| APRIL 1, 2025 -- April is designated as Grange Month and is an opportunity for all Granges and Grangers to show pride in our organization. We have much to be proud of, almost all our Granges are doing great things in their communities, attracting people to their halls. These are all important factors in exhibiting that your Grange is Living a Connected life.
We wanted to step back a little and give you some facts and figures on “the state of Grange membership” at the end of the calendar year 2024. The total membership of the Connecticut State Grange as of 12/31/2024 was 1,370 members in 31 Granges. We saw a loss of 30 members and 2 Granges during the 2024 calendar year. Membership numbers range from 12 to 123 in those 31 Granges. 7 Granges have 20 or less members, 17 Granges have 21 to 49 members, and 7 Granges have 50 and more members.
Recently, Christine Hamp, President of the National Grange held a ZOOM gearing up to Grange Month. During this ZOOM she issued the following challenge: Grange Month Challenge:
- Bring a friend to the Grange – introduce them to your Grange’s mission and family.
- Start a community project and share it on social media with #GrangeMonth.
- Attend a local government meeting and speak up on an issue that matters to your community.
- Connect your Grange to Project Sustenance to battle food insecurity and build community- and self- resilience
Every one of these challenges is easy to accomplish and don’t think you need to do them all in April. We hope your Grange discusses these or sets your own challenges for this year and make a commitment to growing your grange in membership and community presence.
Jodi Ann, Jeff, Debbie, Elizabeth and I also want to challenge you. We are challenging each of you, every one of us, to recruit one new member by the end of this calendar year. Let’s assume the average attendance is 12.5 members at our meetings, if those 12.5 active members secures 1 new member that will increase membership by 375 new members, or roughly 25% increase in membership. We can do this; we need to do this. Please accept this challenge.
Your State Grange Membership Development Team is here to aid and support your Grange and members with Growth and Development, all you need to do is ask.
As always, we encourage you to be Grange Strong and Live a Connected Life.
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