Regional Membership Directors Help Boost Membership Efforts

RMDs Bring Training and Resources

The Great Escape. Armageddon. The Avengers. Anyone who has been to the movies knows: Before you can save the world, you have to gather your team.

It happens here in Shrinedom, too. A noble with an idea gets the green light to move forward, gathers a couple of nobles with skills – or enthusiasm – and pretty soon a temple has a new craft beer club or an event so successful it will become a tradition.

And it couldn’t have happened without everyone working toward the same goal. And now, a committed team is a resource for member recruiting and retention. As temples work on the local level, teams have also been put into place at the Imperial and regional levels to support them. Each year, the Imperial Potentate makes appointments to committees and working teams to assist their assigned temples with fraternal operations and performance.

Once such team is the Membership Executive Committee. Composed of dedicated nobles who are leaders within the Shriner and Masonic community, this group’s mission is to help strategically plan and direct membership programs designed to assist temples, clubs and units in membership recruitment, retention and restoration.

Complementing their service in a tactical role are 16 Regional Membership Directors (RMDs), each assigned a geographic region. Serving as the initial point of contact for temple leadership and local membership teams, RMDs provide assistance and guidance regarding membership operations.

The RMD role is designed as an investment by Shriners International in support for each temple, assisting with membership efforts, providing counsel on best practices and resources available through Shriners International, and serving as a conduit of information to share temple requests, opportunities and challenges with the Office of Membership Development.

The structure helps temples drill down on their specific needs. “As an RMD, I am able to work with local temples in my region with ideas that work here but wouldn't be as helpful in other areas,” said Duane Crapser, Past Potentate of Tigris Shriners and RMD for Region 11.

“When planning trips to temples in Region 11, I was asked to bring ideas to increase membership and fellowship, and not just a PowerPoint from Imperial,” Crapser said. “This was the catalyst of my 2023 NYOSA Tour to Shrine temples.”

Region 11 comprises the Shrine Centers that make up the New York Ontario Shrine Association (NYOSA), geographically consisting of New York State and southern Ontario, Canada.

“Being a Shriner has changed my life,” Crapser said. “Every opportunity I get to talk about our Shrine family, I do. I love our kids and feel promoting membership will bring more to our community … It is my goal to have NYOSA jurisdiction thrive with new Shriners and their families joining us."