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Monthly Dues

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
Does anyone here have the option to pay monthly dues? I'm looking to put this into place in my lodge and wondered if anyone had firsthand stories.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
No, both lodges that I belong to collect dues yearly. Haven't heard of monthly dues in Kentucky but that doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't exist.
 

Scoops

Registered User
We do.

It's done by standing order into the Lodge bank account and the Treasurer keeps tabs on who's paid what.
 

Carl_in_NH

Site Benefactor
On a small scale for those that might be tight on funds - no worries, we can work something out.

For every member of the lodge? Just more work for Secretary and Treasurer to handle, track, and maintain this accounting. Isn't it hard enough to get someone to take those offices without making more work for them? How about the notion of a dues card and being current? Want the Tyler to have to validate whether each member is current _this month_ before admitting them to the Lodge room? How about visiting other lodges or GL? Are you 'in good standing'? How would they be able to validate this?

It would be one thing if yearly dues were $1K, but in the case of my lodge it would be $11.70 per month, meeting for 10 months out of 12. No, I'm not a fan of this idea at all.
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
To get it started you would have to be up to date... say you are paid up for '17... you start paying '18 now. That way you have paid in full prior to 1/1/2018.
 

Carl_in_NH

Site Benefactor
To get it started you would have to be up to date... say you are paid up for '17... you start paying '18 now. That way you have paid in full prior to 1/1/2018.

OK - that makes sense to me in terms of what the intent is. I was thinking a few moments ago about asking what the issue was that was intending to be solved by this instead of just being negative and shooting holes in it.

I think it just comes down to extra work for the Secretary and Treasurer (at least in my jurisdiction, since you pay money to the Secretary who makes a record of the transaction and then hands it to the Treasurer, who handles the back end banking).

I'm hard pressed to see a large upside, but I'm also the old-school type that doesn't want a car loan - I just keep saving money monthly until I can afford the purchase outright instead of taking on debt. Would there be enough members taking advantage of this? Why wouldn't they just keep the money in the bank or put the cash in their sock drawer until dues were due again?
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
Does anyone here have the option to pay monthly dues? I'm looking to put this into place in my lodge and wondered if anyone had firsthand stories.
Talk to the Master and Secretary. See if anything exists in the constitution or by-laws that forbids it. If not, make a motion to be able to pay monthly.

That is going to be on the secretary to keep track of it. He may not want that extra work load.
 

Carl_in_NH

Site Benefactor
That is going to be on the secretary to keep track of it. He may not want that extra work load.

I would argue that there's also workload for the Treasurer - after all, everything paid in advance is 'next year's money' and shouldn't be utilized on any expenditures this year without the potential impact being understood. Either a separate account for these advanced funds, or additional paperwork / tally kept to understand what belonged in a category to support next year's expenses.
 

Brother_Steve

Premium Member
We have 200 members. Now, obviously not all 200 are going to be paying monthly, but could you imagine the potential?

We have 30 regulars that come out per meeting. Could you imagine generating thirty extra chits per meeting? The Sec and Treasurer would have zero lodge life.
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
This is actually being pushed by GL, along with the unified software for the books. Obviously it won't become a requirement, but the lodges using it so far are reporting fewer NPDs. We'll see how it flies.
 

Scoops

Registered User
Our Secretary and Treasurer actively encourage this as they hate having to have words with people who are at risk of going NPD.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using Tapatalk
 

Carl_in_NH

Site Benefactor
If it works, then it works - that's great. Sounds like with a complete package of supporting software it minimizes the impact on the Lodge officers.

I must say that I'm somewhat surprised that this would impact the NPD issue. It's likely just my myopic view from a small lodge that makes me think that. We have some members with NPD issues. While there's one brother who's short on funds and who attends every meeting, the vast majority of NPDs we encounter (all of the remaining cases, as a matter of fact) are brothers we never see in lodge. After mail and telephone contact most become current again with a fairly substantial lump sum payment, or we end up working with them to make an arrangement for some partial amount of the dues in arrears and settle on that, based on their individual financial situation. In both cases, no one is proactively offering to pay small amounts - either before or after they are due - they wait until they can roll it up in a single payment and set the situation right, or end up with an NPD suspension. I agree the NPD discussions, votes to suspend, and suspensions are something none of us want to engage in - but that activity is mandated by our GL for those members who don't pay their dues (the GL places a limit on how long a brother can be in arrears before we must suspend for NPD).

I'd really like to understand if the NPD reduction under this program is maintained in the long-term, or if it's just a statistical anomaly with only short term data available. Additional data - such as whether those using the program regularly attend lodge or not - would also help fill out the story.

I like programs that work; I like them better when I understand exactly why. Such is the mindset of an engineer.
 

Bloke

Premium Member
Does anyone here have the option to pay monthly dues? I'm looking to put this into place in my lodge and wondered if anyone had firsthand stories.

One of my lodge has monthly payment. Bear in mind our dues are $320 PA.

From an administrator side, it turns one transaction in 12. We have about 45 members, most still pay annually. It does make the cost less notable in a family's cash flow, but annual payment is simply a question of planning on behalf of the member. I paid 1 lodge in a single payment, but the other ($370 PA ) I paid in 4 installments but as a reliable guy I keep on top of dues.

Where we have found it good is for recovering dues in arrears. $50 per month as a direct credit is manageable for most bros and also reduces arrears.

One thing to note, it's all done electronically.... reduces the physical work for all and creates backup record for all. It's actually been many years since I've had a receipt for dues, banking records providing the same proof.... for guys in arrears, statements do get issued, often annually.

I would use months dues only for remediation in situations of financial distress and dues which have fallen in arrears where the person needs help managing cash flow...
 

Brother JC

Moderating Staff
Staff Member
My lodge is very small so chasing dues isn't the biggest challenge, but our Secretary still bemoans the inevitable "last dues cards." I think the first step is to get proficient with GL's software and make electronic payments a reality, then we can start looking at options.
From a new Treasurer's standpoint I look forward to a system that I can use to post, reconcile, and transmit to GL with a few simple clicks. It's very similar to what I do at work all day (buy, ship, receive, sell, ship, and never touch). With an online payment system it's even easier, whether a Brother pays annually, quarterly, or monthly.
From the standpoint of a low-end working class Joe, I'd rather have a $25 a month payment than another end of the year balloon. At least TMS and the R+C College have off due dates.

Sidebar: Our GL merely states that dues will be paid by 1/1. It makes no stipulation to how that is to be accomplished.
 

Warrior1256

Site Benefactor
I think it just comes down to extra work for the Secretary and Treasurer (at least in my jurisdiction, since you pay money to the Secretary who makes a record of the transaction and then hands it to the Treasurer, who handles the back end banking).
That is going to be on the secretary to keep track of it. He may not want that extra work load.
I would argue that there's also workload for the Treasurer - after all, everything paid in advance is 'next year's money' and shouldn't be utilized on any expenditures this year without the potential impact being understood. Either a separate account for these advanced funds, or additional paperwork / tally kept to understand what belonged in a category to support next year's expenses.
We have 30 regulars that come out per meeting. Could you imagine generating thirty extra chits per meeting? The Sec and Treasurer would have zero lodge life.
Hadn't looked at it this way.
 

CLewey44

Registered User
This may have been brought up, but Scoop's apron appears to be of the European persuasion. If so, and correct me if I'm wrong, I've always heard their dues are quite a bit more than typical dues in the U.S. If so, then it may not be a bad idea to have them on a monthly basis, as an option. I've heard some dues here as low as $20-30 a year. I'm sure some are way more, T.O. specifically, but you do get what you pay for. I would say, if you're struggling to pay $30 a year, or even $100-300 per year, you may need to hold off on giving your money to a fraternity.
 
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