The Kingdom Investor

21 - What’s Your Giving Game Plan? | Steve Kaloper

October 25, 2022 Daniel White Episode 21
The Kingdom Investor
21 - What’s Your Giving Game Plan? | Steve Kaloper
Show Notes Transcript

Countless people want to give generously to causes and non-profit organizations locally and internationally but they just don’t know where to look or how to start. Sometimes, the lack of knowledge and indecision leads to unpleasant giving experiences, hesitation to give, or inability to give at all. It is therefore important for individuals, couples, families, or organizations to have a giving plan to causes and nonprofits that speak to their hearts and minds and that reflect their values and interests.

Our guest, Steve Kaloper of DoingGoodBetter, joins us today to shed some light on some issues and challenges about wealth and asset stewardship, and philanthropy. He maintains that having a giving plan is just as crucial as having a business plan for corporate and financial pursuits. If you‘re one of those people afflicted by analysis paralysis in charitable giving or if you just want to be a smarter and more strategic giver who wants to understand how your contribution makes a difference, this episode is for you. Click now and start listening.

Key Points From This Episode: 

  • Steve shares his personal and family background. 
  • Steve opens up about his personal mission work and shares his life's mission purpose statement.
  • Steve’s early career and early involvement in mission work.
  • Why it is important to have a family conversation about wealth and assets as well as about stewardship and giving.
  • What has been the pivotal moment that God used to change Steve’s heart about stewardship, giving, and dedicating his life to mission work?
  • What has been the most surprising thing that Steve has learned in his kingdom-centric journey?
  • How does Steve help individuals, couples, and families in identifying and crafting their giving plan?
  • What does Steve think is the biggest barrier to unlocking that kingdom capital?
  • Steve talks about DoingGoodBetter, the giving foundation he started with his wife Shannon.
  • Steve answers the lightning-round questions.

Tweetables:

"I love being able to get people together. I feel that that's what God's given me as a calling.”

“There’s an unbelievable hunger for men to figure out how to do life with their spouse and to have their wife involved in doing good and stewardship.”

“The conversation is going to take place about wealth and assets. It just depends if it's going to take place over the coffin or on the kitchen table. It's up to us to decide.”

“Recognizing that we have just been given a talent, and we should put it to good use. Recognizing that our talent is 100% God's, our resources are 100% God's and that the time that we've been blessed with is God's timing and it can be taken away at any second. And so, maximize it. That to me is the trigger, so unleash it.”

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Doing Good Better

Email Steve Kaloper


About Steve Kaloper 

As founder and CEO of DoingGoodBetter & Development Services Group, Steve partners with non-profit organizations both domestically and internationally. He also serves high-capacity families with an investment banking model for philanthropy. Steve has over 20 years of experience in marketing, developing strategic relationships in the private, public and non-profit sectors having served over 600 organizations and families globally. In 2010, Steve and Shannon started their giving fund, The DoingGoodBetter Foundation. In 2015, he authored his first book, “The Journey Into DoingGoodBetter!” As Co-Founder and CEO of the Kingdom Capital Group, Steve developed the concept of Impact Philanthropy, a results-oriented approach to giving—and a key aspect of the New Wave of Philanthropy.

EPISODE 21

[INTRODUCTION]

ANNOUNCER: Imagine taking your generosity to the next level, impacting more lives, and leaving a godly legacy for generations to come. Get ideas and strategies to do just that when you listen to these personal stories from high-level Kingdom champions.

The Kingdom Investor Podcast showcases business leaders who have moved from success to significance, sharing how they use worldly wealth for Kingdom impact. Discover how they grew in generosity, impacted more lives, and built godly legacies. You'll find motivation, inspiration, and practical steps to grow as a Kingdom Investor.

Daniel White (DW):  Hello and welcome to the kingdom investor podcast. This is your host Daniel White. And today we interview Steve Kaloper, the founder and CEO of Doing Good Better. Steve partners with nonprofit organizations both domestically and internationally. He also serves high-capacity families with an investment banking model for philanthropy. Steve has over 20 years of experience in marketing, developing strategic relationships in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, having served over 900 families and organizations globally. In 2010, Steve and his wife started their giving fund the Doing Good Better Foundation and he also authored a book called "The Journey Into Doing Good Better". And without further ado, let's get right into the show.

[INTERVIEW]

David Clinton (DC):  Hello, and welcome to The Kingdom Investor Podcast. We've got our host, Daniel, here. And I'm the co-host, David Clinton. Our guest today is Steve Kaloper. Steve, we'd love to get to know you today a little bit, about what you're doing in the kingdom. Would you mind opening us by praying for our guests?

Steve Kaloper (SK):  Yeah, absolutely, David. Thank you.

Lord, we just are grateful that you love us. I believe that we desire that others will know you as we do. We appreciate your grace and mercy and we appreciate the opportunity to journey with our spouses and our families as it's on our heart to make a difference and to be bold for you, to serve others, to be an example of who you are, and to glorify you. And we ask this in Christ, amen. 

DC: Amen. Thank you, Steve. Well, would you start out by telling us just a little bit about you, where you grew up, and where you came from, and where you are now.

SK:  Certainly. I grew up in Southern California, born and raised. I live in Atlanta, and my wife and I have been in Atlanta now for 25 years. We just celebrated our 33rd anniversary just on Saturday and we celebrated with some friends. And you know, it's been an incredible journey to date. And we've got another 50 more years to go. We're really excited about things that we're involved with, we have four adult-aged kids that are between 21 and 28. So, right now we're just kind of doing life with them. But, both my wife and I are just on mission, passionate about what we both do in our respective lanes and very complimentary of each other and it's awesome. But, born and raised in California, in Atlanta. People in a lot of different markets don't realize that I don't live in Houston or Dallas, or Franklin, Tennessee, or California, because I'm often in a lot of places, which is a blessing.

DC:  A lot of travel. Does your wife travel with you? 

SK:  On occasion. We travel more for fun. She travels on occasion when it's ministry or mission related. Of course, she enjoys that but she's got a career and really involved with our kids. And so she doesn't travel as much as I do, certainly. But when she does, I certainly like it. 

DC: Okay, awesome. 

SK: People. What I have found across the country whenever my wife and I travel is that they like her much more than they like me.

DC:  Oh, I see. Strategic to leave her at home sometimes then. 

SK: Exactly. Exactly. 

DC: When you talk about being on a mission with your wife, what is that? Could you dive into that a little bit?

SK:  Yeah. I think, in a nutshell, probably about 15 years ago, both of us figured out that, you know, certainly I recognize that as a man and leader of my home that calling is being a provider and a protector with my wife and my kids. And if I do that in good faith and good character and with integrity, that's awesome. That's what God's called us to do. But when we wake up every day, feeling passionate and excited about what it is that we love to engage, and how we're moving the needle and whatever that regard is, that's the bonus. And to me, it's not a cherry on top; it's more like fudge. It's everything integrated.

DC:  That's great.

SK:  It's the ethos of who we are. That's all mixed up in that recipe. That's what I feel like I've reached a point where at 54 I feel like I'm literally waking up every day just excited and jacked up. But of course, there's stressors and things that are on my shoulders and things that worry me. That's why I wake up at four o'clock in the morning, sometimes, and my wife's, what Shannon's like, "What are you doing, it's four o'clock in the morning?" "Gotta get some things done, I gotta get at it." That to me is when we're doing what we're called to do, I believe that God wants us to succeed. He desires for us to be fruitful for him. And I just, I trust him that. In fact, our family motto of probably 16 years, our kids are between 21 and 28. So we felt like we needed something very simple that our kids could resonate with when they were little as we were growing them up. And our family motto was very simple. It was, "We do our best and let God do the rest." And even as an adult at 54, I constantly remind myself, okay, I'm just gonna do my best, God. But he gave me a talent and a passion and wants me to get out there. So, that's what it is for me. So

DC: That's awesome. 

DW:  Steve, I'm just getting to know you. So, I'd love to hear just a little bit more of your backstory, and you know, what kind of business you got into and kind of how that moved? And how you really came to see the world as it is now?

SK:  Yeah, well, good question. Of course, life is a journey. My personal life mission today, which has been for 17 years is to assist and serve a thousand organizations and families to realize over a billion dollars for kingdom and ministry purposes. That's been my life's mission purpose statement for 17 years. I was in a life coaching program called the master's program at a time when I was in the direct mail space. Handling direct mail, my client that I was serving as a vendor was the Salvation Army. My book of clients grew substantially over a number of years, and 100% client retention and my client base grew because what the officers at the Salvation Army realized is that I would be willing to meet with their team and go on calls with them to meet with foundations and corporate leaders and I was facilitating advisory board luncheons. I was the direct mail vendor but I was engaged in a part of what they were doing. And, I loved it. 

SK: But I never took them to golf. I paid for golf, and I went home and I could practice, or I was at the lacrosse game. So, I had about 200 day trips, several years in a row, which was pretty crazy. I leave the house at five in the morning, I'd be home three or four and go to baseball or whatever the sports. And that day I might have been in Dallas, or San Diego or wherever. It was crazy. But developing that life mission statement created clarity. It was like, when I wake up, this is what I feel that God's given me as a purpose - to assist and serve a thousand organizations and ministries and families, to realize a billion dollars for kingdom and ministry purposes. That became my clear path and my mission. And to date, in some capacity, I've served about 60-plus families that I would consider higher-capacity families, people that give $300 to $3 or $4 million annually. And there's a unique process on how I've been able to do that. And there's some things that are lining up that are pretty exciting to do that more. And then I've partnered, in some capacity, with about 900 Christian ministries across the country and around the world. And that's been pretty awesome. 

SK: But growing up in Southern California, I grew up on what would be maybe the lower side of the tracks, and I had to learn to scrape and figure out life as a teenager and I worked hard and had multiple part-time jobs and first in my family to go to college and graduate. My wife and I were in college together at UC Irvine, growing up in Southern California. We were married. So, we graduated as Mr. and Mrs. Steve Kaloper and baby. That was a little timing thing. But it's been an awesome blessing. And, ironically right out of the gate, I worked in financial services, Smith, Barney, Merrill Lynch, and that's gonna book a business. I liked it, but I didn't love it. It was like I liked it, I felt like I was great with people. I had an art and a knack for it. But it was like, this isn't what I want to do for 40 years. I look back a couple of times and I thought that was a pretty good guess. But, really the journey and I'll be quick on this part.

SK:  I know it as if it was yesterday, Phil Wilson had just come out of the NFL. He was a real estate developer, Dr. Dobson had plucked Phil to be head of stewardship or development with the Family Research Council. I was 29 and met with Phil and he thought I would be really great at something called development. And I had no idea what it was but he said, you're passionate about the mission of FRC. You're good with people, people resonate with you and you're good a communicator. So love to have you on our team. And, I did it, went for it, loved it. And so we lived in DC for a year and then moved to Atlanta, which is where I've, we've been for 25 years. But it was the transition from FRC to the kind of the corporate agency world where the agency that I was a part of we were doing a little under $40 million in revenue growth to about $120 million. It was a privately-held business. And then Omnicom Corporation came and that was the end of the story. 

SK: I had a one-year noncompete, the same time as I was in this life coaching program when I really crystallized my life purpose mission statement. And I was serving on a number of boards and reporting and I was a board member, and all of a sudden, I realized, a lot of these organizations don't really have the capacity or the ability to implement what they recognized, or they identified - I didn't know necessarily, they were good ideas - they were just ideas. And they kept saying these are good ideas. And recognizing they didn't have the ability to implement. So, I said, let's just figure out how to serve ministries. And so that's been my focus either ministries or conservative organizations to match my values. If an organization doesn't meet my litmus test, which is if I'm going to give it my greatest asset, which is my time, next asset is talent, and then I support them also. And so if it doesn't meet that litmus test, then I move on to the next one, or make myself available to the next one.

DC:  Neat. And you've said you started about 900 organizations since you made that life mission. Is that right?

SK:  Yeah, about 900, some for six or eight years, some for a year, six months. The interval doesn't matter. It's the partnership and to serve. But you know, and I love doing that. I love serving ministries and nonprofits and being in the donor relation, curation of messaging and creating the environments. I'm doing that here in Southern California this week, and I did a couple last week in Atlanta in Birmingham, etc. I love doing that. I love being able to get people together. I feel that that's what God's given me as a calling. And I have a real heart and a passion for, David, the topic that you've invited me in on today, which is stewardship and philanthropy. And the real question came to me about five years ago, we were going through some things and some life change. My wife and I were about to face empty nester. So we're right on the cusp of a family changing the dynamic. And so, I sat back about four, almost five years ago, and I said, How do I want to do life in these three lanes? Life with my spouse and my adulting kids. How do I want to use my vocation and my business platform and my network for good? What does that look like? And then what is this asset stewardship investments with my portfolio? What's mine? What's kingdom? What's God's? What does that look like? And then how does that blend into my vocational platform and my marriage and family? 

SK: And I just started the journey in that lane, even though I had done a lot of work in the stewardship space. And it was amazing, because wherever I would go, I'd be one on one with someone or I'd be in a small group. And I would just kind of put that on the table. And if I was one on one, this happened probably half a dozen times. A man would tear up and say, that's me. A group of men would not in lean it. An unbelievable hunger for men to figure out how to do life with their spouse and to have their wife involved in doing good and stewardship. The wife is busy, and kids and grandkids and all these other things. But the husband is like, hearing from his wife, hey, you make the money, give it where you want. And he's like, I want to do it with you. I want you on the team. We're a team. And every once in a while, she has to say, hey, I'm tapping out. I got a lot of stuff going on because there's a heart of the family that she's wanting to make sure it's nurtured. 

DC:  Certainly. It's interesting. That's a struggle that a lot of people experience, isn't it? That wanting to do that, that stuff, moving kingdom stuff forward and impacting alongside your spouse, being on a team together. But there's so many competing things for our time, and our energy and our attention.

SK:  Yeah, I was with a guy recently. He and his wife and the conversation with their kids was, hey, we're gonna bring them to the conversation about stewardship and giving. We want them to experience philanthropy. We want to hear their voice. We want to hear what their ideas are. And I recognize that they as a couple weren't yet on the same page. And I wouldn't have told him unless they asked, and they said, well, Steve, what do you think? And I said, well, let me use this analogy. When your kids were little, and you knew that you had to prepare dinner? Did you set the menu and then go ask everybody what they want? Because you'd have five different menus. Or did you prepare the meal and invite them to the table. I said, for now, you too, as a couple needs to prepare it, and invite them to the table. Let them enjoy the meal and the experience and the conversation around the meal until they're ready to prepare the meal. 

SK: And as a mom, she was like, oh, I get it. Because that was her lane. She could relate to that. So my suggestion is as a couple is, get on the same page, doesn't have to be 100%. But whatever that is, get on the same page and get on a mission. And then you have your kids or teenagers or in their 20s or whatever, then you start to invite them to the conversation. There's a good friend of mine. And David, I know you're going to be talking to him. His name is Dwayne. He's a phenomenal guy. I heard him say a couple years ago at any event that I was at, the conversation is going to take place about wealth and assets. It just depends if it's going to take place over the coffin or on the kitchen table. It's up to us to decide.

DC:  It's gonna happen one way or another.

DW:  So, Steve, if you think back to really kind of where all this started and maybe the genesis story of this, was there a particular moment that God really used to change your heart about things like this?

SK:  I don't know if there was necessarily a trigger moment. But more of a journey, where I started to recognize more and more, especially as I became a Christian at 21. It was May of '89, I accepted the Lord, my wife and I did together. And then a couple of weeks later, I asked her to marry me. We were baptized and married all within about three months. You know, why wait? But the journey was really a process of just always curious. You know, am I really saved? How much of my talent? Do I have one talent, three talents, five talents, you know, that curation of what is doing my best mean? And what is that? And then I started to translate that into, that's a talent, but it's also a resource. And what does that look like regarding resources and talent and kind of that whole thing? That's where the analogy of the fudge plays in? That it's everything.

DC: That's interesting. That's crazy.

SK: I see there's a funky light, there's a funky light behind. 

DC:  That's okay. I'm curious. Along this journey, is there anything, what kind of things did you learn that you didn't expect? That surprised you?

SK:  Oh, interesting question. Surprises all the time. I've always found that. I'm truly just surprised and amazed at favor. I had no idea that I felt like I had some favor with people. And I'm not gonna mention his name but he's known me for a long time. He's quite, not significantly older, but he's definitely older, from a worldly sense, very successful financially. And we were in his town. Let me put it that way. We were in his town, and it was in December, and we were visiting and we were having a cocktail and an appetizer. And he says, you know, Steve, I'm curious. He says, you seem to have a lot of favors with these individuals all around the country. He said, I travel. I'm in a lot of different networks and your name comes up and it's always complimentary to your enthusiasm and passion for the kingdom and things about life and marriage and your kids and you're very focused on marriage and family and the things that you're involved with. He says, I'm curious how many individuals do you know from a stewardship perspective that have a net worth over $10 million. And I was like, that's like a layup. If that was Kobe, that'd be like a layup. I don't know, I said about a hundred people.  A hundred people, that's a lot. So, what about $50 million? And I said, I don't know, probably 80. He said, what about $100 million? It's a bit different, maybe 50. He said, wow, that's pretty impressive. He said, what about billionaires? How many billionaires do you know? And I said, ones that I could send a text to and say, would you like to meet me for a cocktail? And he said, okay, good point. But his question to me was, see, that's a blessing. Now, what? 

DC: Interesting, wow. 

SK: I never thought about that. I didn't realize that somebody identified and saw that having access or having favor with people was a blessing.

DC: Yeah, that's awesome. I think about stewardship is such a holistic thing. And often we talk about time, talents and treasures. But there's other things that sometimes that misses, like our influence, right, or attention. And that can be a huge resource that God gives us to bless others with as well.

SK: Yeah, and I don't try to sway or to push people to support or get involved with anything in particular. What I feel is my gift is to say, I want to pursue and get to know people and hear their hearts, so I understand their interests. And then when something lines up with that, I say, here's an opportunity to meet and greet, or to learn. And sometimes it is a learning and it's a journey, it might not be immediate, and if it's not a fit, essentially to identify that is life. And it's about people and it's about heart. And I believe that the donor today and I think the shift took place really an accelerated in 2008 through 2010 where it became less about transaction. And, I like you, I trust you. It came more down to what results are you achieving, and people starting to think about, which is what I do in the donor space, helping the donor, the couple have identified their heart, their passion, what they're trying to do to move the needle in whatever that area of interest. And then analysis of alignment of which organizations best achieve that. 

SK: It's not necessarily about what organizations do you want to support, it's what do you want to achieve. And then the process becomes well, oh, this organization you care about at-risk kids, and then all of a sudden, the organization pops up with an opportunity to learn about an organization about at-risk kids? And you say, I don't know, maybe, maybe they're the best. Let me check it out. Maybe not. But at least you're open to saying I'm going to engage and explore it. And then the organization really has to earn the right to be the best, or at least in the top tier. That donor that's got incredible resources or blessing says, oh, you're one of the one organizations that I want to support in that lane. And then they gotta continue to sharpen themselves and keep making sure that they're one of the top three, or five or one.

DC: To stay in the game. 

SK: Yeah. You got to stay in the game. 

DW:  Steve, you had talked about really serving a group of people that are kind of in between, you know, maybe in between $300,000 to $4 million per year in giving. And, you know, that kind of they're not quite big enough for like a full-fledged foundation and those operations, but they still, you know, really kind of need counsel and coaching on how to give well. What do you think are the biggest needs and the biggest ways that you serve them? 

SK: Yeah, good question. I don't give direction to anyone based on setting up a private foundation or using a donor-advised account. There are a lot of options in both lanes. But when I'm working with someone, I try to really get to the art of the process to discover what it is that gets them excited and getting them jacked up. And I just give that illustration of $300,000 to $4 million because that's how I'm currently serving people in that lane. If somebody came along and said, I've got $100 million dollars to give away, we'll figure it out. So, we'll see. But for right now, that's the lane. I do find, I'll be candid to say that, people that start getting into three, four or five million or plus annually, really need a full-time team. They need at least a couple of people and that's what they do when they wake up. And I've played a role in that. By the way, I don't charge anything for these services. My wife and I, we have a foundation called the Doing Good Better Foundation where I serve a couple of family. They say what's your fee, how much does this cost? And I say, well, I tell you what, you just put a contribution in my foundation and I'll give it. And typically within 48 hours of money sitting in my account, it's out the door. I already know your organizations and I'm excited about. 

SK: But, let me give a quick illustration. A lot of the processes in art, I gave a talk several years ago to a group. I was invited by an individual that probably listeners would know in the stewardship space. And so, he asked me to come in and speak to a group of some couples, and there was an individual there that his wife was not with him. But he liked what he heard and he said, hey, I want to dive in. And I want to go through this process. What does that look like? And I said, well, it's, you know, half a day, and I'll fly in. I said, you buy me an airline ticket, I'll be there. So we figured it out. I flew in. 

SK: We spent about two hours in the morning, just getting to know each other relationally, he and his wife. And then we started to get into the process. And it was not about how much, it was more about where and why and the journey of just conversation and heart. Well, two hours into the conversation, the wife is looking at me and she says, I would like to support the unborn baby. And the tear came down her face. I locked in on her. He's in his early 60s. She's in her late 40s. First-time marriage for both of them. And I said, tell me about that. I had her on the pocket. What comes out of that conversation in the next 30 minutes is three things. But this is the number one. I made a regrettable decision when I was a teenager. Tears. He's now in tears, because he did not know. So, there was this heartfelt connection. 

SK: Now, if I would have paused and looked at the whiteboard, there was nothing about saving the unborn baby on that whiteboard, nothing that they were involved with. The next thing that came out was, she said, I'd like to give a million dollars to protecting the unborn baby and looks at her husband who's now crying and she says do we have a million dollars? So, the couple they weren't even on the same page with what they could achieve financially, or in their stewardship. And he's crying and says, honey, we have many times that. So then we move to some of the things they were currently doing but they developed a very strategic giving plan for the next three years to deploy $3 million in various aspects of saving babies. Now, the three things that happened out of that conversation that day was one, a heartfelt connection. They got on the same page with what their capacity was. And then, they developed a plan and said, let's go. And then I just journeyed with them. I was giving a talk in the fall of 2019 right before the world changed for a blip. And it was a group of farmers in Fresno, California. I have extended family that live in the valley. By the way, the valley is the Bible Belt of California.

DC: Is it?

SK: And Fresno is the belt buckle. So, I'm giving this talk. And one of the gentlemen that's known me for a long time, says, hey, Steve, can I get some more time with you? And we go back to his office and he's in his early 70s. No airs, has never been married. He's got quite a bit of assets. He's got an agricultural production, producing net profit about four and a half, five million dollars per year. And he's trying to figure out how to be more effective with his stewardship. He puts a plot down and shows me all of his parcels. And there were four pieces of property that were not contiguous to most of his land. And I asked him, his name was Ron, and I said, Ron, tell me about those four pieces. That's profitable but it's a pain. I got to ship, I got to transport all the production over to the other property to get to the package, etc. I said, what's the value of those pieces of property? And he says, individually or all together? And I said, all together. I said, if you were bundling them, what would it be? And he said, I don't know, four million. 

SK: And I said, I want to propose something because you're trying to free up more capital for stewardship. I said, but here's my question. Do you want to save money on taxes and give more? It's either yes or no? And he said, yes, of course. So, the game plan became tactical. Pay less in taxes and give more. Now it was mechanics. In a nutshell, I said, let's open up a donor-advised account. And he said, what's that? So, I explained the donor-advised account. Within about three days we put the ownership of that property in the donor-advised account. Let it settle. Thirty days later, he made a few phone calls and a farmer ended up, a buddy of his, bought that land. He took a $3.4 million tax deduction over the next three years. He sold the land for $4.2 million with no taxable event and had $4.2 million in his donor-advised account and said, that was fun. We'll do that again. 

DC: Yeah, that's amazing. 

SK: But it wasn't so much about the process of the donor-advised account or foundation because that's quarterbacking. That's the strategy. But what it allowed him to do is it accelerated his annual giving from about $500,000 to about a million and a half over the next three years because now he had an additional million-plus that he wanted to give. So, he unpacked cumulatively, instead of $1.5 million over three years, he had packed close to $5 million over that same timeframe.

DC:  Interesting. The joy that came from giving that initial piece which grew his desire to grow and give more. Wow.

SK: Yeah, over that three years, he would have given about a million and a half. And now he gave five. Yeah. So it was pretty cool. David, I know that we spoke offline about this, and I won't mention the firm or the people, but there's a lot of kingdom capital in bank accounts. And wealth management firms, even donor-advised account organizations, you know, one, in particular said a couple of years ago, they said, you know, isn't that exciting, we have a billion dollars under management. And I said, that's great. But wouldn't it be better to have a billion dollars in the kingdom? 

DC: You're right. Yeah. 

SK: I was gonna say this wealth management firm has identified that they've got over 100 clients that have net worth in their donor-advised accounts of $10 million or more. And people are just giving away the minimum 5% to the organizations that they like. Oh, I like this organization, here's 50 grand. While this organization, here's a hundred grand versus having a tactical game plan. How do we want to move the needle in whatever lane it is that we're excited about?

DC:  It seems like hard work to figure out that game plan. And it's easier just to give to what you already know, right? I wonder, from your perspective, what's the biggest barrier, you think, to unlocking that kingdom capital which really seems like more of a heart issue than a tactical issue generally?

SK:  Yeah, you know, it's interesting. It's interesting, what came to mind, when you asked me that question is, when people put money, call it into their donor \-advised account, they've given it. They've already given it for tax purpose. They've already taken the transaction of a tax deduction. But somehow they people want to hold on to it thinking that it's still like, their asset. And all they have to do is develop a game plan, and an execution of the capital. Giving it out, they just have to develop a game plan. So, to me much in whether it be in business, 

In business, we have a business game plan. Some families might have a family plan. But what I have found in the lane that I'm in is that very few have a stewardship philanthropy plan. Even at a high level, they don't have a plan. They don't have an act of giving statement. They don't have like areas of interests or sectors or, you know, what are you wanting to accomplish? Great Commission and the Gospel? Was that domestic? Is it international? Just identifying, what is it? And then once we know what our plan is, we do more of it.

DC:  Right, and without that plan, the needle doesn't move at all.

SK: I think the biggest thing is that people, exactly, people, people have the asset, and they think it's still theirs. So they haven't relinquished it fully. And then they don't have necessarily a clear plan to say, this is what I want to accomplish and achieve either as a couple or as a family. Let's go. Many do. There are a lot that do. So I'm not there's a lot to do. But there's a lot of capital that just isn't in a position because the family or the couple hasn't gotten to that point yet.

DC:  I think our listeners would love to learn more about DoingGoodBetter and how to engage with you in this sort of thing. If we've got somebody who wants to get a hold of you, what's the best way for them to do that?

SK:  My site DoingGoodBetter.org  or Steve@doinggoodbetter.org is my email address. I often jump on virtual calls or receive phone calls from people that are just in the midst of some topic, tactics and you just need a sounding board. I've journeyed with a number of couples and like I said, if people feel like that they want a little bit more depth or time, then the only thing I ask is I'm giving you the talent and the time and I want to help serve you. And I'd like to be able to accelerate my (inaudible), that's the only outcome that I ask for and that's loosely presented. But email Steve@doinggoodbetter.org or my website. I'll be able to connect with anybody, answer questions, or sometimes people just start on, you know, I know that there's a lot of men out there that are trying to figure out, call it the joy of the journey with their wife. They're trying to figure out, okay, we are in the season of life, how does my wife get more involved because I want to do this together. A man doesn't want to feel like they're dragging their wife to another dinner banquet. 

DW:  So Steve, what would your number one piece of advice for our listeners be in really taking their generosity to the next level and impacting more people in their community and around the world, and really thinking about creating that godly legacy.

SK:  What I see in people is that when they recognize that they're blessed and it's not theirs, the trigger of why me? That they recognize that it's theirs. And for people that are able to do that, let go of it, God will continue to bless them, they can live life to whatever way that they want. But I know individuals that I'm running with that they do not need to work, they can tap out, they could have already, and they literally work to do two things, pay their taxes into gift. That's it. It's 100%. Make half a million, a million or 3 million, they pay their taxes and they give. And that's pretty cool. 

SK: Recognizing that they just have been given a talent, and they want to put it to use. Recognizing that their talent is 100% God's. Their resources are 100% God's, and that our time that we've been blessed with is God's timing and it can be taken away at any second. And so, maximize it. That to me is the trigger, so unleash it. 

And, David, you've heard me share this too. I think that we're in a pivotal time in the world. I showed this at a luncheon yesterday, to kick it off, which is I get asked the question, are we in end times? Are we in end times and I say, I have no idea. But it began when Christ was on the cross and it accelerated when he arrives. Now, the timeline of what that looks like? I have no idea. But if we are, then from a stewardship perspective, why not be urgent see?

DC:  Right? Let's use these resources as soon as we can. 

SK:  Exactly. When Christ returns and we all go to heaven, he's not gonna say, hey, man, you did such a phenomenal job, you had $12 million in your donor-advised account or whatever. And then on the other hand, if we're not in an acceleration of end times, the darkness, the depravity, the suicides, the hurting, the hopelessness, the darkness. We know that with the relationship with Christ, we have hope, and therefore hopeless, and we have a relationship with Christ, now, we're hopeful. Why not the urgency? I tell people all the time, that as Christians, it's a win-win. 

DW:  All right, Steve, we're gonna enter the lightning round. We have a couple of quick questions for you. And the first one is, what book are you currently reading?

SK: Oh, that's a good question. I have a stack of books. I'm reading a biography on Ronald Reagan. The last book I just finished was Brian Kilmeade on Jefferson. The War of 1812 in New Orleans which is a pretty phenomenal book. But, I'm reading Reagan's biography because his movies are coming out, and I wanted an inside snapshot. 

DC: Oh, neat. 

SK: Ronald Reagan was phenomenal. Where's Reagan today? 

DW:  Steve, what's the most unique place that you've ever been to?

SK:  Unique from an experience standpoint? 

DW: Yes. 

SK: Boy, I'd say from a unique standpoint with my family. We did a family mission trip about 10, 12 years ago to Morocco which was a phenomenal experience. I've been in the slums of India, and that was a pretty off-the-charts experience just to get your head around. Especially with a couple of guys that I was with, we weren't exactly how to get out. So, I never told my wife that. But that was definitely an exhilarating experience. One of the most moving moments was, in two cases it had to do with orphanages, one in Northern Thailand, in Chiang Mai. I was with my wife and a group and the emotions that I saw my wife experience entering that orphanage in Chiang Mai, Thailand, that was really moving for me because I saw that emotion in her. 

SK: But probably the most riveting was, I was with a group in India, and we were in Mother Teresa's home of the death and the destitute. And then we went to her orphanage, and we walked in, and there were about a hundred kids in cribs, two or three per crib in this big room wall to wall. And soon as a group of Americans walked in the door, all the kids stood up and said, pick me. So, there's definitely some experiences out there which is pretty cool. But, you know, I've been able to have been to 54 countries and counting and there are some that I can't wait to get back to. And there are some that are on my shortlist that I want to go to. Cuba.

DC: That's awesome. 

DW: All right, Steve, one last question for you. What's one thing that God is teaching you right now?

SK: Patience. That's been in the lane that I've been in lately. Just patience to what does this look like for favor, for season of where I'm at, at 54? What does this look like in this next season? Of my wife and I, we have adulting kids, and we're gonna go from six to 10 to 20 or 30 here in the next few years. We'll see how that plays out. But the patience to just see how that all curates and comes together. 

DW:  Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, that's good. 

SK:  I've been praying for 26 - 8, but (unintellligible)

DC: Right. That's funny.

DW: All right, Steve, I would love to pray for you and your family now. And then, we'll wrap it up.

SK:  Thank you. Well, before you pray, thank you so much for what you two are doing, providing this lane and this conversation for listeners and those that are out and about, and appreciate just your hearts for ministering the kingdom and for knowing you. Thank you for your friendship. 

DC: Absolutely.

DC:  Good to know you, man. I appreciate your friendship as well. 

DW:  All right, let's pray.

God, I thank you and praise you for Steve. Thank you for the work that he and his family are doing. God, I pray that you would use him and continue to use him in powerful ways to help guide giving and create giving plans in strategic ways to steward your resources for your purposes. God, I pray that many more people would be able to utilize what he's doing and that they would get to experience the joy of generosity, that they would deploy those funds well, and that you would get all the glory. Lord, we thank you and praise you for this time. And we ask that you continue to bless us, guide us and help us to glorify You in Christ's name, I pray. Amen.

[END OF INTERVIEW]

[OUTRO] 

ANNNOUNCER: What if you could take your generosity to the next level, impacting more lives in your community and around the world, creating a godly legacy for generations to come? 

Now you can. Your first step is crafting your kingdom investing thesis. Reserve your spot in our next online workshop where we guide you through the process of discovering your passions, create a strategic plan and connect you to opportunities that will help you fulfill your God-given calling as a kingdom investor. Register today by clicking the link in the show notes. 

Thanks for listening. Don't forget to subscribe and we'll see you next time for another episode of The Kingdom Investor Podcast.

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