I was recently sitting alone contemplating my journey in life and questioning my contribution to society. We all have moments when we wonder whether or not we’re making a difference or whether or not anyone is paying attention.
From my phone came a familiar tone, indicating a new text message on Messenger. It was a Moose brother that I had never met, encouraging me and pledging his support. He had no way of knowing that I had “one of those days” and just how much I appreciated the message. What does this have to do with membership, you ask? EVERYTHING!
Sometimes we forget that we are a part of something bigger and we all need to work together and encourage each other. I do what I do to give back to something that has given me purpose. Sometimes, we all need a little encouragement. We’re all different but we’re all the same.
We inherently want to do good things and we want to see the fruits of our labors. We have the same purpose but (sometimes) different ideas. We understand that we can’t help everyone, but we can certainly help someone. We need to reach out to others within our lodge, chapter, Moose Legion, Moose Riders or Valued Veterans. We need to recognize the quiet member sitting in the corner or someone we haven’t seen at the lodge in a while. We may be surprised to find that they are just waiting to see if someone even cares enough to send them a message or pick up the phone and call to check on them.
The “sign and forget” process should be a thing of the past. I’m going through the list of all the members that I have signed and encouraging them; will you do the same? Our membership production is great but our membership retention is horrible! Maybe it’s time we personalize our efforts. I’m willing, are you? Let’s make it our personal mission. We are MOOSE and WE are definitely ON A MISSION!