The Massachusetts Freemason Newsletter

How to Earn the Grand Master’s Award (And Build a Year You’ll Never Regret)

Written by Brother Crosse | Jul 24, 2025 7:30:21 PM

When you sit in the East, the clock starts ticking. You don’t get another “first year.” You only get this one.

If you want your time as Worshipful Master to mean something, the Grand Master’s Award gives you a clear path forward.

So, let’s get practical.

Step 1: Submit Your Intent and Your Plan

Within 30 days of Installation, you must submit:

  • A signed letter stating your intent to qualify

  • A detailed written plan covering every required category

This goes to your District Deputy Grand Master (DDGM) with a copy sent to the Grand Master’s Office.

Your plan must be new. If your lodge applied last year, two programs must be different. 

A farmer can’t plant the same crop in the same field every year. The soil needs rotation to stay alive. So does your lodge.

Step 2: Complete All Twelve Required Categories

Each category in your plan must be acted on and reviewed by year-end. Here’s how to think about each:

1. Membership

You need a written plan covering:

  • Renewal of inactive members

  • Retention of current members

  • Revival of demitted members

  • Recruitment of prospects
    Include objectives and results.

If your lodge isn’t growing, it’s shrinking. This plan is your foundation.

2. Community Outreach

Appoint a Masonic Awareness Chairman and submit a written plan that:

  • Creates visibility with the public

  • Submits content to  social media

  • Tracks outcomes like attendance

3. Exemplification

Every line officer and ritualist must attend your District’s Exemplification. You must also provide:

  • A working candidate

  • 3 Gate Men for MM degrees
    (Up to 4 may be excused for good reason.)

4. Grand Lodge Quarterly Attendance

  • Master, Senior Warden, and Junior Warden must attend at least one Quarterly together

  • One of them (or the proxy) must attend all others

5. Fundraising

Appoint a Fundraising Chairman. Your lodge must raise $5+ per member for:

  • Grand Lodge Charities (like ME&CT or Brotherhood Fund)

  • OR your own building fund, if applicable

6. Avoiding Suspensions/Demits

Create a detailed strategy to:

7. DeMolay or Rainbow Support

Your lodge must support DeMolay or Rainbow through:

  • Sponsorship

  • Becoming Mentors for a chapter

  • Scholarships

  • Attendance at events like Conclave or Leadership Conferences

8. DDGM Visitations

  • The Master, Senior, and Junior Wardens must all attend at least one official or fraternal visit in the district

  • At least two of them must attend all others

9. Ladies of the Lodge & Elder Outreach

Establish a Ladies of the Lodge & Senior Brothers Committee and maintain a list of:

  • All widows (ladies of the lodge)

  • Members aged 80+
    Each must receive at least 2 contacts per year, especially around birthdays, holidays, and bad weather.

10. Officer Essays

Master and Wardens must each write an essay answering:

  1. Benefits of membership

  2. Better ways to expose the public to Freemasonry

  3. What we need to improve—and how you’d do it

  4. Our future role as a fraternity

Essays should be no longer than 2 pages, and personally meaningful.

11. Rookie & Master Builder Awards

  • All new candidates must be enrolled in the Rookie Award

  • If no candidates, enroll 2 members in the Master Builder Award

12. Grand Lodge Requirements

Complete all administrative requirements, including:

  • Attending The Master’s Path Program

  • Paying Grand Lodge dues

  • Filing all forms

  • Verifying membership

  • Distributing lodge newsletters and notices

Step 3: Choose & Complete at Least Six Optional Goals

Here are a few examples (full list in the program):

  • Attend a religious service as a lodge

  • Host a family event (picnic or Ladies Night)

  • Launch a blood drive

  • Visit another lodge or district

  • Improve your lodge building

  • Support Scottish Rite, York Rite, or Shrine

Choose six that fit your lodge and members. Make them real. Document what you do.

Step 4: Report What You Built

At year-end (within 30 days of conclusion):

  • Submit a review letter to the DDGM

  • Include progress on every plan item

  • Be transparent about what worked, what didn’t, what changed

The DDGM will evaluate and send his recommendation to the Grand Master.

What You Receive

If approved:

  • Your lodge gets a framed certificate at Quarterly

  • You and your Wardens will be guests of the Grand Master for lunch

  • You receive a personal memento from the Grand Master

  • More than that, your lodge gains momentum, pride, and respect

And you, Brother, walk away knowing:
You didn’t just serve your term. You built something that will outlast it.

Brother, What You Build Matters

If your time in the East is just about keeping things running… you’ll forget it.

But if it’s about building stronger Brothers, strengthening families, and restoring what our lodges were meant to be, you’ll never forget it.

The Grand Master’s Award is your framework. The effort is yours to make.

So:
Will your lodge just meet? Or will it matter?

You know what to do. And now, you know how.
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