Here is a question for those of you from Lodges with (what I consider) high fees/dues $100+:
How does this impact your Lodges trying to bring in young members or retaining older ones? In our area, I honestly think it would destroy the Craft. How does a young man just starting out afford dues/fees that high - especially if he has a family to support? How does an older member on a fixed income do it? We have a Grand Lodge officer that keeps telling about these Lodges elsewhere with high dues and saying "We are selling Masonry too cheap. We need to raise the price to make people want to come out for their money's worth." That's great in theory, but if people don't have the money in the first place, how do we get them in?
I am already a life member of both my Chapter and Council. I will do a life membership for my Lodge later this year to avoid increasing dues and per capita tax. When I joined the Lodge at at 22, the fee was $66 (which my dad must have paid, because I don't remember doing it), and dues were $25. I remember in my early 30s when they started creeping up toward where they are now, I never failed to pay my dues, but I did have to think ahead and put a little back each month to make sure I had it come December. I've lived paycheck to paycheck. It's not fun. If a man has to decide what is more important, spending $100 to make sure his family has what it needs or belonging to a fraternity, the decision had better not be a hard one. If I had been 22 and the Lodge asked me for $350 the night of my EA, I guess I would have had to turn around and leave. Now at 42 and making what I feel is a good living, I could afford it. Back then, it wouldn't have mattered how much I loved Masonry, I simply wouldn't have had that much available for dues.
Granted, living in New York City or Dallas or somewhere, $100 isn't what it is where I live today, and $100 today sure wasn't what it was when I became a Mason 20 years ago, but still, I ask: What is the balancing point between "selling Masonry too cheap" and pricing yourself out of reach?