Impact 2026 guidance notes

Introduction

Thank you for taking the lead on completing the Template that will be used to help us measure the impact of all the vital work we do as Lodges and Chapters within our Province under the banner of “Service.” We appreciate that some Lodges and Chapters do not do much in this area, and for a variety of known reasons. However, for those that do, it is important that nothing is missed and that you communicate to us everything you do in terms of making financial donations and volunteering your time in your communities.

The guidance notes below cover each of the main sections of the Template. If you are still unsure about what is required, there will be an on-line tutorial accessible from the Charity Hub on the Provincial website. There may also be an opportunity to attend an in-person workshop if sufficient demand exists. Your Charity Area Lead will notify you of this. You can also contact the Provincial Grand Charity Steward at any time.

How to complete the Template

PART A: Lodge/Chapter information and contact details

This section is simply about letting us know who has completed the template on behalf of your Lodge or Chapter and in what capacity so that we are clear on what Lodges and Chapters have taken part in the exercise. It also helps ensure that we have the means to contact you if necessary, and helps us to keep our own records up to date. Where it says (*delete as appropriate) we simply need you to make it clear if it is a Lodge or Chapter that is responding as we are keen to understand the number of Lodges and Chapters that take part.

PART B: Financial donations made to registered charities

Many Lodges and Chapters support registered charities by making financial donations. A registered charity will hold a charity number as issued by the Charities Commission. Whilst the focus of many Lodges and Chapters is on supporting local registered charities, some donations may go further than what could be regarded as local. For the avoidance of doubt, all donations to registered charities should be included in this section. Most Lodges and Chapters will already keep good records in terms of who has been supported and how much was donated. In this respect, completing this section should not pose any difficulties. Although only 5 rows have been allocated, simply add as many as you need to the Template, which is a Word Document that can be completed electronically. Once the rows have been completed, add the total amount donated at the bottom. In addition to showing how much has been donated, it is important for us to list the number of different charities supported.

If you have made a donation jointly with other Lodges and/or Chapters, it is important that these are not double counted by the relevant Lodges and Chapters involved and that the amount shown in your table relates only to that donated by your Lodge or Chapter.

PART C: Financial donations made to good causes

Our charity work is not restricted to just registered charities. We often support what is known as “good causes” which are usually local and can include almost anything where we feel there is a charitable benefit. These can include sports clubs, residents’ groups, environmental groups, parish councils, schools, underprivileged children etc. As above, most Lodges and Chapters will already keep good records in terms of who has been supported and how much was donated. In this respect, completing this section should not pose any difficulties. Although only 5 rows have been allocated, simply add as many as you need to the Template, which is a Word Document that can be completed electronically. Once the rows have been completed, add the total amount donated at the bottom. In addition to showing how much has been donated, it is important for us to list the total number of different good causes supported.

Again, if you have made a donation jointly with other Lodges and/or Chapters, it is important that these are not double counted by the relevant Lodges and Chapters involved and that the amount shown in your table relates only to that donated by your Lodge or Chapter.

PART D: Lodge and Chapter volunteering

More and more Lodges and Chapters are organising volunteering events in their communities, where they identify a local charity or good cause that would benefit from some practical help on-site such as gardening, litter picking, joinery, event marshalling, painting and decorating etc. They assemble a team of volunteers from their Lodge and /or Chapter, which can include family members and friends, and they meet on site at an agreed date and time and complete the allocated task. They will coordinate what tools, skills and materials are needed, and often providing them too if not provided/funded by the charity/good cause. Where the Lodge/Chapter is paying for tools and/or materials, this should also be recorded as a donation in Parts B and C respectively. The benefits of volunteering like this to the organisation in question can often outweigh any financial donation that might be given. In addition to raising the profile of the Lodge/Chapter directly in the community, it can also be great fun, allowing members to help a local charity and/or good cause without having to make a financial donation, which for some, can be the catalyst needed to bring them back to the Lodge/Chapter. It can also involve family members and friends, which can be a great source of fun and comradery.

When these events are organised, it is important that you keep records of the charities/good causes supported, and how many hours were deputed during the event. For example, if a Lodge organised some gardening at a local care home that lasted for 3 hours, and 15 people turned up to help, comprising members of the Lodge and possibly some family/friends, then the total volunteering commitment for that event would be 45 hours (3 x 15).

Although only 5 rows have been allocated, simply add as many as you need to the Template, which is a Word Document that can be completed electronically. Once the rows have been completed, add the total amount of hours accrued by the Lodge/Chapter at the bottom. In addition to showing how many hours were volunteered, it is important to list the number of different charities and good causes that were supported in this way.

If you have organised volunteering events jointly with other Lodges and/or Chapters, it is important that these are not double counted by the relevant Lodges and Chapters involved and that the amount shown in your table relates only to the members/family/friends attributable to your Lodge or Chapter.

PART E: Volunteering by individual members outside of the Lodge

This is the section where you need to engage with your own Lodge members first before you can complete this part of the Template. Chapters do not need to complete this section.

Freemasons are generous and modest by nature and generally do not boast about the voluntary work they engage in outside of Freemasonry, which in most cases is considerable. However, this is something that we want to change in that the mammoth contribution made by Freemasons in their own time supporting charities and good causes in their communities is important and can be a vital component of changing people’s perception of Freemasonry. Whilst such contributions may not be directly attributed to a particular Lodge, it nevertheless shows how Freemasons are making a significant contribution to the relief and benefit of many in their community.

The big challenge for many Lodges is that they don’t keep records of the charitable work undertaken by their members outside of Freemasonry, and that’s because they have never had to. However, this is easily fixed and there is an exercise that you can do with your members that will enable you to complete Part E of the Template.

One of the attached documents includes the “Volunteering Proforma,” which is a Word Document. This should be sent out to all members of your Lodge with a request that it be completed and returned to you (within an agreed timeframe). This also has some guidance attached to it. All they have to do is list the number of charities and good causes they are involved with outside of Freemasonry, and to provide an indication of the number of hours they donate to each, typically over a weekly or monthly period. It is understood that the frequency of involvement with each can vary and be quite erratic, which is why two options are provided: Weekly (Column A) or Monthly (Column B). It is important that they should only fill one column for each charity and good cause listed. This is designed to make it easier for each member to work out roughly how much of their time is given up per charity/good cause and then to calculate a total figure for the year. Learning from last year, handing the proforma out at Lodge meetings and getting it handed back to you before the end of the evening, proved to be the most effective way of getting a good response form members, rather than sending e-mails and awaiting a reply.

When the volunteering proformas are returned to you, we don’t need to see them. You just need to use them to help complete section E of the Template. Once you are satisfied that you have got as many forms back from your members as you are likely to get, and this may be off the back of several reminders, you have four tasks to complete:

Task 1 – Based on the level of response, this will give you your answer to “A” on the Template. You can then work out what this represents as a percentage of all members of the Lodge to answer “B” on the Template.

If any of your members do not respond, for the purpose of this exercise, assume they do not do any volunteering in the community. Some members will not be able to complete it because they have already completed it as a member of another Lodge. Where you are notified of this, do not include them in your data.

Task 2 – You will now be able to list all of the organisations that your members volunteer at. It is likely that several of your members will volunteer at the same organisation. Where this happens, only list that organisation once in the table.

Task 3 – You will now be able to see whether or not the organisation supported by each member is a registered charity or not. Simply add these to the list and indicate if they are a registered charity with a “x” in the columns immediately to the right.

Task 4 – Keeping a running total from the proformas returned, you will now be able to identify all of the time spent by your members volunteering in the community and come up with a total figure for the year for the Lodge. You will need to ensure that the total time for each member is an accurate reflection of the information they have provided in the two columns (A and B) before confirming the total figure in the space indicated by a blue arrow.

A worked example for illustrative purposes only for Part E is shown below:

The information you need to add to the proforma before sending out to members includes:

The name and number of your Lodge (at the top of the proforma)

When the proforma must be returned to you (at the end of the guidance section)

The e-mail and postal addresses that can be used to return the proforma to you if not handing out and collecting at lodge meetings.

As previously stated, Chapters will not be required to complete Part E as it will be assumed this information will be collected directly from their Lodges, which will save time and prevent the possibility of this figure being overinflated as a result of double counting.

In summary, you will need to obtain the following information from your members to complete Part E of the template:

A list of all the charities and good causes supported by your members

The total number of charities and good causes supported

The total amount of hours given by your members to volunteering over 12 months

Whilst we accept that you might not get a full response from your members, and many members might be too old to be still volunteering, we can only work with what you have. We will nevertheless assemble the information we receive from each Lodge across the Province to identify a total amount of time spent supporting charities and good causes within the Province for 2026.

It is important to stress that the information you gather from your own members as a result of this exercise will be of vital importance to your Lodge to share with both your own members and the community to help raise its profile.

Photos

To help add colour and visual interest to the Impact Report, we want to add some photos to illustrate the various different activities. If you have any photos related to the different sections of the template that you would like to share, please attach them to the end of the template. We may not be able to use all of them due to the shortage of space, but hope that this exercise will supply us with a good range of photos to choose from. If you do decide to attach some photos, please also add a caption explaining what is happening.

Provincial Awards For Community Engagement

Lastly, don’t forget that the Provincial Awards for Community Engagement now include a category for the contribution made by individuals outside of Freemasonry. Should this exercise reveal a significant contribution made by any member, you should consider entering this competition on behalf of that member or members for 2027.

Help And Support

Help and support is at hand. You can contact your Area Charity Lead or myself at any point to receive it. Contact details are included in the covering e-mail from the PGM.

Good luck in completing this Template and thank you again for your support.

Des McKenzie

Provincial Grand Charity Steward