To Imperial Membership Team 13:

Illustrious Sirs, members of the Divan and Temple membership committee members.

Our fraternity is at an important moment in history. We have made the honorable commitment to keep all 22 hospitals open and we have much to do if we are to maintain this pledge.  I do not like scare tactics but I also do not believe in hiding from the truth. Without bold and decisive leadership in all of our temples, current trends will shrink our membership to under 150,000 in the next decade. 

Nobles, we can't support 191 Shrine Temples at that level of membership and it is very questionable we can continue to support 22 hospitals.  That is the reality, here is the opportunity! 

Imperial Sir Jack Jones has made a bold commitment. We MUST bend the curve of membership trends to the positive in the coming years.  It is NOW time to “draw a line in the sand” and turn membership around in each and every temple.  WE CAN AND MUST change the culture of membership in our temples.

We just concluded the Imperial Membership seminar in Tampa and although your Temple may not have been represented, every effort will be made to assure you are provided with the programs, materials and assistance offered to those who did attend.   As one of the 30 newly appointed Membership Development Specialists, I have committed to Imperial Sir and the Imperial Divan to help make membership growth a reality.   I am a volunteer just like each of you. My aim is not to tell you how to run your temple but to be a resource in supporting your membership chairman and to bring ideas to you that are working elsewhere, and also to collect the ones you have to share with others.   I will be in contact with your Temple in the coming weeks to schedule a personal visit or arrange a conference call. 

I only ask a few things so that we can get up to speed on the effort and the urgency of our mission: 

First, go to www.shrinersvillage.com and check out the new members only web site. You will need to log on to gain access so follow the simple instructions. Take a few moments to look at the resources available there. Note that new membership brochures and videos are now available.   I suggest you order supplies for your temple and announce the new web site to you membership. Make a presentation to your entire membership at your next stated meeting - Be excited about these changes!

An additional recruitment web site will be going live in a few days, beashrinernow.com.  This is a lead generation site and will be supported by national advertising and all of the membership collateral material. This effort will not bear fruit if we are not prepared to respond to the inquiries we expect.   I also ask that you identify a membership chairman for the coming year if you have not done so.  I will work with your Divan, membership chair and membership committee in every way that I can to help you develop and implement a membership strategy and tactical plan to increase your temple membership. 

We MUST work in our Blue Lodges for our membership efforts to be successful!!  Over 75% of Masons are not Shrine-Masons and we have a large untapped pool of potential members in our Blue Lodges.  I am asking each temple to identify 3 – 5 area Blue Lodges and form a good partnership with them.  As a temple, you will assign two Divan members to each Blue Lodge and at least one of them will attend their monthly stated meetings.  Your temple will become a resource for manpower, programs, degree workers, and financial assistance to these Blue Lodges.  This is a PROVEN METHOD FOR SUCCESS in temples that have showed membership gain over the past 10 years.

 Finally, I am going to ask that you each make membership your number one priority.  The members of the Imperial Divan and the Divan's of each Temple are the custodians of our Legacy. It is up to this leadership team to get it done. Time is not our friend.

We CAN DO IT. Please join me and the Imperial membership Team to see that we DO IT.

I apologize for the length of this communication but there is much to say about membership.

Thanks in advance for your support. 

Jeff Sowder – Imperial Outer Guard

Membership Development Specialist

Imperial Membership Team 13