If we tried charging this much, Freemasonry in the US consist of about 2000 men in New York, Miami, and LA.
Tony Siciliano, 32°
Lafayette Lodge #83, A.F & A.M - GLoNC
Valley of New Bern, Orient of NC
Bro. Tony:
Yes, that is quite a sum for someone to come up with. Several Arizona Lodges have struggled with the problem of dues, some quoting the inflation factor and that Dues should be adjusted upward yearly and tied to the rate of inflation or CPI. (Consumer Price Index) Others argue that if the price gets too high, we will lose members. Both are correct.
Some lodges have done just that, adjusted their dues to what a dollar would buy 20 years ago. They went from $30 plus Grand Lodge per capita tax to $200 plus Grand Lodge Per capita. They lost half their dues paying membership the first year. Interestingly, these men did not drop out of Masonry, the simply paid their new high price of dues and then immediately demitted to another nearby lodge whose dues were $60 per year. You must be in "good standing" in order to demit which means you have paid your dues for the current year.
Then there are the lodges who have a pemanent outside income from rental of commercial space or property they own. This income covers all their expenses for the entire year and more. Therefore they have no need to raise the dues, keeping them low and affordable.
Others have a "preservation fund" or endowment. While the principal can never be used, the lodge operates on 1/2 the interest received each year, the balance of the interest received deposited in the fund thereby increasing the amount in the fund to adust for inflation. This has worked very well for our lodge in Payson over these many years and we have not had to increase dues except when the Grand Lodge increases the per capita tax.
We have Fund Raisers, but not for the Lodge finances per se. We have several charitable projects that we use the proceeds for.
Men do not join Masonry to donate Free Labor to keep the lodge operating. This unfortunately is often the case.
Proper financial management of a lodge is the key to keeping a lodge solvent. There are many ways to do this without increasing the dues to the point of no return and you end up with members voting with their feet.
Richard Skoglund, PM
Secretary
Payson No. 70
Payson, AZ.