May, June Is No Time to Rest On Our...Antlers

> With April 30 behind us, another Moose fiscal year has ended, and we can now enjoy a brief respite, at least until we head to the International Convention in Orlando (June 28-July 3).

Right?

WRONG!

Building and maintaining a successful program in each Lodge is a year-round task! In fact, May should arguably be one of the busiest months for Lodge, Chapter and Moose Legion officers and member-sponsors.

A new Board of Officers has just been installed. The weather is warm, brain cells are thawing and new ideas should be sprouting up everywhere. This is a perfect time to review the past year successes and shortfalls, set goals for the coming year, and implement plans for achieving those goals. It’s a time to revitalize stagnant committees and empower them to better the Lodge through their achievements. It’s a time to provide opportunities for all members to become involved in their Lodge.

As the past year is evaluated, officers in too many Lodges will quickly realize that there were no goals established for the prior year. Without goals, how does anyone know whether they’ve just completed the best year in their history, or the worst? Goals should be established for virtually every aspect of your operation. Every committee and every major project undertaken should have well defined goals.

To ease everyone into the goal establishment and achievement process, Moose International sends out Quota Assignments. By now, every Lodge should have received their 2007-2008 Quota Assignment. In reality, this number is the Lodge’s goal for producing new members between May 1, 2007 and April 30, 2008.

The key here is May 1, 2007. The membership quota is a 12-month goal. Lodges that ignore their quota until after the next International Membership Campaign is announced in Orlando will have forfeited two months’ worth of opportunities towards achieving this goal! While time may not appear to be of the essence now, when April 30, 2008 arrives, and just a few more members will have been needed to achieve the quota, those two months will be sorely missed!

The first step is for the Governor to ensure the Membership Committee has a chairman in place who has a strong desire to fulfill the obligations of the position and has a history of sponsor involvement. This chairman, in turn, should invite other membership-minded members to work with him to exceed the Lodge’s membership quota. Finally, the Board of Officers should commit to supporting the efforts of the committee.

This support takes many forms. An adequate budget must be provided to conduct promotional efforts. Officers and committeemen must show their support by sponsoring new members. Positive comments about Lodge membership programs must be made at every opportunity – including the Lodge newsletter.

Sponsor recognition is a proven pillar of many successful high producing Lodges. This too, can take many forms. Some sponsors take satisfaction in seeing their name on the preferred member board, as Bull Moose of the day or printed in the lodge newsletter. Others respond to personal thanks from the Membership Committee Chairman or Lodge officers. Still others may enjoy being recognized for the sponsorship efforts in front of crowds, like during an intermission of the Lodge’s dance night.

The promotion of International, Association and Lodge level membership campaigns not only provide incentive awards to sponsors, but also convey to all of a Lodge’s members, that increasing membership is of primary importance to the Lodge.

Growing the Moose fraternity takes effort from all of its members, at every level, every day. Together, we can build on our efforts of last year, to ensure that our Moose fraternity lives long and prospers.

In Memoriam

Charles “Chuck” Breadmore
January 14, 1955 – March 29, 2007

Charles “Chuck” Breadmore, Regional Manager for the New England region, died on March 29 after a short illness. He was 52.

He was a Life Member of Braintree, CT Lodge 413, enrolling on April 29, 1996. He served every Lodge chair including that of Governor twice. He held memberships in Milton Lodge 1298, New London Lodge 2652, and Mooseheart Lodge 2655, and joined Minuteman Moose Legion 28 in 1996. Chuck received the Fellowship Degree of Honor in 2001.

In April 2006 Chuck accepted the position of Regional Manager for Connecticut, Massachusetts-Rhode Island and the Northeast Moose Associations.

Chuck’s wife Carol and entire Breadmore family are held in our thoughts and prayers.

Lois G. Stoehr
June 10, 1914 – February 26, 2007

Lois G. Stoehr, widow of the late Jay Stoehr PSG, who served as Director of Membership for Moose International from 1974-88, died at age 92 on Feb. 26. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1991, and is survived by two daughters, Diedre Milligan and Rhonda Chesley.