Fair warning: you’ll want to read to the end of this post for the punchline. I’ve always loved the stories of the kings in the bible. It’s like going to the movies. There are a lot of villains. Really bad kings who do bad things and create disorder. And there are lots of them. It can all be a bit …
It’s a common story. A person starts a new venture or business. In the early days, the struggle is real, and it’s hard. The trial is marked with uncertainty, much prayer and a building trust. But at some point, there’s a breakthrough. Perhaps it is imperceptible but the struggle is lessened. Or so it seems. And with the success, there’s …
I was talking to my nearly 40 year old friend. I knew some of her story. Some of her teen years and her 20s were filled with tumult. So I asked her, “What advice now would you give your 20 year old self?” She paused, and she laughed. I suspect she pictured herself at 20 – full of vigor and …
Steelcase, the office furniture maker based in Michigan turned 100 years old recently. The feat of surviving 100 years in this age of the ebb and flow of business is hard to imagine. Times change, and businesses must change with those times or they run the risk of being outdated. The fickle nature of the consumer makes it difficult to …
Did you know that the average lifecycle of corporations is 12-15 years, whereas in the 1920s, the average lifecycle was 67 years? What accounts for the difference? Victoria TenHaken, Professor of Management at Hope College, writes in Crain’s Detroit Business that part of the reason may be the objective of the entrepreneur. They may set out on a journey to …
People continue to make sense of the new tax law. What are the opportunities and challenges particularly as it relates to charitable giving? First, the law allows for people to give up to 60% of their adjusted gross income. If you make $100,000, you can give $60,000 and deduct the entire amount. While many may not see this as an …
Can a family last 100 years? A few years ago, Inc. Magazine ran an article titled: “How to Build a Company that Will be Around in 2115 (October 2015). The premise of the article focused on how in the current age most companies are positioned to sell. Investors are willing to put up big money if they can count on …
Flowers only last for a season. Such was the case of the Astor family. John Jacob Astor was born in 1763 in Germany. He emigrated to New York at the end of the Revolutionary War. A chance conversation led him into fur trading and the establishment of a fur goods shop in New York. That little shop was the beginning …
I write often about family, legacy, and generosity. I was having a conversation with a colleague who questioned me about those ideas—how do they go together? He emphasized that family and legacy are felt needs but that generosity is not. True enough. Family affects us every day. We wake up every day influenced by our family of origin or our …
Herman was one of our first clients. He’d had an account with another donor advised fund firm. But he switched to us. He liked the fact that our mission was about building the kingdom of God. If he was going to pay an administrative fee, he wanted it to come to us. But the fact that he wrote a letter …
