YP Journal
Encouraging Your Grad’s Brand of Philanthropy
If one of the first words out of a toddler's mouth is no, then why is fast behind it. Parents spend a lot of time fielding innocent why questions from children and in later years the frustrating and demanding why questions from teenagers. By the time they graduate...
Start Now and Create a 100 Year Family
How deep and how wide is a family? For genealogy buffs, it’s a look back in time. Let’s look forward and create a 100-year family. What would that look like? What would we have to do today to make it happen? The 100-year family spans generations. In my case, one...
Google Can’t Answer Every Question
I just read that effective people usually ask good questions - not just of others, but of themselves. Then I read this, “Life is a big question that even Google can’t answer.” I don’t know who said it, but it’s the right quote for this fast-paced internet-driven world...
Cares a Whole Awful Lot
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” That’s sage advice from one of the most popular children’s authors of all time, Dr. Seuss. Giving to the causes you care “a whole awful lot about” should be easy. It should...
Giving is a Business Matter
Let’s talk about how giving can be an important part of the WHY of buying. Author Simon Sinek says “People don’t buy or give to WHAT you do or HOW you do it, they buy or give to WHY you do it.” Once you open this door and include giving in your WHY you need to know...
Follow That Apple
Who is going to buy the new Apple Watch? Short answer - the next-gens. They are known as Gen X and Y, can still read small print, and they're younger than me. They are learning new technologies rapidly and integrating them into their lives. Their brains are...
Why Talk About Your Money?
What does your money look like? It used to be green paper and change in our pockets, then paper turned to plastic and now it looks an awful lot like my iPhone. More than ever before the “medium is the message”. How we define money - share, spend, or save it – makes us...
Kids Can Change the World
When asked what he would invent to change the world, he asked for a pass so he could think about it. When we came back to him, he laughed, put his head on the table, giggled and then announced “I would invent a flying hot-dog machine to feed the homeless.” We...
Just my Opinion
May I call myself an expert based on 33 years experience? That's what my opinions are based on - years working in and with nonprofit organizations, and many experiences with donors. I'm going to take the risk and share a couple of opinions. I hope you'll respond with...
The Spirit of the Gift
In my memory he is always sitting. My grandfather could be found in his chair at the end of the kitchen table, behind the steering wheel of his old truck, in the caboose of a Cotton Belt train, and sometimes a top his favorite Appaloosa horse. When he wasn’t riding a...
Four Lessons From Many Puzzles
My work this year can be described as many different puzzles. Whether it was a family, a business, or a foundation fitting all the pieces together was as easy as it was hard. Every puzzle was different, and finishing was rewarding. Giving puzzles are more frequent...
Giving Stories Create Family Legacies
Family legacies grow from stories. I've witnessed it first hand. Last year I spent time with a family mulling over a family gift in honor of grandmother. Grandmother had been involved with several organizations, so the family sorted through various ideas about what...
Give Together, Learn Together
Will the next generation give as much as their grandparents and parents? Which generation is “the next generation”? The answer is relative, isn't it? Every generation wonders about the one that follows. Baby Boomers have been wondering about Generation X and they are...
A Family Experience
I could call it the best family counseling we ever paid for. We weren’t there for family counseling, but if functioning better as a family is a fringe benefit who’s going to complain, right? We turned to Dawn Franks for some good old-fashioned advice on how to be...
Four Ways to Think Small, But Give Big
I was reminded recently to stop and think small. You may ask what happened to think big, dream big, be a part of something big? For just a few minutes, or a small amount of your time, reflect with me on how small can impact your giving in a big way. To Think Small is...
Build Your Own Giving Bridge
I know my childhood memory of the Big Eddy Bridge, now under Lake Palestine, is not quite accurate. But the memory is real. Every chance we got my brother and I would convince my dad to drive over the very old and very rickety bridge. It seemed like every board in...
The Godfather was Wrong
I've been thinking a lot about business and philanthropy lately. Why would a business spend any of their valuable time focused on something other than making a profit? Could being involved with a nonprofit actually make the business better somehow? I've recently been...
Three ways to Explore
A donor asked me if I was familiar with the organization USA Cares. The donor is very interested in supporting their efforts through the Texas Chapter. Since I didn’t know about the organization, I immediately turned to GuideStar to do a quick check of their tax...
A Plain Answer Will Do
The question was posed this way. “The next time you write a column would you answer a question from “a little old lady?” Now without going into a lot of detail I know this “little old lady” quite well. Let’s just say she probably knows me better than I know myself....
The Path Below Giants
Would you follow a path into woods unknown below giant trees? I would follow that path. You see I love trees and I love to follow a path to see where it goes. I’m at a place like that right now. I have no idea where my new path with Your Philanthropy will lead. I...
Philanthropy from Within
“The desire to engage must come from within.” These words came from Azim Premji, chairman of the Indian global technology company Wipro. Premji was the recipient of the Economic Times Life Achievement Award in 2013. In his acceptance speech, he also said,...
Why is it so HOT?
It’s July! What comes to mind? Vacation, swimming, Barb B Q, fireworks, family, baseball. Ok, what would you add to the list? It really is that time of year that can be jam packed with activities just like another time of year – yep, Christmas time. In fact I just...
Summer of Generosity
During the last month, I had conversations with two different mothers, one with average family resources and one with significant resources. In spite of their differences, they had one desire in common. Both mothers hope to raise generous children. Both mothers have...
At the Corner of Happy and Healthy
Happy should describe the way you feel about serving on the board. Healthy should describe the organization. Your time on the board shouldn’t feel like a six year prison sentence, looking through the bars of early interest and well-intended commitment. You remember...
From Best First to Next Best Gift
Please allow me to refer to the donor as HT. “HT said I made a commitment to help"; then later said "I follow through on my commitments." Finally, HT said "I know they need my help to make this idea happen.” Three critical statements made during an hour-long...
Nearly Spaces
I'm nearly moved into new office space. That project is nearly completed. Not long ago I even heard myself tell another person "I have nearly decided and would get back with them." Right now there is more nearly in my life than I like. I'm transitioning into new...
Finally, answers to my questions….
She’s almost here. We’ve been talking about Thayer Willis joining us for Dessert and Coffee for a discussion on intergenerational wealth for months. In spite of an unexpected weather event in March that kept her plane from arriving and the rest of us keeping warm at...
Name That Fundraiser!
Quick – name the last fundraiser you attended. Good music, friends, a fun auction, or a healthy walk through tree lined streets. Were there any nagging questions? How will they use the money raised? How much will be left over after the event expenses are paid? Am I...
Mistakes in Full View
Is there anything more humiliating than making mistakes in full public view? Frankly it frustrates me when mistakes happen for all to see. It happened recently when I posted the YP Journal only to discover it wasn’t working correctly. I immediately received emails...
Inside Outside Information
I’ve had occasion over the years to be involved in a number of giving decisions that didn’t work out as expected. Results we hoped for didn’t materialize. Occasionally, part of the grant was returned if it had not all been spent. In spite of the frustration, the...
Walk and Talk Generosity
I have a distinct memory at ten years old asking my mother at what age I could marry. Her answer was not an age; it was graduate college first. That’s the first time I remember knowing a lot of plans would have to wait until after college. At the time neither...
Describing Wealth
Is it a large pile of money, possessions, or investment portfolios? Our upcoming March speaker, Thayer Willis, describes it this way: “Let’s say the family has a big pile of money and a trail of broken relationships; nobody working or family members doing work that...
Best Birthday Gift
Guest Post by Cathy Krafve Diamonds. Golf clubs. Pearls. Chocolates. Cowboy boots. What is the best birthday gift you ever received? Until last fall, I would have answered my favorite gift was a pair of black lizard skin boots that my husband gave me years ago. Of...
Who is You
One of the things I hear most often these days since announcing Your Philanthropy is spinning off to become its own philanthropic consulting firm is, "I’m so excited for you...now explain again exactly what you’ll be doing?" The question usually can be interpreted to...
Yes, I Love This Work!
Dawn Franks closed a chapter in a 33-year career of working with nonprofits, foundations and companies when she left Fourth Partner on December 31, 2013. She is spinning Your Philanthropy, a service developed in 2013 under the Fourth Partner umbrella, into a private...
The Fifty-Dollar Bonus
Yes, the year is winding down. If you’re like me you’re still rushing around trying to accomplish a few more things on this year’s list before taking a deep breath for a day or two. If giving year-end bonus checks to employees is on your list, you might want to check...
Giving Traditions Create Family Glue
I just measured the stack of letters from various charities seeking funding that has arrived in the last few weeks, and it’s two inches tall. That’s enough to create a Scrooge moment if there ever was one, but if your style is to tackle the stack and get it done as...
Fred Smith: Obstacles or Opportunties
As a percentage of all charitable giving in the United States ($316 billion), the religious sector continues to collect the lion's share - 36 percent. While that is considerably less than the 50 percent of religious giving represented 10 years ago, it is still true...
Fred Smith: The First Leaf of Fall
The Velvet Revolution, or Gentle Revolution, was a non-violent, student-led revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 to December 29, 1989. Dominated by student and other popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist...
SMART and Faith-Based
When is faith-based giving smart? According to Gray Keller, a self-described thinker, author and philanthropist, “It can be the beginning of a journey of a lifetime.” He recently wrote about what he describes as “SMART Giving for the Community of Faith.” I’ve used...
Gift-Giving Advice for Children
I heard a great story last week. A father told me that his young daughter had asked if she could adopt a child in another country and his reply was something like, “Oh honey, the organizations that say they do that are just scams, and the money doesn’t really feed the...
Five Tips for a Better Family Conversation
“We need to talk to our kids about some of our philanthropy decisions, but we’ve never had those kinds of talks before. It’s all in our will, but we haven’t shared it with them. I think we’re late, but when is late too late? We don’t know where to start.” You may...
Fred Smith: My Fair Lady
In 1931, Judge Sam Lindsey donated a plot of land on South Broadway to the Tyler Women's Forum for their new building - the Tyler Woman's Building - with the stipulation that the building be completed within one year. That was quite a challenge in 1931, but it was...
Ready, Set, Go!
As a kid, I can remember the excitement of lining up at recess to begin a race and the teacher saying those exact words, "Ready, Set, Go!" We were all supposed to take a moment at the chalked starting line to get ready, set our tennis shoes in the most advantageous...
When is Late Too Late?
That was the question she asked me in a casual conversation recently. It started as the common “how are things going?” conversation. She asked about our organization's name change again, "Your something?" I reminded her it was "Your Philanthropy" and things were...
Fred Smith: It’s a Conspiracy
Like most of the people reading this, I have more than enough meetings. So, when someone calls and says they want to get together, I have learned to ask a few questions ahead of time. I should have asked more questions about my meeting this week with Steve Smith. I...
Changing Leadership, Changing Gifts
The conversation went something like this: “I’m sure you’ve heard they have a new Executive Director. What do you think is happening over there? Do you think they will survive?” The answer is yes, they will survive. In fact, my guess is they’ll still be going strong...
Fred Smith: Mailbox Money
My family moved to Tyler in 1984, and I almost immediately began teaching a Bible study that had been going for 20 years. The couples had begun as young parents and kept meeting weekly through all the stages of raising children and seeing them go off - and then...
Another Side of Why
The eraser came hurling directly at me. I had just asked my favorite professor if he could explain the concept he was teaching in our summer statistics class one more time. The concepts were challenging for me, and my professor lost patience with my continual...
Maxi Anderson: A Millennial Perspective
Note: Maxi Anderson, 18, is a recent graduate of All Saints Episcopal School and is an incoming freshman at the University of Oklahoma. She is part of the Generation Y/Millennial age group, which is loosely identified as being born after 1979. We asked Maxi to write...
The Next Generation of Givers: Steven Rogers
Steven Rogers was raised in Tyler, Texas, in a family that is serious, but quietly active in the giving community. Today he works as a business consultant and has been working with clients both in the U.S. and Mexico. When he was in his senior year at Wheaton College...
The Proof Is In The Pudding
At a family reunion this past weekend, I learned my father used to pay his younger siblings a nickel for their chocolate pudding when he came home on military leave. He loved chocolate pudding, and I was raised on it – the homemade kind my mother cooled down in a...
Fred Smith: Inheritance
When my father died I was named the executor of the estate. While I had read through some articles on the subject, I was not prepared for the actual work required of me for the next full year. I could not have imagined the complexity involved and the maddening...
Fred Smith: The Land of Opportunity
Kyle Penney at the East Texas Communities Foundation has created an interesting and insightful study of the transfer of wealth that is going on in East Texas and will last for at least the next 50 years. While the total transfer in the United States is in the...
The Overhead Question
Once when I worked at the East Texas Crisis Center, I received a call from a potential donor named Ray who had been referred to us by friends while playing golf. Ray was new in the area and wanted to visit with me and learn more about the Crisis Center. At that point...
No Secret Recipe
Wouldn’t it be great if you could go online and find a recipe for effective philanthropy that resulted in the perfect gift every time? It would be wonderful to do away with the anxiety of not knowing if your gift accomplished what you hoped for - or even worse - the...
Fred Smith: The Next 10 Years in East Texas
In 1952 a minister, Sam Shoemaker, told Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania city leaders that “one day Pittsburgh will be more famous for God than steel.” That was quite a statement to make at the time. Pittsburgh was the steel capital of the world. It wasn’t a boast or...
We’re Going All the Way
“If you’re going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t even start.” Writer and poet Charles Bukowski said it very succinctly. Start and go all the way. We’re doing exactly that, we’re starting something new – Your Philanthropy - and we’re going all the way. There...
