It’s an exciting time to be a Freemason. Since the Scottish Rite, NMJ introduced the “Not Just a Man. A Mason.” campaign in 2016, a new sense of pride has inspired thousands of new members to join Freemasonry. Between this campaign and the launch of BeAFreemason.org in 2020, more than 120,000 men have inquired about joining the Craft across the United States and Canada, with more expressing interest each day.
However, prompt follow-up with prospective members continues to be an issue. An overwhelming 83% of men who have inquired (approximately 100,000 inquires) and been referred to Grand Lodges through BeAFreemason.org have not been contacted. This crucial step is often the first person-to-person interaction between a potential Mason and a current member and can be the difference between a missed opportunity and a lifelong Brother.
Our e-book, Follow-Up: Freemasonry’s Not-So-Secret Weapon, helps Blue Lodge Masons and appendant bodies overcome this hurdle and develop effective follow-up strategies. This document is rooted in data and draws from real-world strategies that the Grand Lodges of Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin are using to grow their Brotherhood.
Below are four tips taken from the book that can help lodges and Grand Lodges engage and convert prospective members into loyal and active Freemasons.
Assign Ownership
Do not leave your follow-up efforts to chance. We cannot assume someone will reach back out if they never heard from your lodge to begin with. Ask one or many Masons to be responsible for monitoring and responding to inquiries. How you assign and share responsibility will vary depending on the size, experience, and skills of your lodge, but there are two main roles we have determined must be fulfilled to create an effective process:
- Communications Manager: This Brother is responsible for monitoring and processing inquiries promptly. They ensure each inquiry is followed up with by assigning contact with a prospect to another Brother. They stay organized and help keep records of interactions with prospects, measure performance, and act as the overall follow-up team manager. This role can be filled in many lodges by the Secretary.
- Communicator: Brothers in this role will craft timely, personalized, and clear follow-up communications with prospective members. They should be friendly and passionate about our Craft. Communicators should record the date, time, and nature of their interactions with each prospective member, take notes from their conversations to help other Brothers craft a personalized experience, and be available to aid prospects when needed.
A great example of ownership in action can be seen at The Grand Lodge of Ohio (GLOH). GLOH determined that spotting the ideal individual, who they deemed the “spark plug,” within Freemasonry is the key factor driving their growth. By leveraging the unique talents of their Brethren, they developed a follow-up process rich in human touch. This method empowers Brothers at all levels to take initiative, fostering positive effects throughout the recruitment funnel. Since 2019, Ohio’s process helped welcome and raise more than 600 Master Masons to their fraternity.
Set Guidelines for Follow-Up
You can establish a comprehensive strategy that can still fail if your recruitment team isn’t on the same page. We recommend gathering a small council to decide on the following parameters, keeping in mind that rules should balance what’s feasible for your lodge and respectful of the prospective member.
- How long does a Brother have to follow up before they are considered “late?”
- How many follow-up messages will your Brothers send before deeming a prospect uninterested?
- How are Brothers expected to keep a record of their interactions?
- How often will you measure your lodge’s performance?
At the Grand Lodge of Illinois (GLIL), a centralized team qualifies prospects and then refers them to a regional team for a recommendation to a local lodge based on the “best fit.” For this work, GLIL made teamwork and education the most important parts of their follow-up and recruitment efforts.
First, they took the time to kindly explain to Brethren why digital recruitment and follow-up is necessary. Many Brothers are not aware that more than 40% of all new Scottish Rite Brothers since 2020 came through our digital recruitment and email nurture program. After establishing the importance of digital recruitment, they then defined what “good” follow-up looks like by setting clear expectations on what their messaging should consist of, as well as when, where, and how often to communicate. Finally, they implemented systems to encourage initiative, transparency, and accountability to motivate and unite Illinois Masons to support the growth of their Brotherhood.
Invest in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
While some lodges may be able to facilitate a follow-up system using the honor system or good old-fashioned pen and paper, an investment in a CRM system can help avoid mistakes, hold Brothers accountable, and create a smooth and equal experience for every hopeful Mason.
Customer Relationship Management systems like HubSpot, Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or Salesforce, house all data points and tools you’ll need to keep a follow-up team running. Most platforms provide time-saving features like:
- Centralized database of prospective members: See who has inquired and record notes on interactions with each prospect. Monitor who has not yet been contacted or contacted recently, as well as what was last discussed in case a different member needs to pick the conversation back up.
- Automated messages via email or SMS: Want prospective members to get a confirmation email after submitting an inquiry? Have news you want to broadcast to all potential members? Simply want to make sure you don’t forget to reach out? Use a CRM system to create automated emails and/or text messages.
- Create reports and dashboards: Create visual reports that help everyone on your team easily understand how effective your follow-up efforts are by automatically measuring performance metrics like total inquiries, average response time, number of calls/emails, time to conversion, and conversion rates.
The Grand Lodge of Ohio first used their CRM, Grand View, to communicate with members. As they built their follow-up strategy, they adopted the platform to implement a robust email marketing system for prospective Masons. Every time a man reaches out to GLOH on BeAFreemason.org or the Grand Lodge website to inquire about joining, they are entered into GLOH’s database. GLOH then begins using Grand View to send emails telling their story and teaching prospects about their fraternity.
In the words of Right Worshipful Brother Bill Carter, 33°:
“Many Grand Lodges and local lodges struggle to follow up with prospective Masons’ online inquiries. Whatever the reason is, changing our thinking about these digital portals is essential to building a strong future for Freemasonry.
In Ohio Freemasonry, we realized these individuals are making an emotional investment by reaching out to us. GLOH has decided following up with these men is a top priority and has invested the proper time and resources, just as any other organization does to grow its membership base.”
GLOH understands how important it is for Freemasons to tell our story in a digestible way. Leveraging their email marketing through an easy-to-manage CRM allows them to share who they are and what they stand for and convert interested men into Brothers.
Set Goals
As Freemasons, we are committed to self-improvement. It’s why we love setting and exceeding goals for ourselves. This same desire to be our best extends to our work in recruitment and follow-up. Setting goals is a great way to unify Brothers’ efforts and find opportunities to optimize the follow-up process. Some metrics to consider include:
- Number of inquiries
- Number of applications
- Number of new members
- Average response time
- Number of calls/emails/texts
Start by measuring or estimating your current metrics and then brainstorm what a reasonable improvement could look like. However, setting goals is not enough if there is no accountability. Your team has to measure its performance regularly, celebrate successes, and collaborate on shortcomings to refine its follow-up process further. The Grand Lodge of Wisconsin (GLWI) has seen tremendous success in creating a formalize follow-up strategy.
GLWI has “District Membership Representatives” (DMRs) across the state. These are highly knowledgeable and friendly Brothers responsible for conducting outreach to prospective Masons. DMRs receive prospects from a small team at the Grand Lodge that filters inquiries to ensure they meet the most basic standards of Freemasonry. GLWI hosts bi-weekly standing meetings between the Grand Lodge and DMRs to hold everyone accountable, evaluate their efforts, and continuously improve the follow-up process based on feedback from all involved.
Strengthening the Craft, One Follow-Up at a Time
In a world where people crave meaningful connection, Freemasonry offers something unique. But it’s up to us to make that first, crucial follow-up — to engage, inform, and inspire the next generation of Masons. With the tools and strategies laid out in this guide, your lodge can continue to grow and thrive, turning prospects into lifelong Brothers.
For more data-driven insights into how we will drive growth in the Craft for years to come, purchase our e-book: The Path Forward: Empowering the Future of Freemasonry.