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Ross’s Challenge: Meld New Technology with Fraternal
Traditions
Paperless communication will ‘provide considerably more opportunities
to be fraternal’
By KURT WEHRMEISTER
Breaking with precedent, Director General Donald Ross delivered his annual ‘State of the Order’ address to a joint session of Moose men and women
> The roughly 5,000 men and women of the Moose who listened to Director General Donald Ross deliver his State of the Order address June 18 responded with a mild, knowing murmur of all the correspondence they’d already received on details of the matter, as, with a cheerful relentlessness, the Moose fraternity’s CEO continued, firmly and insistently, to pull the Order into the 21st century.
“It is June 2005!” he declared with a broad smile. “This is the month that every Lodge, Chapter and Moose Legion must have met certain technology requirements, which correspond with the release of LCL.net.”
“We will, over the next several months, eliminate nearly all our paper communications between fraternal units and Moose International, and correspond electronically. This will include eventually membership reports, financial reports, committee reports and daily communications as well,” Ross declared.
“Imagine the possibilities! New members greeted within a few days, or a few hours, with a message on their home computer. Member sponsors thanked (via e-mail) shortly after bringing in another candidate for enrollment . . . Lodge, Chapter and Moose Legion financial statements analyzed monthly, and immediately, instead of the current several-month lag time. Mooseheart and Moosehaven updates brought to your attention moments after they happen, on our websites, as well as by e-mail message to your Lodge, Chapter or Moose Legion computer. Dues money deposited electronically, and member accounts updated without a trip to the bank or picking up a pen or pencil.”
All this, Ross said, is possible, and will happen within months, “through technology. It will make us more efficient; it will make us more modern. It will allow for promotions and marketing to take place that have not been possible in the past. It will bring us all closer together, and provide considerably more opportunities to be fraternal.”
(Aside from his subject matter, one major aspect of Ross’s talk constituted a big break with tradition, and it was very well accepted on this Saturday morning in Las Vegas: It was the first-ever time that the annual Director General’s address was given jointly, simultaneously to both the Loyal Order of Moose and Women of the Moose.)
Indeed, Ross took pains in Las Vegas to emphasize--as he has consistently done for nearly two years--that, while the way the Moose does business must and will change--taking full advantage of 21st-century technologies and efficiencies--he has no desire or intention to change the business we are in; that of fraternalism and family fun. His first statement could have been that of any Moose director general of the last 60 years:
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Please click on any photograph below to view a larger image.
Director General
Donald Ross
“While we ... build the modern-day Moose, we must continue with our traditions. We must continue to visit the sick ... send cards ... be fraternal and supportive in times of grieving ... we must continue to do good things for those less fortunate through our existing Lodge and Chapter structure ... We must continue to build the greatest partnership in the world--the Loyal Order of Moose and the Women of the Moose ... in harmony. We must continue to support Mooseheart and Moosehaven.”
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‘I am often asked the question, What is the relevance of Moose Charities; or, What is Moose Charities’ place in our fraternity?” Ross thus opened a discussion on the fundraising component of Moose International, founded in 1994 and staffed since 1999.
“The answer is simple. From a financial standpoint, Moose Charities may very well be able to secure our future,” he declared.
“Fundraising has been an important part of our fraternity for the last century. The Women of the Moose raise millions every year. (Here applause and cheers arose from--and in acknowledgment of--the at-least 50% of the audience who was female.) The Moose Legion raises several hundred thousand dollars every year. Our Lodges... Associations ... Districts all raise money... It is important to understand that none of the historic fundraising procedures have changed... our members have been and will continue to be our greatest and most significant donors... What has changed is the method of keeping records... the method of acknowledging contributions.” (What has also changed, as Ross ultimately noted, is the fact that U.S. members can donate to Moose projects through Moose Charities and enjoy an income-tax deduction, unlike donations directly to a Lodge, Chapter, Moose Legion or to Moose International.)
Moose Charities funds its operations with a grant from Moose International, Ross reminded, meaning that when a member donates to Moose Charities, “every dollar you donate to Mooseheart and Moosehaven... is granted to that charity.” Moose Charities also, Ross noted, “has been given the not-so-small task of increasing the amount of funds donated annually to Mooseheart and Moosehaven... to take some of the financial burden off Lodges and Chapters... (moving) some of the burden from mandatory giving, like our ABCDollar and per-capita taxes, to voluntary giving.” Specifically, Ross said, “Moose Charities has been given the charge to increase contributions through direct mail solicitation... The real trick here is to solicit funds from us, the member, but (not) to the point we get tired of being asked for more money... we would not ask if we did not need the funds for operating Mooseheart and Moosehaven.”
Ross noted that Moose Charities also has the assignment of developing major and planned giving--gift annuities, bequests, charitable gift trusts, etc., which can greatly benefit the giver as well as Mooseheart and Moosehaven (for details, see www.MooseCharities.org); and also of developing relationships outside the Moose fraternity--with “foundations, corporate America... not members, but those with a propensity to give to provide for children.”
Why is an expanded Moose Charities essential? “In 2003,” Ross recalled, “we projected what our income needs would be in 2013. If we get our membership to stabilize, or even creep back up a bit, that would help. But realistically--by 2013, with 3% annual inflation factored in, Moose Charities will need to grow significantly to meet the financial needs of Mooseheart and Moosehaven.”
Toward the end of his remarks, Ross recounted two special people he’d encountered in the past year: Mooseheart student Oumaru Abdulahi and Moosehaven resident Avis Lehman.
Ross said he met Mooseheart fourth-grader Oumaru last fall during the annual Mooseheart School open house, at which the extremely bright Oumaru--who had come to the Child City from poverty in the African Ivory Coast--pointed out that Ross had the same suit on from a visit the year before. On another visit “about two months later, my little buddy Oumaru was playing floor hockey with his classmates in the gym.” Upon seeing Ross, the boy dropped his stick, raced across the floor, put his arm around the Director General and loudly announced: “‘See? Mr. Ross does have more than one suit!’”
Turning to Moosehaven, Ross gratefully acknowledged the Ohio Moose Association’s $10 million commitment to renovate and fund operations of the new LifeCare Center C-Wing--and noted that on Feb. 19, Avis Lehman followed the Moosehaven motto of “adding years to life, and life to years” by joining in marriage with fellow resident Les Rasmussen. Ross became (as far as is documented) the first Director General to escort a Moosehaven bride down the aisle!
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Two highlights of Ross’s year: befriending Mooseheart fourth-grader Oumaru Abdulahi, and escorting Moosehaven’s Avis Lehman down the aisle to wed Les Rasmussen.
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‘What Do You Do With The Money?’
Director General Ross answered that frequently asked question by detailing basic breakdowns of ’04-’05 Moose International, Mooseheart and Moosehaven budgets.
MOOSE INTERNATIONAL
(spent $27.6M of $35M gross income)
Payroll..............................................................$8.6M, 31.1%
Risk Pool.....................................................$4.75M, 17.22%
Moose Magazine........................................ $1.62M, 5.88%
Dues Notices............................................$945,000, 3.42%
Depreciation......................................................$1M, 3.58%
Other Program Expense............................$10.7M, 38.8%
(of $7.4M net income, $6.4M granted to Mooseheart and Moosehaven; $1M invested.)
MOOSEHEART CHILD CITY & SCHOOL
($17.54 million total budget; grants from Moose International/Moose Foundation, Women of the Moose, Moose Charities)
Payroll.........................................................$9.27M, 53.07%
Children’s Residential/Medical.................$1.82M, 10.3%
General Insurance.........................................$1.8M, 10.3%
Non-cash rent to MI; Depreciation..............$1.7M, 9.71%
Other Expense...............................................$2.9M, 16.62%
MOOSEHAVEN RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
($15.7 million total budget; grants from Moose International/Moose Foundation, Women of the Moose, Moose Legion, Moose Charities, plus Social Security and pensions/assets of incoming residents)
Payroll...........................................................$7.19M, 45.73%
Seniors’ Residential/Medical......................$1.41M, 9.01%
Food Service..................................................$1.9M, 12.06%
Depreciation........................................................$1M, 6.37%
Other Expense.................................................$4.2M, 26.83%
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August/September/October 2005
