Does your Grange have a purpose?

You probably think that it does, and it may. However, does it reflect what your Grange is doing or what you want it to accomplish? After all, the Grange is America’s oldest farm fraternity and supposed to support rural and agricultural interests in America. You meet, follow some sort of Order of Business, hopefully the official Grange one prescribed in the Subordinate Manual or something closely modeled on that. You do all your business, pay your bills, make some contributions, and perhaps do fundraisers or community service projects. But, have you as a Grange and within your Granges stopped recently to think about and analyze a bit what you do as a Grange (1), why you do it (2), who you do it for (3), and most importantly perhaps, do they know your Grange is doing what it does (4)?

I know some Granges are larger and have more activities going on and are able to do more within their own communities. Some are smaller and are doing all that of which they are capable and should be just as proud of what they are doing as the larger groups. To be honest, some in both the larger and smaller categories of Granges are going through the prescribed motions (or maybe not) but have lost their way and are rudderless and doing what they do without a distinct purpose or direction in mind. I do not say this lightly or in jest as I realize we all have the best intentions in mind.

That is why I think every Grange should stop, take stock of itself with a little introspection and figure out their purpose. This process took place for one of our larger Granges before my eyes recently on a visitation. They had an open forthright conversation about what they are doing currently and why to establish some goals. The group also answered the questions of whom they serve with their hard work, and asked, do those for whom their service is being done know who is actually doing these projects? In a lot of cases, the answer to this last question is “no,” and this should be rectified by better publicity. We need to toot our own horn, so to speak and get the recognition we deserve.

The overall problem of lacking a defined sense of purpose is not just with some of the Community Granges. The Connecticut State Grange is going to be discussing this topic and rewriting its Statement of Purpose very soon.

I’m sure we all know that on the local level, we provide community service and advocate for agriculture. Why? Obviously, we want to serve and strengthen our communities while providing a fraternal community in which we gain fellowship opportunities to strengthen existing friendships and maybe even make new ones. If we publicized our activities better, we might attract more of a following and gain new members as well.

Having seen one Grange go through this process, I challenge every Grange to spend a Lecturer’s program and write out some notes answering the four questions outlined in my first paragraph of this column. Condense that information into a Statement of Purpose specific to your Grange. I further would ask your secretary to send the results of your discussions (summary answers in bullet point format to the four questions) and Purpose Statements to me in the next few months. Every Grange is different, so there are no correct or incorrect answers to this exercise.

If you continue this process, you can formulate Mission and Vision Statements for your Grange. The Mission Statement is a short 10-20 word statement of why you exist while the Vision Statement is a longer composition indicating where an organization is headed. Think of Mission Statements as documents pertaining to the short term, while the Vision Statement is for the longer haul. These are both fluid and not set in stone. They can and should change over time. I encourage you all to stop, take stock of where you are now, and where you want to go. Keep me updated with questions and how your discussions turn out.