Local Merger/Consolidation Preparation and Instructions (LEGACY)

A Merger or Consolidation of a Lodge/Chapter/Club is a non-regular combination of two or more Lodges/Chapters/Clubs inside of a single Parent Organization. 

This article will guide you through the tasks and subtasks required of a Secretary or Assistant Secretary and the Parent Office during a Club Merger or Consolidation:

The purpose of this article is to provide direction to expedite the resolution of any question or issue you are having during the setup and completion of a merger/consolidation.

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Covered in this Article:

1. Preparation in anticipation of a merger/consolidation.
2. Parent Office: Admin task of processing a merger.
3. Parent Office: Admin notify Groupable|m2/OLP
4. The post-merger Local setup process.

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1. Preparation in anticipation of a merger/consolidation:

HARD STOP: Does either local currently have AutoPay enabled? Contact [e-mail] for further information before moving forward with the consolidation/merger!

The following records must be up to date and/or obtained prior to the merger by the Local Secretary, Assistant Secretary, or a Parent Office Administrator working in collaboration.

Background: In the process of consolidation, groupable|m2 inactivates any merging bodies and generates a new Local with all historical records viewable but not editable.

1. Membership of both bodies should be up to date
2. Member records should have any dues payments to their existing lodge clearly entered if m2 has been used for dues records.
3. If you have Life/Endowed/Perpetual Memberships, please contact your Parent Office to review all life memberships after the merger. These will usually transfer automatically (aside from your already-deceased Life or Perpetual Memberships which must be checked by the Parent Body Admin).
4. Honorary members will transfer automatically.
5. Generate an excel sheet with a list of all members including their Member Type in order to accurately Assign Member Types and Initialize Dues after the merger (see screenshot for creating this report of members by Member Type):

5. At this point, when all records are up to date, the Secretary or Parent Office may wish to print Historical Budget Periods for the Demising Lodge/Chapter/Club. This is will capture any existing financial records entered into m2. (This can always be done after the consolidation).

Access the Historical Budget Periods by clicking on Income/Expenses and looking in the lower right corner for Budget Periods.

If the Secretary needs assistance with any of these steps, they can contact their parent body, and Groupable will provide any additional support needed.

6. Take screenshots of the Lodge Info, Lodge Notes, etc. This way you will have the record of any items that DO NOT TRANSFER OVER in the merger. These items include:

1. assistant secretaries
2. latitude & longitude
3. dues history

2. Admin task of performing a merger:

Your Parent Office will perform the merger in m2. This form is completed by an Admin and should not be submitted twice. The actual merging of lodges is time intensive and may take a moment to complete and load. WAIT ON THIS SCREEN until you receive confirmation.

To complete this step, the Parent Office will use all pertinent Lodge Info: current list of officers, meeting schedule, address, EIN, etc. See screenshot for all details required:

3. Parent Office: Notify Groupable: m2/OLP

After the merger has been completed, the Parent Office must notify Groupable (please create a ticket with zendesk). There are two steps that we will take. The first will activate the Info/Officers screen and can happen same-day.

The following day, the Our Lodge Page (OLP powered by Groupable) merger can be processed. 

4. The post-merger Local setup process.

Now the Secretary can, in collaboration with their Parent Office as needed, log in to m2 and Setup Dues going through the steps as outlined in the Setting Up Dues for the First Time (video embedded below).

The steps of setting up dues for the first time will require you to have on hand the following materials and information:

1. Your Dues Rates for each Member Type
2. Your Member Types reports from Step 1
3. Any Current Dues Owed (generally dues may be carried, but arrears may not be carried forward in a merger - your Parent Office will provide you the instructions and rules for your organization)

When these are assembled, a Secretary or Assistant Secretary must follow the process for First Time Dues Setup: