Passing The Hat

[JMartinez]

Brethren, I had posted a question about "Fundraising Ideas", and a brother had an interesting point. Fundraising is a waist of the crafts time. Money is to come from the membership. When we eat there is a "Kitty", we pay dues and make endowments stretch, some members give and annual donation, or include their lodge in their last will and testament. However there are many lodges that are filled with great and competent masons who have the time but not the funds. most lodges keep there dues low to keep the membership they have. some lodges have members who most have paid their endowments. Most lodges or "working-class" lodges and cant afford to participate in "passing the hat". I am a firm believer in "passing the hat" how do other lodges make it work??? sometimes It's heart breaking to see a room full of masons and yet non will even offer change. Brethren what are your views on the subject? does your lodge pass the hat? when do you pass the hat? is passing the hat an effective technique? how do you get passing the hat to work?

 

[JJones]

Since you're asking for opinions.

It doesn't matter if you hold fundraisers or pass the hat, you're only going to have a small percentage of members doing the lion's share of the work to keep the lodge operational. I also believe that if a brother doesn't join with the desire to volunteer for fundraising or be hassled for money every meeting then he's likely going to go inactive because who's interested in a place that makes them feel guilty?

If the dues are set high enough to keep the lodge running and account for all it's other expenses then that means that all members contribute to the operation of the lodge regardless of their activity. There are some drawbacks to this as well as some brethren will undoubtedly demit for various reasons and it will be the responsibility of the officers to make each stated meeting enough of a quality experience that the brothers can justify the new cost...few men would pay 300-500 a year so they can eat donuts and coffee, watch officers stumble through the ritual, then pay bills and leave.

 

[jvarnell]

We have a building with a store front on the ground floor that we rent out. This is the best thing I beleive. Income and on the second floor.

 

[admarcus1]

It seems like I didn't quite understand what was meant by fundraising in the other thread. We do have our annual Christmas tree sale to raise money for the lodge, so I guess that is technically a fundraiser, but I view it differently because we are selling a product at competitive prices, so we aren't asking people to give anything extra. This has been very successful for us. What is extra nice is that around the holidays people are in a rather generous mood, so we often get tips after helping tie a tree to a customer's car or truck, and these go right to the lodge. I don't celebrate Christmas (being non-Christian), but I love helping others celebrate it while helping my lodge at the same time.

When I think of our fundraisers, I think of when we raised money on the day of our open house for One Boston , the fund to support victims of the Boston Marathon bombings, or a free community pancake breakfast where funds are solicited to support disabled veterans. These events are great for a number of reasons: The fellowship is great - it is an opportunity for the Brethren to work together in a less formal way, and involve our families. It raises money for good causes, and it gets the word out that we are part of the local community, and a positive part of it. Hopefully, this sparks the interest of good men who might otherwise not know anything about us.

As suggested above, renting out space is a way to bring money into the lodge, but it requires that you own the building. Many lodges don't. My lodge is fortunate enough to own our building. The three other lodges that meet there don't have that as a source of income.

 

[crono782]

My 2 cents...
99% of lodge activities should be funded by dues, including meals, building upkeep, lodge library, candidate materials, presenter costs, etc. Dues should be high enough to support that, but not above. New candidates should be told that masonry has a price tag and part of the IC should be to determine if the candidate can swing that price comfortably. Endowments are not meant to be a replacement for paying yearly dues; an endowment is a gift to the lodge for after you pass on or in the event you can no longer afford dues either short or long term. Those who can comfortably afford dues should pay them (with or without endowment). Fundraisers are for that 1% of unforeseen activities of the lodge that regular finances don't really fit into (a trip to DC to see the HotT, etc) and are ad hoc rather than regular.

I believe that if something is cheap, it can be (and often is) perceived as being cheap. Artificially low dues give masonry the appearance of not being important or significant. Artificially high, well... your membership will find lodges elsewhere quick, hah. A quick bit of math suggests that my lodge's yearly dues equate roughly to under 25 cents a day. Masonry is worth more than that to me, personally. A meal kitty typically means that a few support a lot of others that don't contribute and that is unfair. (EDIT: an example, supposing a dues paying membership of, say, 100 and an average meal cost of $75, one meal per month. A $9 raise in every member's yearly dues would provide a meal for EVERY member every month. The Stewards have an exact budget, no kitty, no coming up short. Shoot, I pay more than that for one meal in the kitty... Member's don't wanna pay the extra? It's already proven cheaper to their wallets by simple math if they come. They don't come? Send out a newsletter saying you missed them. Send out a menu for the next meal. Attract your members back!) I also wonder that if members knew they were already contributing to a meal and they had one waiting for them, if they wouldn't show up more often... On the topic of members who fall on hard times and have not purchased an endowment: part of the yearly dues should be to keep a fund for such a thing... a "scholarship" if you will to get the brother(s) by.

So all that said, I don't have a problem with fundraisers, but I feel they should be a rarity as should passing the hat scenarios. They're fine in a pinch and for a purpose, but by no means a regular calendar item. To the point, if you require fundraisers to fund *regular* activities, your dues are too low. If your membership cannot afford dues to fund your regular activities, then your lodge is not financially sustainable; make cuts appropriately. Off the cuff activities that aren't necessarily foreseen usually require quick funding and fundraisers fit the bill nicely.

 

[dfreybur]

We have a building with a store front on the ground floor that we rent out. This is the best thing I beleive. Income and on the second floor.

My mother lodge rents out the building for wedding receptions, various events, use as a movie/TV set, you name it. The positive cash flow of the building makes the lodge a fulcrum of stability in the region. One of the lodges in the same district owned a plaza on the first floor as Bro Varnell describes. Same fulcrum effect.

Fund raising is a social fraternal activity. Lodges are supposed to hold social fraternal activities. I am befuddled by resistance to doing social fraternal activities that happen to benefit charities and/or maintain the building. If you do a bowling event that turns a profit why object to using the funds? If you do any social fraternal event that has a price of admission why object to using the funds?

 

[crono782]

If you do a bowling event that turns a profit why object to using the funds? If you do any social fraternal event that has a price of admission why object to using the funds?

I suppose that is something that I hadn't considered... Where the fund raising event is just as much, if not more, of a social event as it is a fundraiser. A good example would be if you had a stellar fundraising event that raised money that dues would not practically cover, why not. A black tie dinner w/ speakers, bowling tournament, etc. I guess when I think of the word "fundraiser", I think of raffle tickets, bake sale, fish fry, etc where it seems it is mostly a lot of time and effort for members for the sole purpose of raising money and not much of a social event.

 

[Companion Joe]

I don't mind passing the hat for a reason, as in, "Hey, we are passing the hat, and the money goes toward XXXXXXX (usually a charity, someone's benefit, etc.)."
There is one lodge in my area that passes the hat at stated meetings just like the collection plate on Sunday. I find that practice a bit odd.

 

[JJones]

If you do a bowling event that turns a profit why object to using the funds? If you do any social fraternal event that has a price of admission why object to using the funds?

I find that planning, discussing, and reporting on fundraisers tends to be the majority of what's discussed in stated meetings. I'm also not fond of members constantly asking people to devote their free time if they aren't interested...it drives them away from being active members.

Just my opinion. Really, if a lodge wants to have a fish fry every week that's their business, ultimately I have no say in how a lodge runs things nor should I try to impose my views on them. If someone asks I'll certainly tell them though.

 

[dfreybur]

I suppose that is something that I hadn't considered... Where the fund raising event is just as much, if not more, of a social event as it is a fundraiser. A good example would be if you had a stellar fundraising event that raised money that dues would not practically cover, why not. A black tie dinner w/ speakers, bowling tournament, etc. I guess when I think of the word "fundraiser", I think of raffle tickets, bake sale, fish fry, etc where it seems it is mostly a lot of time and effort for members for the sole purpose of raising money and not much of a social event.

Only one of my three jurisdictions allow raffles so I've always found it strange that my Shrine conducts raffles to raise funds for the hospitals. Then again Pennsylvania allows their lodges to hold bingo fundraisers and they work well building camaraderie among those who work the events.

So far I have not seen a bake sale as a fundraiser. Now that it has been mentioned I figure the week isn't over yet!

Fish fry? My lodges do pancake breakfasts, booths selling burgers at town events, bowling tournaments for the youth groups and similar. All very much social fraternal events for the brothers who chose to participate by working and also social fraternal events for the brothers who chose to participate by showing up and purchasing breakfast.

To me the notion that all of the lodge's activities should be funded by dues means the lodge does not see the camaraderie built among the brothers who are active working such events. There are country lodges that hold an annual BBQ sale that have brothers coming to work every year that never show up to any tiled meetings.

 

[cacarter]

Passing the hat and fundraisers always seem weird to me. IMO if a fundraiser is needed it should be for the benefit of an individual mason (medical bills, house burned down, etc) or individuals outside the lodge (scholarships, meals at Thanksgiving/Christmas, etc.). To me a lodge holding a fundraiser to benefit itself to cover operating costs is...weird/wrong/counter intuitive. A lodge should be able to support itself since masonry is about self-improvement. If a lodge does hold a fundraiser for themself I would wonder, if I wasn't a mason, why I should support them if the lodge isn't doing anything in the community. So I guess if a lodge is active in the community, then go ahead.