At the Generous Giving conference we attended back in April, they gave us a sheet titled “Journey of Generosity.” It’s intended as a self-diagnostic–Where are you, really, in your journey toward generosity?–and includes three suggested “stages” in the journey: from “Emerging Giver,” through “Maturing Giver,” and, finally, to “Generous Giver.”

On the back of the sheet, then, there is one more category of person, not exactly parallel with any of the first three. This category refers to people who are motivated to help others become Generous Givers: “Giving Champions”–i.e., not people who wow others by how much they give, but, rather, people who are committed to championing the cause of charitable giving. Read the rest of this entry »

I got a call this evening from someone I haven’t heard from in years. Totally out of the blue. We used to work in the same non-profit agency 17 years ago. He had been doing research on starting a family foundation and ran across our family’s foundation in a list of local entities.

“I know the Holzmanns!” he exclaimed. And called me up.

“I’m wondering if you might be able to provide some help . . . some advice . . . about starting and operating one of these foundations . . . ,” he said. He had no idea I’ve been working on StrategicInheritance.com.

I said I thought I just might be able to help. And so we spoke.

As I noted last month, I’ve been thinking of starting or sponsoring a mastermind group myself–or encouraging Generous Giving to sponsor such groups. In fact, the local Generous Giving rep has contacted me to talk about the subject. Hopefully we’ll get together soon.

But my friend’s call this evening just reinforced to me how valuable such groups could be.

This idea has been bubbling in my brain. I finally did something about it and wrote to a contact at Generous Giving.

Dear ______:

My wife and I attended the spring Generous Giving conference in Colorado Springs. When we heard the testimony of Al & Kathy Caperna the very first night, I couldn’t believe what a breath of fresh air that seemed: at last we had found people with a similar heart for the world, a similar sense of purpose and mission, and the kind of life experiences (owning a company, for example) that more-or-less matched our own. Of course we’re very different. But there are these key commonalities that mean so much to us and, we find, are so rare. Read the rest of this entry »

I just sent L____, our CPA, a summary letter explaining “where we are” in the legacy planning process. Most of what I had to say came from our weekend in Colorado Springs at the Generous Giving conference:

[While at the] “Generous Giving” conference, . . . I had the opportunity to speak with a number of counselors who specialize in the field of legacy- or charitably-oriented estate-planning and with people who have pursued, or are in the midst of pursuing, goals similar to ours.

I asked several of these people for their input on the idea of switching to a 501(c)(3) . . . especially considering–or “if”–there would be UBTI [Unrelated Business Taxable Income]. Read the rest of this entry »

Since I had his ear anyway, while talking with the serial entrepreneur at lunch, I asked him about our legacy planner’s 501(c)(3) proposal.

He didn’t like the idea. From a governance perspective, he didn’t like the idea. Having to report everything the way a 501(c)(3) is required to report it on the standard form 990: that doesn’t look too attractive, either. “But, honestly,” he said, “I really haven’t looked into the 501(c)(3) idea. . . . Your legacy planner probably knows something I don’t.

“However,” he continued, “you may want to talk with _______ of the National Christian Foundation. NCF has something I’ve heard about. Read the rest of this entry »

Below, you will find a portion of one of two videos we’ve seen from Bob Coy.

It matches what I just wrote about last night.

Actually, now that I think of it, Read the rest of this entry »

Image from FlickrSarita and I are at a Generous Giving conference in Colorado Springs for the weekend due to the generosity of someone else, who sponsored our attendance through Waterstone. I’m here primarily (I hope) to develop contacts who may be able to help me serve others through this StrategicInheritance.com website.

I’ll try to provide updates throughout the weekend.