Lodges across the country often face the challenge of getting members to pay their annual dues in a timely fashion. Some members may find it inconvenient, or one more thing to forget to do at the turn of the new year. One lodge decided to tackle this problem and asked Scoutmasters about the root of the problem and how to solve it. The solution was simple: Units wanted to send one dues payment to the council service center to cover all currently registered members in the unit.
The lodge worked closely with the council commissioner to pilot a program that involved including Lodgemaster unit rosters and a membership renewal letter in the annual recharter packet. The program offered units the opportunity to review and edit the lodge’s records and submit dues payments for the units’ lodge members that wanted to remain registered with the lodge.
After piloting this program, the lodge’s dues submissions skyrocketed. The lodge began 2012 with 70 paid members and in the next month and a half added an additional 150 renewals. The majority of these renewals came in the form of unit payments, some of whom renewed more than fifteen Arrowmen at a time. By all accounts, the lodge has positive feedback from permitting units to submit lodge dues in conjunction with—but separate from— their BSA unit rechartering process.
The above resource was submitted by Ajapeu Lodge, Green Mountain Council, in Vermont. What has your lodge struggled with, and what creative solution developed? Tell us at @email.