CANADIAN ELK ÉLANS CANADIEN - Elks of Canada

. . . Continued from page 48
2. SESSION 1
Brother Hurley led the participants
through the first of several video clips
of the presentation at this year’s Convention
by Dr. John Izzo on the topic
of Leadership. This was followed by a
review of the purposes of the session
and the role of the participants to help
set the tone for the session.
A) Purposes of the Seminar
• To deal with our Future – if we
truly believe in Elkdom then as Leaders
we should be worried about our
future.
• We have held many planning sessions
over the years where we look
out from the organization and where
are we at today? Maybe it’s time to
look inwards and that is what this
session will be about.
• We have to deal with the reality of
our organization’s current status and
we have to deal with it now, we cannot
procrastinate with this. Our future
depends on it.
B) Role of Participants
The participants were asked to personally
consider the following before
tackling the main topics of MEMBER-
SHIP and STRUCTURE.
• Are you a leader or filling a chair?
• Can you put the Future of the Order
ahead of your own personal priorities
and traditions?
• Can you face the brutal facts?
We’re dying a slow death. In the past
15 years we have lost 48%, or 11,104
members. At this rate of average loss,
of 740 members per year, we will be
out of members by 2028.
• Is the status quo working?
• Is the Strategic Plan working?
• Are our Mission and Vision statements
relevant anymore?
C) Approach to Topics
The participants were broken into
three (3) predetermined groups.
Each group was tasked with evaluating
each of the sub-topics under
MEMBERSHIP and STRUCTURE by
asking their group to evaluate each
topic based on the following criteria:
• What is our vision for the future of
the Elks of Canada?
• What will it take to win over the
next generation of people to continue
to make the difference that we do to
day?
• Do we need to diversify? Do we
need to change? Are there things we
need to let go because they don’t
work?
3. SESSION 2 – MEMBERSHIP
A) Membership Considerations
• How are we going to get the next
generation of Canadians to join our
organization, to carry on Elkdom, and
make the difference in our citizens
lives that we do today?
• Why are people joining other
groups and not the Elks of Canada?
• What two methods are most responsible
for gaining new members?
• What two traits are most responsible
for losing members?
Specific recommendations made
by all the groups after individual discussion:
There were several recommendations
from each of the groups;
however, upon further examination
and discussion it was generally felt
that most of the areas brought up
actually fall under other parts of the
session.
Two general recommendations were
brought forth:
• That the Marketing Committee
continues to promote us as a family
focussed organization with projects
that include family involvement.
• That the Marketing Committee
creates a promotional tool that will
help portray us in the image we want
to be seen rather than the way the
public views us now.
B) Programs Considerations
• What Grand Lodge Programs are
successful? Not successful? What
new ones would you suggest? Some
of the existing Grand Lodge programs
are: AIM program, Revitalization and
new Lodge funding, promotional
funding, membership materials (brochures,
kits, etc.), training manuals,
leadership training sessions, Lodge
resource teams, Elks and Royal Purple
Fund for Children.
Specific recommendations made
by all the groups after individual discussion:
50
• Keep leadership training sessions.
• Keep membership material.
• Replace or restructure all other
programs including national sports
(note this does not include the Elks &
Royal Purple Fund for Children).
C) Charities Considerations
• From a Lodge perspective where
do we get the best bang for our Charity
dollar? Local/Provincial/National
Elks Charities? (National Fund for
Children Clinical Programs include
BC Family Hearing Resource Society,
ISTAR (Institute for Stuttering Treatment
and Research), SPARC (Saskatchewan
Pediatric Auditory Rehabilitation
Center), Central Speech
and Hearing Clinic, Voice for Hearing-Impaired
Children, L’Association
d’implants Cochleaire du Quebec,
NB Deaf Camp.) All Speech and
Hearing related. Should we try something
else?
• What value added is there to our
Personal Assistance programs, if
any? Should Lodges just be on their
own when a need arises?
• Is our model too loose by not controlling
donations more? (e.g. For
years the practice of the Shriners
was to contribute 90% of their funds
raised to the Sick Children’s Hospital
while the remaining 10% could be
used at the local level.)
• What are we getting out of the
Fund for Children? Is it bringing in
new members? Would changing our
focus help? Do we need a national
charity? Do we need a different national
charity?
• What are we getting out of our
Provincial/Territorial Charities such
as children’s camps, seniors homes,
walkathons, etc.? Are they bringing
in members? Do we need Provincial
Charities?
Specific recommendations made
by all the groups after individual discussion:
• That we cease support for existing
clinical programs that have been
around for years as they should be
able to stand on their own now. Proper
notice should be given to programs
to allow them to make arrangements
to replace our contributions.
Continued next page . . .
1987-2012 History 50