Blog
Day 1 Benefit Dinner Honoring the Legacy of Joan and Bill Law
It was a privilege to speak at the Day 1 Benefit Dinner honoring the Legacy of Joan and Bill Law. They were a pleasure to know and to work with. Gracious, generous, low key and effective, they epitomized success while serving others. Supportive of their family,...
Our Quest For Significance
Each of us, through our contributions as volunteers and benefactors, holds the power to change the course of society for the better. We can leave our mark on this world with the time and resources that we dedicate to others. That is what becomes our legacy. The...
How Can Your Nonprofit Startup Attract Donors?
Starting a nonprofit is no different than starting a for-profit business. There are thousands that spring up each year, and unfortunately, thousands more that go under within their first few years of existence. The reality is, even the best causes aren’t enough to...
Patrick Renn: Insiders Forum Interview
Be the Quarterback of your Legacy
With football season underway, I’ve been thinking a lot about the parallels between the sport and retirement, specifically legacy building. In today’s game, there’s no quarterback with a greater legacy than Tom Brady. Forgive me, Falcons fans, but it’s true, and we...
Keeping Up to Date on Your Giving Capacity
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it because I know it to be unambiguously true, and because I think potential donors always need to hear it: when we know we can do more to make an impact, we want to do more. But, how do we figure that out? It starts with...
The Challenges of Being a Grandparent
If you’re lucky enough to have been blessed with grandchildren, you know how much of a joy they can be in your life. In retirement, being involved in the lives of your grandchildren can be an uplifting role that fills us with a renewed purpose while we work through a...
Living with a Mentality of Abundance
Life is rarely a zero-sum game. On the contrary, humanity has been able to ascend as a species by being able to cooperate more effectively than any other mammal. Yet, it seems to make intuitive sense that if someone else is winning, we lose. Resources after all,...
Philanthropically Funding the Arts, Pt. 2
When funding the arts, tangible feedback is difficult to ascertain aside from naming a theatre, etc. As such, it keeps donors away. They feel like their money can make a bigger impact in other areas. That’s fine and likely true. Another major criticism of arts funding...
Philanthropically Funding the Arts, Pt. 1
My passion is philanthropy. I live by my own philosophy of charitable giving and I have dedicated my career to helping others do the same. I talk about philanthropy interchangeably with charity and giving, though I think among these concepts of generosity,...