Graduated payments?

[Wurzell]

Many, many brethren continue to feel the pinch of recession and finding the ever increasing lodge subscription (ours is currently £110 pa) is sometimes difficult for those brethren. As a lodge we allow payment to be spread over the year to suit the brother and this so far has worked very well. Are other lodges doing this?

Additionally, we (a Craft lodge) meet September through to April would love to hold an initiation meeting in the latter months of the year but the prospect of hitting the poor fellow with the full subscription plus UGLE fee only to be asking him to stump up over a ton a few months later has tailored our ceremony's to only have an initiation this side of summer.

Surely there must be solution to this conundrum that would allow graduated contributions to UGLE and Province etc.?

[P471]

Yes we have been doing this for a few years in our Lodge and it works very well, the only stipulation is that to use this facility a Brother must be fully paid up and can then pay monthly towards the following years subs. Subscriptions are due on the 1st November each year and if the payments are set up correctly it will be fully paid by that date, if not then he just transfers the balance. I think its a very handy way to help with the cashflow of both the Brethren and the Lodge.

With regards to the initiations we are in the same boat, we meet October - June and subs are due in November so technically if someone came in in our October meeting they would have to pay the initiation fee, a years subs and then a month later asked for another years subs! We decided to pro-rata the subs on the amount of meetings left that year which is, I think the fairest way to do it for the initiate. If not then as you say we would only have initiations during the first few months of our year. The biggest cost to the Lodge with this is Hall costs we pay are based on the number of brethren who are a member in each year (regardless of how long they were actually a member in that year)

[Richard George]

Er - what happened to the other posts on this thread?

[eckywan2]

Admin we have a problem!
Ive just been PM'd by bro I had given info to , that it had disappeared and when I checked so had my sent message !
also last post on another thread also gone

???
ecky

[admin]

It may be they have been lost in the move to the new server. Perfection is not possible I am afraid.

Post them again.

My Lodge has been doing this for 10 years or more. It means a bit more work for the Treasurer but it works OK.

[banjocrewe]

Apologies for the thread (last post sometime back it seems) but Im suprised how many lodges still only accept
the one yearly payment. I've tried to encourage various lodges to accept some form of Standing Order, Im sure
quarterly payments would help many brethren out considerably.

S&F
John.M

[JohnXRV]

I think if we want to attract new members at the younger end of the allowed age range then this has to be an option. Very few have big wads of cash ready to pay their annual fees. Our lodge fees are due January. I was initiated in October and the lodge fee was halved but everything else was full fat then I had the full year fees to pay 3 months later. Ouch!

Those of the younger persuasion are used to paying for most things monthly as my 27 year old is proof. He has a toddler with a baby on the way and raising his family is tough as he is well below the average wage of £26k/year.

My lodge don't do it. Since my initiation 2 young (sub 30) EA'S have ceased attending. Whether finances were a factor I don't know.

It's the now (not the future!) and I think it needs to be available to help with recruitment. A lodge could charge a bit more for the facility like the insurance companies do.

S&F

John

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[JohnXRV]

Notice how I didn't say "younger generation" as it seems in freemasonry terms that means 40-50 years old at the moment


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[Trouillogan]

A number of lodges of my acquaintance do accept stage payments - monthly or quarterly. There's nothing new or unconventional in that, as during the eighteenth century it was quite common for 'quarterage' to be the norm. Mind you, in England, the dining fees often equate to the lodge subscription and that can be a killer. In Ireland and Scotland that does not occur.

[banjocrewe]

I know a couple of our EAs dropped off within the first 6-12 months. Alot was to do with the FB costs, and being "hit" for renewal within the first few months
of parting with their initial membership fee (which I understand was not reduced in anyway).

But with regards to the Direct Debit/Standing Order situation, I think Perhaps alot may to do with "Archaic" bank accounts some lodges have.
Everytime of my lodges went to upgrade their account, it opened a minefield that many secretaries and treasurers did not want to tread.

A couple of lodges I belong to still only accept two methods of payment (either by personal cheque or cash), and thats for the full amount every April.

S&F
John.M

[Trouillogan]

Agreed, some banks have great difficulty in coping with changes to account signatories, obviously to avoid fraud. One bank I had to deal with required, without exception, the old signatories to sign their release, which is quite understandable. However, an unintended consequence attended the demise of a signatory - they hadn't thought of that!

[Stevecoath]

I find the attitude of some banks astounding.
The only two certainties in life are death and taxes, yet when my mother passed and my father contacted the bank he was informed there was nothing they could do unless they were able to speak to my mother in person.

[Trouillogan]

I find the attitude of some banks astounding.
The only two certainties in life are death and taxes, yet when my mother passed and my father contacted the bank he was informed there was nothing they could do unless they were able to speak to my mother in person.

That is absolutely dreadful and inexcusable. In the days of YTS that kind of nonsensical checklist system was quite common but I would have thought we had moved on from that by now.

[Mike Martin]

I find the attitude of some banks astounding.
The only two certainties in life are death and taxes, yet when my mother passed and my father contacted the bank he was informed there was nothing they could do unless they were able to speak to my mother in person.

That seems quite unusual, normally provision of a copy of the Death Certificate is what is usually required in that scenario.

[wayne cowley]

As a Lodge Treasurer, I would be more than happy to accept payments by Standing Order (so long as they promised to change them when the subs go up!!!) on a monthly or quarterly basis as well as the annual payments that I currently get from a handful of members (including me as it is good proof to the auditors that my payments have gone in).

Regrettably, very few members actually take advantage of this meaning that I have to go chasing them

Wayne

[JulesTheBit]

Things are getting better. At my initiation meeting I was asked to pay the full dining sub for the year. It was the last meeting of the FY so I was paying for 4 meals I hadn't eaten. That was in November, and in the January the next FY started and I was asked to pay another full years subs. There was no instalment option.

That was over 30 years ago and I'm pleased to say that a more enlightened view applies now.

In the Lodge where I am secretary we ask all initiates and joining members to pay by instalments. It's simpler that way.

S&F, Jules

[JohnXRV]

Does a lodge need a lump sum payment because they have to pay out lump sum payments to province or UGLE?


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[Richard George]

They do pay out lump sums - but only at the end of the financial year. Dues to GL and Prov are due annually in arrears.

[eckywan2]

Perhaps it would be better to concentrate on being masonic lodges and not expensive dining clubs
after all we all are on the level
or is that not the case?

[banjocrewe]

Perhaps it would be better to concentrate on being masonic lodges and not expensive dining clubs
after all we all are on the level
or is that not the case?

Yes we do need to concertrate on being Masonic Lodges, but unfortunately, there's alot of snobbery still around.
A good many brethren I know no longer attend any festive boards, mind you at £25 for a 3-course salad who can blame them.
A simple buffet, good conversation and bring a bottle...


S&F
John.M