Charity

There are three strategic goals which will help us achieve our Mission.

1 We will enhance our support and services

As a unified charity, we now provide support and services across a wide spectrum of need to people of all ages, and to charities supporting all sections of society. To be at our most effective, we must adapt to the changing needs of the communities we support and, where possible, extend the range of our support and services, always ensuring they are delivered effectively.

There are over 160,000 charities in England and Wales competing for funding from grant-making foundations such as ours. Identifying the most deserving causes and effective charities is a challenge and requires intelligent decision making. In line with our Mission, the charities and causes that we support will be those which help people that face poverty, distress or are disadvantaged from participating actively in society, overcoming obstacles or leading fulfilling lives.

As our main donors, the support we offer to Freemasons and their families in times of need will remain our primary purpose. The majority of Freemasons and their partners are reflected in our ageing population which is living longer, with increasingly complex and expensive care needs. It is essential that we help meet the needs of older Freemasons, their wives and partners by supporting them to live as independently as possible in their own homes and communities, or in one of our RMBI care Homes.

2 We will improve our ways of working

The Masonic community is relatively small in charitable terms and we have no remit to raise funds from the general public. Furthermore, our fundraising efforts must compete with the many increasing demands on the limited resources of our supporters. Through our activities we must engage with the younger generation of Freemasons and encourage the whole Masonic community to support Festivals and other fundraising initiatives. To do this we must build and strengthen our relationships with the United Grand Lodge of England and with Metropolitan, Provincial and District Grand Lodges in recognition of their role as the primary link to our donors and beneficiaries. We will need to shape and communicate our messages carefully to ensure everything we do is understood, valued and relevant.

There is increasing pressure to provide evidence which shows that the way we spend our donors’ money is having a positive impact, in the knowledge that our donors can choose to support other charities and causes. We need to improve our understanding of the value and impact of our grant-making, support and services, and adapt and change in response to what we learn.

We will honour the past 230 years of Masonic charity and the legacy charities from which MCF was formed, whilst creating a modern and effective governance structure and vibrant staff culture. Using these legacies as a solid foundation, we aspire to be needs-led, adjusting our range of support and services to ensure that MCF continues to provide appropriate support to those in need for generations to come.

3 We will raise our profile

As a new charity, it is essential that we embed the MCF and its activities within the consciousness of the Masonic community. It is vital that the support and services we provide are known about and understood by Freemasons and their families in need. At the same time we must build pride in our donors and supporters, without whom we cannot deliver our Mission.

We aim to be better known across society as a whole so that the generosity and charitable actions of the Masonic community are widely recognised and fully understood.

We must take advantage of our size and scale to find a voice in the sector, taking prominent positions on issues affecting our beneficiaries and speaking knowledgably about the needs of the communities we support. As a leading charitable foundation in the UK, we aim to adopt a profile befitting our scale in order to support the charity community and encourage shared learning, best practice and transparency.