This month we're excited to share our first joint Spotlight on Volunteerism submission! Six lodges in the Chicago area collaborated to bring a taste of the city's rich Norwegian culture to a new generation. With help from Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Iowa, Trollhaugen 5-417, Skjold 5-100, Leif Erickson 5-97, Elvesund 5-593, Polar Star 5-472 and Cleng Peerson 5-525 exhibited artifacts and [...]
Fall isn't just filled with holidays and important deadlines; it's also Sons of Norway's busiest recruiting season. Knowing that the next few months will see many new members joining lodges, how can we ensure that they get the most out of being a part of the largest Norwegian cultural organization in the world and renew a year from now? A few [...]
Next month marks Life Insurance Awareness Month. As the cornerstone of Sons of Norway, life insurance provides financial stability for both Sons of Norway members and the organization as a whole. Your lodge's Financial Benefits Counselor (FBC) plays an important role in the organization by helping your members find quality, affordable financial product that best fits their needs. If you read [...]
The autumn months are generally the busiest times of the year for most Sons of Norway lodges. Many lodges resume regular meetings in September after slowing down for the summer, which also happens to be Life Insurance Awareness Month. Next comes Sons of Norway Foundation month in October. Thanksgiving and lodge elections make November an especially busy month followed by December, [...]
Is your lodge online? Many lodges use Facebook as a tool to keep members in touch and to recruit potential members. Events, upcoming meetings, and other pieces of useful information are all made available to lodge members through Facebook pages. Best of all, Facebook is free! For a great page example, check out the Hartford Lodge’s Facebook page. Here are some tips [...]
Each year, Fraternal Life Insurance companies, Sons of Norway included, submit information about member volunteerism and community involvement to the American Fraternal Alliance (AFA). The AFA, in turn, uses these combined numbers to illustrate to elected officials the positive impact fraternals have on communities throughout the United States while helping justify our 501 c (8) tax-exempt status. For Sons of Norway, [...]
Is your lodge looking for a fun and unique event to host this summer? Have you considered a Midsummer celebration? While these celebrations are relatively commonplace throughout Europe, they are hard to come by in the United States. This makes it a great opportunity to celebrate an element of Norwegian culture many people may not be familiar with. Let’s walk through [...]
After the excitement of Syttende Mai has passed many lodges use the summer months as a time to catch their breath and take the summer off, but that would be a missed opportunity. Today, many members of Sons of Norway, especially those with families, are too busy with other commitments to make it to a monthly meeting. This means they'll attend [...]
Are you making a New Year's resolution? Do you, your board, or your lodge as a whole have any for the year to come? Now is the perfect time to start thinking about it; will your lodge make a point to recruit more members, ensure more renew next year? Many lodges will no doubt make these types of resolutions, and they're [...]
Since the Spotlight on Volunteerism program began nearly two years ago, one lodge has stood out for its commitment to giving back to the community. Normanden 4-424 in Missoula, MT has made volunteerism an integral part of their lodge programming. The lodge has been at it again, this time working in support of Opportunity Resources, an organization in Missoula that helps [...]
