How would you sell the per capita increase to Grand Lodge?

[Dave in Waco]

If they were shaper they would have started a few years back and gone up and dollar or two every year.. ! would have made it simpler to swallow.. ?

True! I don't think very many are totally denying that it needs to increase, I think it's more of the fact that the endowed memberships that we were asked to buy to benefit both ourselves and the GL aren't doing either at the moment and actually hurting the Lodge which is having to cover the per capita of the endowed members out of its pocket already as is. Then a $10.25 jump in one year, is more like sticking another knife blade to many Lodges already struggling to cover its own expenses.

As I stated in a different post, GL should dissolve the endowment fund. Give the Lodges back the money for their endowments to help offset the added costs they are already having to bear. GL could keep the interest from it to offset their need for the $10.25 per capita increase. This would allow them to set a much lower increase this year, plus allow them to but into action a gradual annual increase. It would also give the market some time to recover where GL and Lodges can better plan out the raising of their fees and/or endowments to guard against a future market downturns.

 

[JEbeling]

Or either make those who are endowed members not pay per capita... !

 

[Dave in Waco]

Or either make those who are endowed members not pay per capita... !

I don't think that would be a good idea. That would cut GL per capita income even more, requiring a bigger raise in the per capita amount causing more of the dues paying member to shoulder an even bigger burden. Or it would cause more dues paying members to get endowments thereby cutting the GL per capita that much more.

As Owls points out in his previous post, a gradual annual increase and other things were known but not acted on 2 years ago. I want to say that there was a resolution and it was shot down. To get it passed, I feel that GL is going to have to make a gesture to the Lodges, because right now everyone knows that the endowment money is just sitting there while the Lodges are forced to foot the bill for the flawed decision of GL to do the endowments. I think GL needs to just man up and say that the endowment idea was a mistake and come up with a different approach to it, like letting the Lodges supervise those funds since they are responsible for covering it when the fund doesn't make enough to distribute.