The following post is from Jacob Reilly, State Scribe of Pennsylvania DeMolay and PMC of al-Aksa Chapter.
In my opinion, the most important aspect of DeMolay is membership. When I joined DeMolay back in March of 2013, my Chapter was always weak with this, having only one or two boys show up to meetings. When I became more involved with Pennsylvania DeMolay in late 2013, I realized I needed to “jump-start” my chapter's membership efforts to maximize the DeMolay experience. I planned some open houses and prospect events to help with this effort. After 1 year of planning these events, I got our active member count up to 6 active, which is better than it had been since I joined.
I want every member to try their best to increase their chapter's membership, especially during the months of November and December. These months combined are known as DeMolay RUSH, and we are encouraging ever member of DeMolay to give their effort to increase membership during both November and December.
Membership is crucial for our organization. If we had no members, we would have no DeMolay. Do you want to glance back in 30 years and see that the organization that you put your blood, sweat and tears into, is not in existence? I know I don't. We need members to be able to plan and run events. Keeping this Order in good condition for the next generation should be a high priority.
Here are some ideas you can do to increase membership. Try planning a video game prospect party. Do this by setting up age appropriate games for your prospects to play. Try to set up video games that 3-4 people can play at a time, this way no one is left out or unable to play. You can plan an outdoor picnic where people come to eat, socialize, and play games to have a good time. Make sure that you have food and refreshments at any prospect event. Everyone loves to eat and will always come back for more. These are just a few ideas that you can to to help increase membership for your chapter.
This is Jacob Reilly, State Scribe, signing off.
