Thank you MW Sir for being & helping where I can not.
I do agree, business meetings only, will kill a lodge and very quickly!
Masonic education and gathering together to enjoy something or an experience adds to the fellowship. So I'm just echoing your words....but most definitely if it's not happening in your lodge.....plan something outside regular meeting days and announce in lodge your plan, adding for others to join you. You just might get the ball rolling and start new traditions & have fun!
MW Brother Cameron, I write to you today as a recovering CFO. As such, whenever I join the board of a not-for-profit company I'm immediately stereotyped and they make me the treasurer. This has also been the case in my Lodge and my Royal Arch Chapter.
As one who has been trained in the art of business I offer two pieces of advice: 1) Test your assumptions, and 2) Don't manage by slogan.
When I joined my Lodge I attended a holiday party and naively asked who to pay for my meal. The Worshipful Master smiled and laughed and said, "Don't worry, we have enough money to party like this for the rest of our lives." The following year I got a look at the books and found that we did have what appeared to be a handsome cash balance but I also discovered that our balance had steadily declined for the past 10 years. So if the assumption is that we can party for the rest of our lives find out how much it costs to party for one year and then do the math. Turned out that our last party was about 8 years hence unless we changed our habits.
Slogans about finances are a lazy way to sound knowledgeable. One very accomplished Mason once declared that Lodges should not invest like senior citizens, they should invest like young people. (If you say that with conviction it almost sounds like wisdom.) I quickly corrected him and pointed out that senior citizens invest the way they do because they don't have income but young people, on the other hand, do. This was an important distinction because other that earnings on our investments we didn't have any income. Another very accomplished Mason made an appeal to the Lodge for a large charitable donation. Among his justifications was that "the money isn't doing us any good sitting in the bank." What a great call to action with one meaningful clarification: we did need the money to be able to run the Lodge.
I'm not advocating that we hoard our cash. I am advocating that we carefully look at facts and thoughtfully craft assumptions about what our future needs will be. Then we can establish reserves, make appropriate donations, and maybe even have a party.
I serve on foundation boards and I feel like most lodges are doing it wrong. The good way to do it is to debate/agree on a budget on a yearly basis and then never talk about money again *that is inside the bounds of the budget*. Then do a yearly audit.
I frankly have no patience for hearing what the light bill was. It was in the budget. Who cares if it was $10 extra this month. Lodges are going to make 15 guys sit through reading a bank account balance? How about you don't tell us unless it deviates from what we'd normally expect.
Good leadership should elevate information suitable for a group of guys to make the right decision. This actively means *not* bringing information which is distracting, extraneous, or leads to the wrong decisions (like micromanaging the water bill).
Excess business is not, by itself, a problem - it's a sign of something else missing. You get excess business when there's no budget, or poor leadership.
I don't want to know what the light bill was, any more than I want updates on the firing of each individual cylinder in my car. I only want to know when it deviates from normal & expected. Which presumes we know what normal & expected is, which presumes a budget and some basic leadership.
Thank you MW Sir for being & helping where I can not.
I do agree, business meetings only, will kill a lodge and very quickly!
Masonic education and gathering together to enjoy something or an experience adds to the fellowship. So I'm just echoing your words....but most definitely if it's not happening in your lodge.....plan something outside regular meeting days and announce in lodge your plan, adding for others to join you. You just might get the ball rolling and start new traditions & have fun!
MW Brother Cameron, I write to you today as a recovering CFO. As such, whenever I join the board of a not-for-profit company I'm immediately stereotyped and they make me the treasurer. This has also been the case in my Lodge and my Royal Arch Chapter.
As one who has been trained in the art of business I offer two pieces of advice: 1) Test your assumptions, and 2) Don't manage by slogan.
When I joined my Lodge I attended a holiday party and naively asked who to pay for my meal. The Worshipful Master smiled and laughed and said, "Don't worry, we have enough money to party like this for the rest of our lives." The following year I got a look at the books and found that we did have what appeared to be a handsome cash balance but I also discovered that our balance had steadily declined for the past 10 years. So if the assumption is that we can party for the rest of our lives find out how much it costs to party for one year and then do the math. Turned out that our last party was about 8 years hence unless we changed our habits.
Slogans about finances are a lazy way to sound knowledgeable. One very accomplished Mason once declared that Lodges should not invest like senior citizens, they should invest like young people. (If you say that with conviction it almost sounds like wisdom.) I quickly corrected him and pointed out that senior citizens invest the way they do because they don't have income but young people, on the other hand, do. This was an important distinction because other that earnings on our investments we didn't have any income. Another very accomplished Mason made an appeal to the Lodge for a large charitable donation. Among his justifications was that "the money isn't doing us any good sitting in the bank." What a great call to action with one meaningful clarification: we did need the money to be able to run the Lodge.
I'm not advocating that we hoard our cash. I am advocating that we carefully look at facts and thoughtfully craft assumptions about what our future needs will be. Then we can establish reserves, make appropriate donations, and maybe even have a party.
" I write to you today as a recovering CFO." Thank you for the chuckle.
I serve on foundation boards and I feel like most lodges are doing it wrong. The good way to do it is to debate/agree on a budget on a yearly basis and then never talk about money again *that is inside the bounds of the budget*. Then do a yearly audit.
I frankly have no patience for hearing what the light bill was. It was in the budget. Who cares if it was $10 extra this month. Lodges are going to make 15 guys sit through reading a bank account balance? How about you don't tell us unless it deviates from what we'd normally expect.
Good leadership should elevate information suitable for a group of guys to make the right decision. This actively means *not* bringing information which is distracting, extraneous, or leads to the wrong decisions (like micromanaging the water bill).
Excess business is not, by itself, a problem - it's a sign of something else missing. You get excess business when there's no budget, or poor leadership.
I don't want to know what the light bill was, any more than I want updates on the firing of each individual cylinder in my car. I only want to know when it deviates from normal & expected. Which presumes we know what normal & expected is, which presumes a budget and some basic leadership.
It's like I always say about managing digital assets. It's just housekeeping, and it isn't important unless it doesn't get done.