Newsletter from the Grand Secretary
Hollis G. Dixon, Grand Secretary
Northeast Conference of Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries: The Grand Master, Deputy Grand Master and I attended this conference in July at the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania. If you have never seen the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia, which houses their Grand Lodge, you have missed a fantastic experience. I had always heard that it is one of the most beautiful temples in America. To see it for yourself, you can go to their Web Site at www.pagrandlodge.org and tour the various lodge rooms. They have twenty-eight lodges that meet in their temple.
An Important Reminder: Our Grand Treasurer has just checked to determine how our lodges are doing with the requirement that they electronically file a 990N form with the IRS each year. As we have told you in the past, if you fail to file this form for three consecutive years, you will lose your Tax exempt status. The Grand Treasurer says that of thirty-one (31) lodges that he checked; only five of them had filed the 990N form.
The Form 990N is due every year by the 15th day of the fifth month after the close of your tax year. For example, if your tax year ends on December 31, 2008, the e-Postcard is due by May 15, 2009. You cannot file until after your tax year ends.
To file the form, go to the IRS Web Site: www.irs.gov At the top of the page, click on Charities & Non Profit Organizations and you will find the instructions you need under, “Annual Electronic Filing Requirements for Small Exempt Organizations - Form 990N (e-Postcard)”. That page tells you exactly what information you must provide on the 990N form so you will know that before you proceed with the process of filing the form.
Fall Meetings Will Be Starting Soon: For most of our lodges, the summer recess will end at the end of August and you will start to have meetings again in September. Hopefully, the Master of your lodge will be calling on a Brother in your lodge to speak at your Stated Communication, each month, about a Section of the Constitution or a Standing Regulation. The Grand Master has indicated that he wants every lodge to start this process so that our members will become more familiar with the requirements that are included in the Constitution. When the Master of a lodge is installed into office, he is handed the Constitution and he is told: “The Book of Constitutions you are to search at all times. Cause it to be read in your lodge, that none may pretend ignorance of its requirements.”
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From the Book –Thoughts on Leadership: “The most important part of every business is to know what ought to be done.” by Lucius Columell.
Fraternally,
Hollis G. Dixon
Grand Secretary
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