, but at one time dues were twelve dollars, or the modern equivalent of $77 dollars, just slightly more than we are paying now. But times back then were different. There was no social security taxes, or Medicare taxes, or even income taxes. And lodges weren’t subject to the property taxes and other expenses like they are now. You bought a piece of land, you built on it, and the only expenses you had were maintaining it. GL didn’t tax lodges either.
In our current lodges situation, due to neglect, if we raised taxes to cover all of the repairs needed, no one could afford the dues. Getting our roof fixed alone is tens of thousands of dollars.
But the biggest factor is that if you value something cheap, it will be viewed as inconsequential. Especially if the lodge provides nothing else of intrinsic value to your life.
Fundraising is one way of attempting to cover expenses, but that usually entails hard work for a small handful of the members, and attendance is going to be a fraction of the lodge membership. Thus, it’s not very fair to have a small portion of the membership doing all the fund raising to keep the lodge afloat. Raising dues is the only equitable way to fix that.
But then, if you raise the cost of annual dues, you will suffer from people either sending in their demits, moving to another cheaper lodge, or buying a life membership. You can’t do much about the first two, but the last you can. But, that would drive the first two away even more. The
At certainly would expose just how little some people value their lodge membership, of course.
The entire dues issue is much more complex than you would think at first glance. Human nature being what it is, always tries to find the path of least resistance. But in the long run, you must provide value to the brothers above every thing else, in order to make it worth the expense.
We have $125 a year for dues. It went up a few years ago without too much of an issue.
Our fee for the degrees went down since I was Initiated in 1999. I think I paid (memory issue) $350 and it's gone down since. But we used to hand the new Brother a family Bible that he was Obligated on and a copy of The Craft and Its Symbols. Some reason I ended up with a year membership with the SCRL, but no one knew where that came from but would be a nice gift subscription.
I think maybe we cheapen the Degrees, but also took away things that helped to make memories of those days. A bump up in that fee should come also with something besides his Lambskin Apron.
As renters, I don't think we need a large amount of dues as long as we are not digging into our stocks and bonds beyond the interest.
When I was Raised in California, *37* years ago, the fees for the degrees were about $350, and annual dues were $120. In my home Lodge here, the fees are roughly $300, and annual dues are less than $60. Why? I don't know. I know of other Lodges where dues and fees are much higher than at my Lodge. Again, why? Well, that's the way it is, I suppose.
If we can't afford $10 a month to be a member, maybe we ought consider some other organization. Some people I know spend more than $10 *per* *day* on coffee, but squeal louder than a stuck pig when the suggestion is made to increase dues to match the cost of living. Our buildings ain't getting any younger, and require increasingly expensive maintenance--structure, furnace, kitchen, furniture, and so on.
Our Lodge came into a fair amount of money a few years ago. We invested some of it, put some into scholarship funds, and are now buying life memberships for all Master Masons of the Lodge. This makes good sense, for by doing so, we invest in our Lodge, the newly-Raised Brother doesn't have to be concerned with annual dues, and the Lodge receives dividends from this investment sufficient to pay the annual Grand Lodge assessment and have some left over to re-invest. Just a thought...
"Improve the Lodge experience" to justify an increase in dues opens a whole new train of thought. Do we come to Lodge for *education* or *entertainment*? We can certainly reduce the amount of time we spend on business, introductions, the same old, same old. We can offer "Master's Moments" for education. Heaven knows there's enough material to supply topics for discussion for years. The problem here is attention span. If the gavel comes down at 7:30 pm, the Brothers want to be on the way home by no later than 9:00. What parts of the "usual" Lodge agenda do we reduce or cut? Committee reports? Finance report? That will require some creative thinking.
At the end of the day Lodges have to be able to run with at least a balanced ledger. It's simply how things work. Some of our Lodges are still enjoying the advantages of investments (financial and real estate) made during the expansion in membership follow WW2. Other Lodges are not so lucky. In any case Lodges need a financial plan, that takes into account unexpected expenses. These plans need to be dynamic and updated annually. Income options are limited to dues, investments, fundraisers, donations and in some cases grants. The higher the dues, the less the Lodge will need from the other sources. Once the expenses are calculated then the question becomes is it worth it? Is the experience of being a Mason in that Lodge worth it to the member? Now, I have seen this balance done several ways. I have seen some Masters use fundraisers as experiences that the members enjoy. I have seen others increase dues and focus on Lodge programs that excited members, and of course I have seen a combination of the two.
I think Grand Lodge could look at creating an investment fund that Lodges could buy into, combining the economic power of our jurisdiction to the benefit of all, with annual dividend paid out based on how much was paid in to the fund. I think as a fraternity we are not super money wise. When it comes to money we make too many of our collective decisions based on emotions, and not good fiscal models. I also have seen a lot of decisions that are made with a mind on this year's needs with little thought about the future. We have touched on the expense of hanging on to our to large Temples, as an example. Having a profession financial advisor available to look at Lodge, and jurisdiction, finances (including real estate) would be helpful, and especially after this last year of reduced activity. Our numbers were dropping before COVID19 and the last year has not helped and I am sure that we will see the affect of this last year in our bottom lines for years. When I was Master of my Lodge, I personally projected (calculated) the membership rate (declining) and the bleeding of our investments (also declining) and determined the theoretical year that our Lodge would no longer be viable. That date was not very far into the future, and it was reflected in my decisions. It's a good exercise to go thru to wrap your head around the problems we are facing and how we collectively make decisions around money. Doing the math will bring specific problems into focus, like buildings that are not fiscally viable and declining memberships, and it will communicate exactly how severe the problem is for a Lodge.
$250 per year. $500 total for all three degrees including the first full year of dues. They are not high enough but the aging members are very sensitive. We have a 35,000 square foot building that can not because of zoning be used for business purposes. On the other hand we pay no property taxes. But run at a minimum budget the building alone costs about $30,000 a year. So dues need to be higher and a time will come when members will have to decide if they want to have a rather posh private club building that costs them significant $$$ or if the wish to sell the building. The sale would also be tax free. I fall on the side of posh private club building but I'm only one guy. Just installed a new boiler and about to do a new roof.
What is the value of being a freemason? Can you put a price on it? We're paying to support Grand Lodge and the upkeep of the Lodge. Inflation has affected all of us. Property taxes has not stopped growing every year. There are Brothers who are on a fixed income, that struggle to pay for medications and food, but how do they come up with dues? Some Lodges that can afford, pay for those Brothers dues to keep them on the rolls. I know Brothers in other jurisdictions who pay up to $2000 a year. There is the argument if we make dues too cheap, there is no intrinsic value. How do I feel about dues? I feel bad. We support 2 bodies with 1 dues, but because of the pandemic our coffers are nearly empty. Many Lodges are in the same boat. I believe we should not leave a Brother behind, because he is my Brother. Yet we need to survive. No easy fix.
“How much are your Lodge Dues currently?” Roughly $125, between the Lodge and the Grand Lodge fees. This is concerning my home Lodge, as I’m a life member of the other two Lodges.
“How much should they be?” For Tenino Lodge, that’s about right. I can see a Lodge in a bigger city with dues in the higher 100’s.
“Are the fees your Lodge charges for the Degrees high enough?” Initiation fees. Through researching old By-laws from a snapshot of a few Lodges in different areas, cities and economies, the Initiation fees were considerably higher 100 years ago. Over $600 in today’s dollars, even the Lodges in smaller towns with more modest economies. It’s almost universal that Brethren think that’s WAY too high. But few really sit down and think about why we had an increase in membership during that period of time, as opposed to the decrease that we’ve had for the past 50 years or so. Some have, and have had very good points, as we live in a totally different era today. And that’s true, so that’s why I don’t push for numbers like that. However, I think they should be high enough to cover the costs of furnishing a new initiate with a True lambskin Apron, a Holy Book of their faith (should they wish to disclose it,) and the proper books, such as a Standard Work, Cyphers, etc. Make sure the Brother gets a proper return on their investment.
“If your Lodge offers Life Memberships, are those fees high enough?” No. Even the Grand Lodge minimum’s aren’t even close to being high enough. Let’s think about it; Let’s say a Lodge has $75 annual dues. If a Brother pays $500 for a life membership, that $500, at a 5% return, is only returning $25. You’d need to triple the cost of the life membership in order to get that return to line up correctly, which means a $1,500 cost for the life membership. I know that’s super-basic, and is more complex than that, but it still shows the general issue with the low minimums in the WMC.
“If one or more of these need to be raised, what is the best way an increase can be sold to your Lodge?” If the Lodge members have a full understanding of their Lodge’s budget, it’ll be a lot easier for a Worshipful Master to bring it up, have a discussion that all can agree on. In fact, you might even have a Lodge member saying the Lodge isn’t increasing the dues enough! However, if your Worshipful Master mentions considering raising the dues AGAIN because of increased building costs, after raising them the last time for that reason, you’re going to get some Brothers who start questioning if they’re dumping their money into an albatross. This has been covered numerous times in this forum.
“Would you have to improve the Lodge experience to justify an increase in dues? If yes, what comes first?” Like is mentioned earlier in this thread, Chicken or the Egg. If your Lodge is currently giving your new members a Luthertex Apron and no Holy Book or other books, and plan to remedy that situation, your Lodge might want to bring that up, increase the initiation fees with the understanding that’s where the increase is going, then make that the norm once it passes. This is what Centralia Lodge did about a decade ago; I think Cameron might remember that. When Centralia Lodge started doing their degrees in costume, it didn’t need an increase in dues to make happen, so a Lodge doesn’t necessarily need to increase the dues to improve some facets of the Lodge experience. This is where the Lodge should first focus – the areas that don’t require additional revenue. Once those are improved, and more members are retained, you can then consider adding more programs that require revenue, and increase your dues to cover those costs.