Wiebe: Hard Facts Made Big Changes Necessary

And, he cites positive progress resulting
from them


Kurt Wiebe
Vice President/Fraternal Operations

> Kurt Wiebe, 15 months into his tenure in charge of Moose International’s Fraternal Operations team, minced no words as he opened his Monday morning address with one fact, then the obvious conclusion drawn from that fact. “If you look at the statistics, you’ll find that our good-standing membership has decreased nearly every year since 1983 (and indeed, every year since 1991)... we can’t continue down this path and hope to stay in business. So yes, change is necessary.”

Wiebe noted that over the past year, “a number of changes” have been introduced and more are being put into motion Read the details at:

www.mooseintl.org/public/moosemagazine/ mayjunjul05/moose/moosemag_feature1.htm

Among them:

• “The most obvious change will be in dues processing, where (beginning with the Sept. 30 dues quarter) you’ll have more payment options and get your membership card in a more efficient manner,” including the option of online dues renewal. With the introduction of LCL.Net -- Wiebe continued, Lodge Administrators, Chapter Recorders and Moose Legion Secretaries can spend much less time with paperwork, “and more time improving the fraternal aspects of their units.”
  

• The fraternity’s new Marketing/ Membership Development Department has begun to develop “brand advertising, starting with an ad in Reader’s Digest, with other publications being considered.” With the help of public relations consultants, radio public-service announcements have also been produced--and on television, much larger exposure is forthcoming, in the form of a visit by the Bravo show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy to a Moose Center near New York City, tentatively set to air in 2006 (watch www.mooseintl.org for updates)!
  

• “We have expanded our Fraternal Education Department to include two additional field trainers and an instructional designer, because leadership at the local level demanded better training and more of it.”
  

• “We have created a Membership Retention Department whose sole purpose is to help... keep individuals as members after they have been enrolled.”
  

• “Our centralized Finance Department will consolidate all cash processing into one area... we will no longer replicate this process in many different areas.”
  

• “Within our new Fraternal Programs area, Youth, Family Activities (including Sports), and Ritual will all receive greater attention this year... we’re looking for ways to make it easier for you, your spouses and families to enjoy the Moose experience.”
  

• “We consolidated our field staff into one department (Member Relations) and have given them greater roles/ responsibilities at the local level.” Their charge is to put more fraternal activities back into Lodges and Chapters; create new-member and member-retention programs locally; foster better relationships between Moose men and women; to “give a pat on the back to those Moose Centers doing good work; and if necessary, shut down those units whose only purpose for existence is to operate as a bar.”
  
  
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