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Halfway Through 2016

July 14, 2016

Here we are in July, 6 months of 2016 logged in the books.  It seems like a good time to take a look back at how the year has gone so far, form a fundraising perspective.  Check it out:

The Masonic Home is the product of an entire state’s effort, and you can see that in the infographic on the left.  There isn’t a District without a gift of some kind.  That’s 57 Districts supporting the Home.  As for the Lodges, 79% have given, which puts our total north of $765,000, and quite frankly, I am proud of you guys.  I am proud of our Home.

What you do to support the Home — be it financially or otherwise — continues the tradition of care that we have carried with us since 1890.  What happens on these (beautiful) grounds and in the homes of our Outreach recipients is a direct result of the time you take to give to the Home, share stories about the Home to friends and family, and the support you encourage in others.

What is most striking to me is the total number of donors: 1,438.  It is so wonderful that over 1,400 people decided that they believe in our mission enough to take money from their wallet/bank account/PayPal/investments and say, “Here, take care of our Brethren and their wives and widows.”  That’s so cool.

So how are we going to finish 2016?  Well, I’d like to get that 79% of Lodge participation to 100%.  We have never seen Lodge participation above 98%.  It doesn’t need to be a huge sum, just $5 that would be a Morlock qualifying gift.  I want to see how much we can give our residents.  We aim to spend $13 million every year making their lives at the Home special.  At $765,000, we won’t hit $13 million in donations this year, but I want to know what is possible.  We’re halfway through the year, but I don’t think we are halfway through with our donations.

There is a whole lot of 2016 left to go.  I am excited to see what we can do.