At least once a year, see if any members now meet the criteria for affiliate eligibility and do not have any extenuating circumstances. Refer to the Affiliate List Submission Process (#11729) for guidance on forwarding designees. You may be able to reclaim Knights whose previous situation has changed! This process prevents an accumulation of those in arrears, results in a more manageable number of delinquencies to deal with and minimizes the financial impact nonpaying Brothers have on council operations.
Immediately follow-up with members who do not respond to a second notice to pay their annual dues. Refer to Appendix B of the Affiliate Member Initiative Guidebook (#11231). This may require multiple phone calls, emails, postal mailings, and having the member’s sponsor (or someone from the council’s Retention Committee) go to their house if it is in the local area. Realize though if a member has not responded to your initial attempts, continuing to barrage him with notices to pay dues may not be the answer. Despite this tech-happy age, personal contact is vital for retaining a member so talk with him in a Brotherly manner and find out what the issue is and why he is not answering. You might learn that the Brother:
- Is recovering from an illness.
- Had a death in the family or is dealing with other family issues.
- Is busy with school-aged children.
- Was laid off or money is tight right now for other reasons.
- Experienced something at the council that alienated him or believes the council has not done enough to keep his interest.
- Feels he is no longer a Knight because he has not attended a meeting or event for a very long time.
- Has a new address and/or now resides outside the local area.
If applicable, tell him you will relay his concerns to the appropriate council officers and try to get resolution. Refer to the Knowing Who You’re Trying to Boot page for additional information.
A member may feel they are no longer a Knight and should not pay dues because they have not attended a meeting or event in eons. Mention that Supreme lists him on the membership rolls, indicating he is still a Knight of the council. See if his work or family schedule is preventing him from participating more. If so, mention that even if your schedule does not permit you to get as involved with the council as much as you would like to, paying dues keeps you in Good Standing with the Order (which includes continued access to fraternal benefits for you and your family), and helps fund your Brothers’ on-going good works in support of charitable causes.
If he has not been active due to another reason, see if the issue can be resolved. After an earnest attempt to “win him over,” if a member is adamant about no longer wanting to be a Knight, he must submit a letter/email to the council with his signature block stating his desire to withdraw from the Order. It does not have to be lengthy: “I no longer want to be a Knight, so please withdraw my membership from the Order.” When the request is received, forward it to Supreme along with his membership number and the council number.
Follow these steps to locate a council near his current address:
- Access Supreme’s website at kofc.org.
- On the menu bar of the Home page, select Get Involved > Find a Council.
- In the Find By drop-down list, select the Country/Zip Code option.
- In the Country field, select the United States of America.
- In the Zip/Postal Code field, input the member’s Zip Code.
- Click the Find button.
- Make note of the councils near the member’s new address.
- Provide the member with the nearby councils’ information and encourage him to transfer his membership so he can remain active.
- Contact the nearby councils and make them aware of a transfer opportunity. Forward his new mailing address, phone number, and email address to the Financial Secretary and the assembly’s Comptroller if he is a member of the Fourth Degree.
If unable to contact someone because their information is not current, try these options to locate them: superpages.com, thepublicrecords.com, peoplelookup.com, switchboard.com, anywho.com, thatsthem.com, searchbug.com, and linkedin.com. Ask the State Membership Engagement and Development Committee (engageanddevelop@vakofc.org) for free help. Solicit the field agent’s assistance with finding insurance members. Also coordinate with the member’s sponsor or the parents of a recent college graduate.
See if a member who already paid dues would cover someone who has not paid or add a “50:50” raffle to an event and use the council’s portion to defray what’s owed, or the Grand Knight (GK) may waive the arrearage if the member has a special hardship.
We are a fraternal organization, yet we feel it is necessary to remove members from the council rolls if their dues are in arrears. Supreme’s processes are cut-and-dry, but that does not mean we cannot incorporate some degree of compassion into our actions. How many of you joined the Order just to pay dues? The council survived without the money up to now, so why not forgive the past and try to get them to make the current year’s pro-rated payment. Then, determine why the member fell into arrears and, if applicable, fix the reason!
Extend a ‘hand-up’ to members in special cases and consider waiving their dues. Look kindly upon those who all but qualify for Honorary Member and Honorary Life Member status. Suspending a Brother who has served nearly 25 years and is close to age eligibility does not seem to be the right thing to do. Also afford some fraternity to those in their golden years, members with less than two years in the Order, and those in arrears for the current calendar year only.
