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In the last 28 days more than 123,000 people have read Facebook posts about Lincolnshire Freemasonry. That’s not a typing error. 123,000 people. And that’s an audience reached with no financial spend, just a level of sustained commitment.
It’s a statistic and an opportunity worth thinking about against the background of the Membership Challenge facing us all as we take Freemasonry forward.
Says Lincolnshire’s Provincial Communications Officer Stuart Pearcey: “For all its downsides, and there are quite enough of those, social media is still a powerful tool for sharing the positive message about Freemasonry, raising our profile in the community generally and, in the longer term, no doubt encouraging more people to join us.”
He says a thriving future for Freemasonry lies in the hands of people who are not yet members. “There’s nothing new in that; those of us who are Freemasons today merely hold the Craft in trust as stewards, with a duty to pass it on the others, just as has been happening for more than 300 years.
“What’s changed is the way that it’s passed on. Our predecessors didn’t have access to the tools for communication available to us today – and we must remember that our future members will be from the ranks of people for whom social media is second nature; part of their daily lives – and that’s what we want Freemasonry to be.
“By making avenues like social media part of our Freemasonry we keep it relevant and current, without doing any damage to the traditions which make it so special, and the things that come with that.”
So how do you go about setting up a Facebook page for your Lodge or Chapter? Lincolnshire Lodges as far apart as Barton (the Lodge of Established Order) and Boston (Pilgrim Fathers) have already done so, and found it beneficial.
Others are in the process of setting the ball rolling; uniting the strength of all Lodges at a particular centre under the banner of that centre. Scunthorpe is a case in point. There, each of four craft Lodges have nominated a representative to be an administrator for a new Centre page they intend to create. The same path could be taken at your centre with a little collaboration.
Advice on creating a Facebook page is available from Lincolnshire’s Facebook guru Simon Noden, a member of Lumley Lodge at Skegness. His commitment to the Lincolnshire page has done the lion’s share of the work in pushing up the numbers that opened this article, backed by those who supply content. Want to start the ball rolling for your centre? Ping Simon an email to simonnoden@icloud.com; he’ll be happy to point you in the right direction about how to start the page, and where to find material with which to populate it. And he has lots of enthusiasm; he’d be happy to share it with you!
The power of paid marketing campaigns
Nationally and locally we have proved the benefit of digital marketing campaigns in attracting potential new members. if you’d like to run a paid marketing campaign, the Lincolnshire has the expertise to help with that too. Chris Watkin, of Doric Lodge in Grantham, is our expert in that field. Drop him a line to christopher@christopherwatkin.co.uk to explore the possibilities.
The Members’ Pathway
On top of social media there are a great many possibilities offered by The Members’ Pathway when it comes to attracting and retaining members. The Provincial Membership Officer Mike Clay would be happy to lead a team to give your Lodge or centre a personal talk about the possibilities it offers. To arrange a date for him to come along, email pmolincs@gmail.com
And finally…
Adds Stuart Pearcey: “None of this is compulsory; but to reverse the trend of declining membership positive steps have to be taken, and it’s up to all of us to do take them. If we don’t, there’s a very real danger that Freemasonry will slip slowly into obscurity, and what a shame that would be.”
