Dear Dedicated Members for Change,
Back in the 1960's, when I was a college student [yes, I'm that old], I joined a college fraternity. There were already seven fraternities at my school, but my friends and I didn't want to join an existing fraternity - we wanted to start our own. So we launched a great adventure. We contacted a national fraternity and discussed the possibility of starting up a local chapter at our college. They were interested, and they helped us find a house which (through financial help from fraternal alumni funds) we were able to rent. The national fraternity helped us further with rituals, regalia, and the rules and protocols we needed to operate as a fraternity. We had to furnish the house, set up rules of operation, establish volunteer lists to clean, cook, and maintain the house. As a teenager (I was 19 at the time), this was heady stuff.
And just like "adult" fraternal organizations (like Masons, Elks, Eagles, Moose, and Odd Fellows), college fraternities need new members. But because a typical college career spans only four or five years, college fraternities were laser focused in bringing in new members year after year, primarily from the incoming freshman class. My college fraternity - like all college fraternities - called these new applicants "Pledges". And to join, pledges had to go through a process (before they could become members) of learning about the fraternity, getting to know the members (who would ultimately vote on their applications), and involving themselves in the fraternity's activities. The pledges could not, of course, attend formal meetings of the fraternity because they hadn't yet been initiated and hadn't yet been given the passwords and signs of a full member.
I wound up serving as the first "Master" (the equivalent of President) of my college fraternity, and a good friend of mine would up serving in the second most important office in the fraternity - the office of "Pledgemaster" (the equivalent of Chair of the Membership Committee). Our college fraternity viewed the job of Pledgemaster to be critical to the success and continued life of our fraternity, because without new blood, we knew our fraternity would simply fade away.
Fast forward to 2004. I had just joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and had been elected Vice Grand of my Lodge. And then, when the Noble Grand moved away, I found myself elected Noble Grand in 2005 - possibly the most ignorant Noble Grand in the history of our Order. But one thing I knew from the get-go is that we needed to set up an effective system to bring in new members. And so, hearkening back to my college fraternity experience, I took a page from that playbook and we set up a "pledge program" in my Odd Fellows Lodge. Over the years, it has served us well. When I joined my Lodge in in 2004, we had less than 30 members on our books, and we were lucky to get get 10 members to attend a meeting. Today, in 2025, we have 378 members, and 37 applicants for membership (yes, we call them "pledges"). The system works because my Lodge has shown a net gain in membership every single year for the past 20 years. Here's how it works.
We start with the establishment of an active Membership Committee, headed by a Membership Chair who is a knowledgeable and dedicated member of our Lodge. We give our pledges a "Pledge Book" which is full of information about the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and about our Lodge. We urge the pledges to read the Pledge Book, and ultimately, they will have to take and pass a 25-question open-book test of what they have learned. We encourage the pledges to attend events at the Lodge. One of our two monthly Lodge meetings is a social breakfast meeting on Saturday morning (we discuss business and activities) but no ritual. Pledges are asked to attend, and are introduced. They also pull a question out of a hat and are asked to respond to it (the questions are all light-hearted and fun, like "Who are three historical figures you would like to invite to dinner, and why?"). We also have a weekly gathering called "Club Night at the Lodge" every Thursday evening, with dinner, drinks, music and trivia played by table - we typically get 60-80 attendees - and pledges are encouraged to attend - it gives them an opportunity to meet members and gives members an opportunity to meet them. Pledges are also required to "interview" at least 11 Lodge members during the pledge program - we have prepared simple one-page interview sheets and it provides a great ice-breaker for folks to meet each other. Finally, we require the pledges to attend a set number of meetings and events at the Lodge, and participate in our committees - we have over 70 Lodge committees, so there is always something happening.
At the conclusion of this pledge process (which can take, on average, up to six months) the Membership Committee interviews each pledge and makes a recommendation to the Lodge. Based on the Membership Committee recommendation, the Lodge ballots on each pledge's application, and if the ballot is favorable, the pledge is initiated and welcomed into the Lodge as a knowledgeable and motivated new Odd Fellow.
F - L - T
Dave Rosenberg
Past Grand Master
Jurisdiction of California
