My Lodge Dues are $53 per year. Half of this goes to Grand Lodge of KY. Is this too much? Not enough? About right? How do you determine what is right?
What does it cost to run your Lodge for a year? Contingency fund for AC and such, etc, etc.
We ran on$35- $50 per year for quite a while which made fund raisers and such a necessity. Not fair to those who put on the fund raisers and bought the tickets while the rest did not participate. We were in the red $3-5K each year.
Finally, enough was enough, we got dues raised to $129.00. We lost a few members but they never participated anyway. A lot of griping, but they didn't bother to get off their duffs and come vote. Some of our problem came about because of Perpetual Memberships.
For the first time in years we have a realistic budget and the means to operate within it.
IMO, we cheapen Freemasonry by ridiculously low dues, cheap initiation fees, unkempt Lodges and the like.
A large increase in dues will cost you members. But when those same members have been voting down $5-10 increases for years there comes a time when you have to pay the fiddler. If it costs $10K to run the Lodge the dues should be adjusted to pay the costs. Just my opinion
Our dues went from $50 to $129 in one jump. It had to be done or the Lodge would have folded.
Fund raisers are fine if you want to raise funds for a specific project or charity, but for me.....I have fried my last fish in order to pay electric and insurance.
Brethren, instead of raising dues, look at raising degree fees. We've raised ours at #148 from $70 to $150, and it has paid off big time.
I don't know why people complain about a $20 increase then spend over $100 on fundraisers and donations. Maybe a few Lodges folding is what we need to help wake some up.
See a lot of people don't understand that out of those fees there is a $5 charge on the EA that goes to the George Washington Masonic Memorial and on the Masters a $25 (I think it is $25 may only be $15) charge that goes to the Home and School, which I don't know why since we don't have it any longer. Then you have Bible cost and apron if you give them. That is about $60+ so if your Masters Degree fee is less than $80 you're losing money. Which we found out at #148. I don't know why people complain about a $20 increase then spend over $100 on fundraisers and donations. Maybe a few Lodges folding is what we need to help wake some up. (I don't wish this but something has to happen to wake up some of the sleepers)
Annual dues out here are $100