What we did back in 2011 to what we continue to do has had a lasting impression on the way Masonic Lodges approached attracting new members
North Harrow Lodge no.6557 as is still experiencing an unprecedented surge of membership inquiries of which 70% have been secured from our website and the others from the increased enthusiasm of existing and new members who have brought in their friends and colleagues over the last few years. which has boosted our membership numbers to 40, which is more than double our previous membership.
The question that has been asked by many is : “ Now you’ve got them. How are you going to retain them?”
Mentoring and good Communication has played an important part in our retention rate and has helped to maintain our candidate’s interest in Freemasonry.
We are now able to offer our new brethren an opportunity to deliver ritual at the earliest opportunity without them feeling in any way under any pressure. There is also the chance that the candidates interest may be lost in waiting to progress through their respective degrees, so standing still for us is not an option. With almost Thirty outstanding ceremonies projected at the start of 2012, this could have been an issue. However, we have been fortunate to have the support from a number of other Lodges in Middlesex, especially those that meet at Harrow Masonic Centre who had no scheduled work and have been willing to perform most of our Second & Third degrees on our behalf. This satisfies a number of issues.
- Our candidates can progress as quickly as they want.
- It boosts the numbers at the meetings of the other Lodges because we will attend to support our Candidates.
- It gives enthusiasm to the other Lodges as they have work to perform.
- Most importantly, supporting our candidate at these meetings enables friendships to be made between the Lodges and ourselves.
We initially interview prospective candidates to make sure of their eligibility to join the Craft and if successful, give them the option to be initiated into another Lodge in Middlesex to suit their availability. Because of the volume of Candidates, totalling almost 60 to May 2016 I had to produce a spreadsheet to track their progression
Over the last five years to May 2016, we have successfully introduced over 32 candidates for initiation to other Lodges in Middlesex, initiated 22 into North Harrow and allowed other Lodges to perform over 30 ceremonies on our behalf, giving much needed work to lodges who wouldn’t have had any work scheduled and will as part of our initiative continue to monitor their progression and where possible. attend their meetings.
Why not visit us and see how we do things !! just email me to book in and arrange to be sent a Summons for our next meeting E-Mail:secretary@northharrowlodge.org
Or why not take a look at our blog http://northharrowlodge.org/blog , this enables everyone to keep up to date with what we are doing in and outside the Lodge.
We continue to increase our membership through 2016 and into 2017 albeit at a slower pace and with our Mentoring and Retention Policy, this will enabled us to achieve and maintain an excellent Mentoring program and Membership retention rate.
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