This is a free site.  LodgeBuilder is designed to provide an on line forum for discussion of techniques to help leaders of Masonic lodges and other civic and charitable organizations revitalize and improve their programs.  Revitalization can start with a single individual who commits himself to the goal.  These resources are designed to help motivate that effort, inspire the work, share good ideas and help us avoid pitfalls.

Begin YOUR lodge revitalization effort with an honest assessment of your current situation.  Are you gaining ground? Losing ground?  Ask why...  Know your lodge's strengths and weaknesses, its opportunities and threats.  Then, as Steven Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.“  The person who leads revitalization must have a clear vision of where he wants to go before he can map out a strategy to get there.  Bring others along and share your vision.  Plan, with your up-and-coming officers, steps to achieve your goals; the job will continue after your term is over.  Praise your volunteers for every victory along the way, and pick them up and dust them off when they fail.  Leaders manage morale.  Finally, let revitalization be a lodge-wide project, ensuring that the work you start today continues as officers progress in their chairs.

LodgeBuilder believes that besides our educational and charitable aspects, healthy lodges operate as solid businesses, utilizing year-over-year planning, goal-setting, and broad distribution of responsibilities to achieve their aims.  These are the keys to success of any organization, and in a Masonic lodge are as fundamental to the long-term survival and viability of the institution as the values that motivate us: Brotherly Love, Relief and Truth. 

When the operations of a lodge are solid, members have freedom to concentrate on the mission of the lodge, which is to Make Good Men Better. 

LodgeBuilder provides tips and success stories you can use to design your own path toward lodge revitalization.  As a community site, we encourage fraternal leaders to send in their ideas, success stories, resources, photos - anything to tell the story of what techniques have worked, how the effort was successful, and even advice about their setbacks.  We wish to document anything that will help struggling lodges learn from others' success and avoid pitfalls.

Your own grand lodge office may offer a wealth of support in these areas, in the form of written material, expert advice, or volunteer staff.  Talk with them.  We also encourage state jurisdictions to share good ideas with each other.  Good, viable programs are being tried across America, some of which will work in your jurisdiction. 

In addition, you may contact the site developer to explore services, such as:

• Development of grand lodge-specific Solvency and Viability Review (SVR) Tools,
• Printouts of SVR Tool results to facilitate use by statewide volunteers,
• Lodge and Grand Lodge goal-setting and strategic planning support,
• Facilitation of meetings, large and small

It is not necessary to contract for any services to utilize this website and the discussion forums.  The sample documents, the forums, and success stories are yours to use freely, as long as proper citation of source is made.  Welcome!  --Tom Jackson