Woody D. Bilyeu, 32°, K.C.C.H.
P.O. Box 1192, Winnfield, Louisiana 71483-1192
woody@ccidirectv.com
The success of the Supreme Council's new
NPD program in the Valley of Monroe, Louisiana, suggests it
will also enhance membership in other Valleys.
With
the well-documented and publicized decline in Scottish Rite
membership over the last decade, our Supreme Council has produced
several programs designed to help retain membership. One of
these is the NPD (nonpayment of dues) Restoration Program. It
was introduced at the Membership Development Workshop held in
Omaha, Nebraska, on May 26, 2001. As its name implies, it is
designed to bring back Brothers who have been suspended for
nonpayment of dues over the last several years. The program
is not for those about to be suspended. It is only for those
already dropped from Valley rolls. We liked the fact that restoring
these Brothers has an immediate impact on the membership numbers
of a Valley without incurring the expense of a Reunion. In fact,
generally the only expenses lie in the dues cards and postage.
I will recount how we went about deploying the program in my
Valley of Monroe, Louisiana, and what results it produced.
When we returned from the Membership Development Workshop,
we began looking at the myriad of programs that were presented,
trying to determine which ones would produce the best results
in our Valley. We decided that the NPD Restoration Program held
the most potential, so we began pulling the membership data
that would be necessary to implement the program. Please keep
in mind that utilizing this program is fairly labor intensive
and will tax your Valley Secretary and his staff (if any). Even
so, the results will be worth it.
The Supreme Council structured this program to allow each Valley
to determine the amount of time it wanted to go back and restore
members. Some Valleys only want to go back three years to find
members to restore, others go back five years, but we decided
to go back seven years. We felt that if we were going to go
to the trouble of implementing the program, we should get the
most out of it. We feel the Supreme Council made a wise decision
in allowing each Valley to determine the time frame for itself.
Thus, we compiled a list of Brothers who had been suspended
for NPD over the last seven years. In our case, this list totaled
just over 600 names.
The next step may be the most difficult to determine accurately.
You need to determine which of the suspended Brothers are still
currently active in their Blue Lodge(s). It would be inappropriate
to send a current Scottish Rite dues card to a Brother who is
suspended from his Blue Lodge. Fortunately, our Valley has a
database with the names of the Blue Lodges to which each of
our members belongs. We used this information to contact the
Blue Lodge Secretaries to determine if these Brothers were current
in their respective Blue Lodges.
Once you have an accurate list of the Brothers who were suspended
for NPD and are still current in their Blue Lodges, the next
step is to send them a current dues card. We included an appropriately
worded letter, informing the Brother that we were unsure as
to why he went suspended but that we missed him and were restoring
him to membership.
Under the program, the Monroe Scottish Rite Bodies restored
412 Brothers to membership. We have received many phone calls
thanking us for taking this action. We have received several
letters also thanking us. One letter in particular touched my
heart as the author explained his financial situation and thanked
us profusely for restoring him to membership. It really makes
you feel good to read such a letter and to know you have helped
a Brother in this way.
This program resulted in a 42% increase in membership for the
Monroe, Louisiana, Scottish Rite Bodies. We are now in the process
of making personal contact with each of the restored Brothers.
This personal follow-up is essential to the long-term success
of any restoration program. We want to personally invite them
to a meeting and attempt to get them actively involved in Scottish
Rite again.
Due to the results we obtained with the NPD Restoration Program,
we suggest that every Valley take a look at this very useful
tool the Supreme Council has provided. By the way, the Supreme
Council has waived all fees normally associated with restoring
Brothers to active membership. What a great deal!
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Woody D. Bilyeu
is Venerable Master of the Scottish Rite Bodies of the Valley
of Monroe, Louisiana. He also serves as Treasurer of both
Eastern Star Lodge No. 151 and the Fifth Masonic District
Lodge. Bro. Bilyeu is the president and owner of a successful
satellite communications business. |
