Masonry - A Non Profit Organization ? 6/22/08

Last night the Worshipful Master asked me a question in an e-mail:

have you ever read any research papers that talk about why people are active in non-profit, fraternal organizations?

This morning I got this in an e-mail:

I also happen to think we need to do a better job of electing our officers at all levels of Masonry to ensure that we get the best people to run a non-profit organization

Gee, that is two times in less than twenty-four hours I have seen Masonry referred to as a non-profit organization. so I went to Wikipedia and found:

A nonprofit organization (abbreviated "NPO", also "not-for-profit") is a legally constituted organization whose objective is to support or engage in activities of public or private interest without any commercial or monetary profit. NPOs are active in the environment, humanitarian aid, animal protection, education, the arts, social issues, charities, health care, politics, religion, research, sports or other endeavors.
...

Many non-profits are operated by either volunteers, paid staff or a combination of both, usually reserving the senior executive positions to paid personnel while the entry-level and field positions are frequently held by volunteers. Additionally, an NPO may have members or participants or beneficiaries or students etc. as opposed to customers in for-profit organizations.

One should not generalize about the comparative cost of a "nonprofit" versus "for profit" organization; there may be internalized profit in a nonprofit organization. In fact, most successful NPO's generate a surplus of funds (more income than expenses) that can be held to generate additional income and pay operating expenses when other income streams weaken. With a number of NPO's, the only distinction between them and a for-profit company is that ownership lies in stake-holders, and not investors. Any net income is used to further the organization's goal (whether that be paying for programs or investing for security), rather than being distributed to share-holders, partners or owners.

The government has this to say:
A fraternal organization is a nonprofit organization whose primary purpose is to foster fellowship and mutual benefits among its members.

A fraternal organization must also be organized under a lodge or chapter system with a representative form of government; must follow a ritualistic format; and must be composed of members elected to membership by vote of the members. Such organizations may have members of one sex or both sexes.

Examples of qualifying fraternal organizations are:

• Masons.
• Knights of Columbus.
• Elks.
• College fraternities or sororities.
Fraternal organizations do not encompass such organizations as business leagues, professional associations, civic associations, or social clubs.

OK, So under that umbrella Masonry is a non-profit fraternal organization and it is run by volunteers. In fact, for the most part everyone in Masonry is a volunteer, except for a few "professional" Masons who actually receive money for the work they do, but we won't go into that.

We tend to forget that. We tend to think that everyone in the Lodge (or Chapter or whatever we call the group) is there to act like a person in a store who has the job of waiting on us and doing everything they can to satisfy the customer. It ain't that way!

In the Lodge, everyone is a volunteer. Those who take offices to run the organization do it for various reasons. Some do it for the noble purpose of being of service to others. They genuinely believe in the principles of the organization and want to help out. Others do it for self-aggrandizement.They want to feel important and this is one way to feel that way. Some people actively seek those offices. For others the offices are thrust upon them because of their perceived (by others) merit.

It is amazing to me that an organization such as Freemasonry has been able to survive run by volunteers. And some of our Masonic Bodies control thousands of dollars worth of funds. In fact as a collective the Fraternity gives away millions of dollars every year. It is incredible the charitable work done by this group of volunteers.

Non-profit? Yes - For profit - Yes also. But the profit is not monetary. I have heard Masonry described as the place where men come to learn how to be men. There is much to learn in our fraternity and that learning profits us. It builds our character. It teaches us how to get along with, relate to and exhibit love for our fellow men.

Over at The Examined Life the Blogger writes:

Apart from religion, though, so far my experience in Masonry has provided validation for a number of other things I have long believed true on my own:

• People shouldn't be jerks to one another
• Tradition and history are important*
• Community is important
• A person should aspire to knowledge of numerous subjects
• It's OK to be an adult male, and to enjoy the simple fellowship of other adult males (no matter how loutish TV commercials say you are.)

He referred me to another blog where I read:

I'd rather believe in honor and stand for something virtuous than uncover any idol of power or temporal gain. For we will all fade in time. But our footprints may remain...if even for a while...to lead our children and our brothers home.

I'm going to lodge tomorrow. It's time for another stated meeting. We'll have some coffee and pork. I'll rib our Tyler, Dean, about his fig newton Tyler cookies. I'll greet my Brothers. I'll sign the book, wear my apron, salute my flag, and sit through the same ritual as I have heard it time after time before.

As long as my Brothers believe in good...believe in the Virtues and Morals of the Fraternity, I will sit in support of it and them. I'm not there for the very letter of the Charge.

I am there for the Spirit of the Craft.

Are there things wrong with the way we "do business?" I imagine so. One Brother recently sent me a letter where he is proposing a new way to choose Grand Officers. I am not sure that I agree with it. It seems to me that there could be better leaders in our Craft some of the time. However, right now I know that I have seen and am seeing a new spirit of leadership in my Grand Lodge. I know that, in Iowa Grand Lodge at least, long range planning is taking place and goals are being set and programs developed to encourage the activities which will preserve our Fraternity. If the Grand York Rite Bodies do not follow along they will eventually die out. As long and the planning and developing of new leaders is not taking place in those organizations eventually they will just fade away.

I heard M. W. Don state that training your replacement was one of the qualities of a good leader.
I once wrote an article called Seven Steps to Success. I stated:

Give a lot of thought to your officers. Choose the best you can. Don’t worry about offending someone by not reappointing him to the same office which he has held from time immemorial. Change is good.
An officer who has held the same position for more than three years may not be growing, and he may not be helping your group to grow. Look for officers you can work with -- someone who will care about the job and will be willing to help you to accomplish what you want to accomplish.

Somewhere else I suggested that the most important job a Master has is to pick his own replacement and that he should pick someone who he thinks will be better than he is himself. I left that out of the Seven Steps article - It should have been in there.

Well, I have rambled on long enough. In summary, Yes we are a non-profit fraternal organization that is run by volunteers. However our "volunteers" get a lot of non-monetary gain from their participation in our fraternity. I call that Profit - with a capital "P."

Do we need to change? You bet! - Change is the Law of Life. We do need it. But we need considered, well-thought out change and it needs to be productive change for the betterment of the Fraternity not just for change itself. There is nothing we can't accomplish if we put our heads together, work together and plan together. Do I see that happening? Yes in the Grand Lodge. I am not so sure it is happening elsewhere. Do we need a different way to "choose" our leaders. I am not sure that we need a different way. I do think we need to think and plan and train leaders. Perhaps then we will survive. It is up to us.