Accept the fact that some of the regulars aren't there for the history. Same pattern with philosophy.
It took me some time to come to this same realization. The question posed here was 'What do new Freemasons really want?', not 'What did you want as a new Freemason?'. Every man is different, and while we could probably divide the motivations of coming (and staying) to the Craft into 3 or 4 general categories, the point is that every man comes to Freemasonry for a different reason. For some, it's fellowship, for others it's history, some seek the morality, some like the philanthropic side of things, and some others like the esoteric side. Asking what new Freemasons really want is an offshoot of asking how to bring in and retain more Masons. The problem is, we keep looking at all new and existing Freemasons as wanting the same things and that is simply not the case. Furthermore, I think it is unrealistic to try to excel in the 5 categories mentioned above all within the same Lodge. In many ways, our fraternity is trying to do too much. We have become a jack of all trades, master of none and men are finding other avenues or leaving because while Masonry may contain what they are looking for, it does so to a lesser degree than what they are seeking.
For me, I was interested in the history, morality, and esoteric side of things. Fellowship is great, and I made some great friends through the Lodge, but I never had any intention of spending hours upon hours BSing at the Lodge. Likewise, while I think charity is wonderful and one of our main tenants, it wasn't the reason I came to Freemasonry. Nonetheless, the time that I was able to devote to the Lodge were often spent sipping coffee and telling jokes so long prior to the meeting that we started a half hour late and the discussions around how to logistically work out the next fundraiser took up extra time in the meeting meaning there was none left for discussion, which is what I was there for. So, I got discouraged. I was not getting what I came for, so why stay? But let's not lose sight of the fact that the room was full of other men who were getting exactly what they came for.
It is a difficult problem to solve. The way I see it, there are two solutions; reduce the focuses of what Freemasonry is about, thereby reducing interest but likely retaining those that it attracts, or keep the larger number of focuses but have different Lodges specialize more in some over others. And I think we're starting to see some of the latter with the renewed interest in S&C clubs and TO Lodges. I agree with the idea of casting a wide net to introduce more men to the idea of Light and then letting those interested seek it. The problem I'm seeing (from my personal desires) is that once those who are seeking more Light become interested, they have very few avenues to pursue.