Masonic Fundraisers

Some lodges may also choose to donate money from their fundraising activities to other worthy causes at the national level, such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Special Olympics, United Way or other well-known charities, but the majority prefer to provide Masonic charity at the local level.

Why do Masonic lodges actively promote fundraising activities?

Masonic Fundraiser Activities are based upon Masonic Relief:

The tenets (principles) of Freemasonry are Brotherly Love, Relief, and Truth. Brotherly love and truth are pretty much self explanatory. Relief is a form of charity. It is a means to help our fellow man, who no matter how industrious and frugal he may be, through sudden misfortune, or other conditions over which he has no control, may be in temporary need of a helping hand.

Relief for the misfortunate did not begin with Freemasonry. You will find it written in the holy scriptures of holy books of all religious faiths. It can be found several hundred times in the Christian Bible. It is in the Torah, the Prophets, in the Gospels and in the Epistles.

Luke 6:38 For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give,...large or small,...will be used to measure what is given back to you."

Therefore, most Masonic lodges have a Charity Fund. Typically, this fund does not contain a large amount of money.

This money is obtained from small donations given to the lodge, sporadically, throughout the year from some of its members, but the majority of the Charity Fund is obtained from lodge fundraising activities in active partnership within their community.

Fundraisers and donations received by the lodge provide the funding for such charitable acts.

Note: Lodges should always refer to their Grand Lodge's By-Laws before embarking on any fundraiser which includes games of chance such as bingo, raffles, contests and lotteries because these are illegal in many Masonic jurisdictions and in many U.S. states.

One such beneficiary of Masonic fundraisers are Masonic scholarships.

Masonic Scholarships

As an example, each year the lodge forms a committee and contacts the scholarship coordinator from a local school. The committee and the school determine a scholastically-worthy student who is in need of the scholarship to assist them in achieving higher education. The scholarship recipient may be male or female and the award is based upon need only. Race, religion and Masonic affiliation is not a factor in the award of such scholarship.

In active partnership, the school, in turn, agrees to assist the lodge in promoting these fundraisers toward obtaining these funds.

Schools are requested to pass out flyers about lodge fundraiser activities such as chili dinners, spaghetti dinners, pancake breakfasts and other types of lodge fundraisers which directly benefit their chosen recipient.

Dinners and food gatherings held at the lodge are only one of many ways in which Masonic lodges raise money for their Charity Fund.

Does your lodge have an innovative or fun way to raise funds or make their charity dinners memorable and special(?)

Join in and write your own page. It's easy to do. How? Use the contact form, below and share your lodge's fundraising achievements!