My Lodge offers a lifetime membership, though I don't know if anyone at my Lodge actually is a lifetime member.

My RA Chapter offers a pretty good deal on a lifetime membership: $150. I would go for it, but since annual dues are only $11, I'm not super motivated to get around to it. Naturally, there are quite a few lifetime members of the Chapter.

The Cryptical Council attached to my Chapter has the same deal, but I'm not yet a member. No idea what the conjoined Commandry offers. I know that this York Rite group is in a situation in which the dues are basicly for "petty cash" while the actual bills are paid for by investments. Lifetime membership is not doing a great deal of good for the body, it's mostly offered for brothers on fixed incomes and wouldn't really afford to pay dues should they be raised (which I'm guessing hasn't been done for decades). Also I'm told that most of the people at the Council are lifetime members and can't afford to pay it's own bills, thus the Chapter and Commandry are supporting the Council financially.

My AASR Valley offers a lifetime membership that's pretty pricey, but this amount is reduced for members over the age of 50, further reduced for members over 60, and so on with 70 and 80. Being in my 20s, it's actually very much worth the $1500 (the equivilent of 15 years dues) but if I had $1500 to throw around, it wouldn't be on the AASR. This valley also offers a program in which the lifetime membership can be paid off gradually. One still has to pay the regular dues, but the amount for the lifetime membership will not change for this brother. There are quite a few brothers who are lifetime members of my Valley.

Do you have "Life Members" in your lodge/Masonic body/ semi-masonic body ?
As I only belong to two Masonic bodies I can only speak to them.
In Lodge we have some members that are lifetime thru years of service. We inheritted them thru mergers and as such are not intendeing to allow the practice anymore.
In Amaranth we also have lifetime members that are made again when they reach a certain number of years of service.

Under what circumstances do folk get life membership ?
In both these instances the life membership is thru years of membership/service.

Do you have significant numbers of life members ?
In lodge no. I'd say less than 20 and possibly less than 10?
In Amaranth slightly better than half of the membership is Lifetime.

Do they present any financial problems to the organisation which grants "life membership " ?
In Lodge we need to pay per capita taxes to Grand Lodge for these members and that must come from the general budget.
In Amaranth a few ears ago we merged with a court that ahd some cash that we put in an account that covers the per capita taxes to Gradn and supreme fro all our life members. It however does nothing to contribute to the general budget.

Do they present any social or organisational problems ?
Social problems? Not really.
Organizational problems? Not for (or to) the general member but possibly for the Secretary and treasurer?

Does giving someone holding life membership encourage them attend when they might otherwise drop off ?
I'd have to say no. Although none of the life members I'm familiar with have had to pay for the privelge. Very few of these life members are still young enough and healthy enough even if they are still in the area to attend and be active. In Amaranth we tend to hear from them more often in the form of emails and letters.

Any other thoughts or ideas to share ?
Several years ago the concept of paid lifetime memberships was brought up for lodge thru a Grand Lodge representative. The bottom line beign that in States that ahve done that it's nto been a success. Whiel uit has taken hold the numbers weren't sufficient to sustain teh fund to provide a lifetime of money for the members that have paid up in advance. The idea being that once that member is deceased they still are working with his money to the benefit of the lodge and the draft as a whole. Looking at it in those terms, I'd invest in a lifetime membership if one were avaialble for my lodge and for my Amaranth court. I think it is a tough sell in tough economic times though. Too many are trying to figure out where the next tank of gas and the next meal is comign from and wondering where to cut the budget to do that. I fear Lodge Dues has been in our lodge one of those places to trim the fat in a personal budget. So far our dues are not coming in like in past years. A Paid lifetime membership accoutn to draw the dues from would have helped that, if set up properly and sold sufficiently to the members.

"Do you have "Life Members" in your lodge/Masonic body/ semi-masonic body ?"

Our Lodge, upon merger, made the choice to discontinue Life Memberships. In the one Lodge they were given after 40 years of service and they basically were free - the member paid nothing. In the other, it was given after 40 years of service and the member paid only the per capita. We grandfathered in the ones that were and stopped the practice.

"Do they present any financial problems to the organisation which grants "life membership " ?

Demographics show at this point that eventually the lifers will outweigh the paying members. We are working to change things in Lodge, but we needed to band-aid the finances in the meantime.

"Does giving someone holding life membership encourage them attend when they might otherwise drop off ?"
No - not in my experience.

"Any other thoughts or ideas to share ? "
M.'.W.'. Neal Bidnick, our current Grand Master, brought the idea up some time ago. He was looking to mirror the program in place in Virginia. I believe they do a life membership "in perpetuity" which, as Chas said, has it so that the money you give will continue to be reinvested even after you pass. Personally I think it is a good idea to a point - it might eliminate per capita - but what happens to the money that would have gone into the Lodge?

~Steve

We don't know the concept of Life Members in the Netherlands. We do know Honoured Brothers ( Master of Honour ). But seldom someone gets that title. It has to be a very special Brother with very special meaning to the Lodge.

Erik