Articles & Guides
My goal is to equip people with the resources to inspire generosity and build enduring legacies. Here are a few of my favorite posts and practical guides on key topics, as well as a few other articles I recommend.
Generosity
The Give a Benjamin Challenge
I often recommend families try this unusual challenge: pick a day and give away $100 in cash. I call it the “Give a Benjamin Day.” It’s a chance to practice a random act of spontaneous generosity.
Guide: Giving As A Family
Practicing generosity as a family provides a powerful catalyst for finding common ground and having important conversations. This simple guide will help you get started.
The Giving Family: A Surprise Lesson
When my kids were still young, I began giving them money each year to donate to a charity of their choosing. It was a valuable exercise—for them and for me!
Legacy
Podcast: How Generosity Transforms Generations
Get a 9-minute introduction to some of the core ideas of family legacy and generosity from my conversation with Christopher Kai, host of The Gifters Podcast.
Guide: Creating Family Vision & Mission Statements
Creating vision and mission statements for your family is an exercise that can set the tone for how your family lives out values individually and collectively. Get started with this guide.
How Do Family, Legacy and Generosity Go Together?
I’ve been asked how the three themes of my personal mission fit together—specifically, how does generosity relate to the felt needs of family and legacy? Here is my answer.
Fundraising
Endowment is a Four-Letter Word?!
In the Christian world, endowments take a hit because they supposedly reflect a lack of faith. I’ve heard it more than once that “if God wants this ministry to continue, then He will provide the funds.”
Finding Major Donors
“Can you introduce me to major donors?” It’s a question I get asked a lot. I introduce the key topic of major donors in this short article on the blog.
Six Facts for Understanding High Net Worth Giving
Major donors are only becoming more important to ministries and non-profits who rely on charitable giving. Review some facts about high net worth donors and what those facts mean for those in development roles.
Books in the Store
A Generous Life
Learn ten steps to help you establish a generous mindset, determine where and how much to give, create a legacy plan, and more.
Charity Shock
Discover how recent cultural shifts are revolutionizing fundraising, and how you can understand and take advantage of these shifts.
Entrusted
Discover why the model for estate planning today is fundamentally flawed, and how it can be fixed.