I know it's beating a dead horse, but how do you retain members?
I've done a bit of reading on this and I think retention comes down to a couple key points:
1. It starts in the West. When a candidate is interviewed we need to find out why he wishes to join and what his expectations are. I know of a few brothers who joined for a little bit and eventually left because they didn't know what they were joining. One EA we had left because he thought the lodge was supposed to be like a church! I rant about the West a lot but I really feel strongly about this.
2. Nobody wanted to join a memory club. People don't enjoy sitting around after work and arguing about finances either. We need programs both inside and outside of the lodge room that promote masonic education and foster brotherhood.
There you have it. I'm not saying it's a miracle fix-all or that it will work for every lodge but it's pretty straight forward. Only let people join that you think have realistic expectations and you expect beyond a reasonable doubt to stick with the lodge. Also, if people have fun at lodge then they'll come. Lots of people, after working all day, just want to have fun and relax. If they have two options: lodge or TV then they'll pick whatever they'll enjoy the most. It's just our job to make them turn off their TV.
For the small town Lodges, filling chairs is becoming more difficult, and positions are just being recycled. Being fairly new, it's sad to sit in one of these struggling Lodges. I'm sure it's even harder for the brothers who remembers the Lodge being more full and active.
Sometimes there's really no option but to close our doors or merge with another lodge. Many lodges barely have enough members present to hold stated meetings most the time and a lot of those brothers are only members because they hold dual membership.
Don't get me wrong, I love history and I'm a very sentimental kind of guy, but sometimes people just don't know when it's time to let things go. If a lodge can barely meet, can't contribute anything to the community, and can't get new/young membership then what's the point in staying open?
Define spiffy please. Some brothers seem to think a ritual needs to be immaculate and beat themselves up because they failed to do the impossible. The candidate doesn't know when you mess up unless you make it obvious and in many cases they may never know it, even after learning the rituals themselves, unless it was pointed out to them.