One of the best five books I've read on business management was written by marketing consultant Al Ries. The book is “Focus “” and right from the start Ries states a premise that he repeats throughout:  "The key to results is concentration. Economic results require that managers concentrate their efforts on the smallest number of activities that will produce the largest amount of revenue. No other principle is violated as constantly today as the basic principle of concentration. Our motto seems to be: let's do a little bit of everything." It's not just true for business. It's true for the rest of life and just as hard to manage. Our…

If you sometimes feel the joy of giving is eluding you, you are not alone. Over the past 20 years, we’ve had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of individuals couples and families in working with the issues that affect their philanthropy. While each individual and family’s situation is unique, we have found the following five challenges to be almost universal. Discuss it with your family and see what response you get. TIME: The source of the most frustration for giving families is the lack of time to commit to the giving process. Good giving is work and takes a commitment of time and energy. Most donors have not given…

 I have been reading surveys from conferences designed for major donors.  It’s not something I recommend and I would rather be reading John Grisham or even John Calvin.  I’m not much of a spreadsheet person…but I am curious about what matters to people.  Of course” what people say matters to them and what actually matters are often two different things.  However ” in the case of one particular issue what they say and what they actually value are absolutely consistent. That is the need for encouragement. Why do wealthy people need encouragement?  What could possibly discourage them?  I have come to believe there are generally four areas of life that…

I received an email from a new friend telling me he was on his way to spend a couple of days in an exclusive location with a room full of young evangelical elites. He had misgivings about it because he’s a reflective type but as he said ” the draw toward being identified as an elite is compelling and attractive. Some might say tempting. I could not help but think about Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde was one of the most promising talents of the 1800s. Born in Ireland” the son of successful and influential Dublin intellectuals Oscar excelled in languages academics ” journalism and drama. He became at a very…

  If you ask most people to describe The Gathering they will tell you it is a conference.  Hopefully, they will also add it is a great conference and one of the things they like the most is being introduced to ministry leaders and speakers whom they have never heard or met.  Being a little “ahead of the curve” is one of the attractions.  We work hard at keeping that fresh.  George Romney said an officer can get so far ahead of the troops that he starts to look like the enemy.  We don’t want that to happen! However, there is a downside to discovering new talent and a conversation…

The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent student-led revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 to December 29 1989. Dominated by student and other popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia it saw to the collapse of the party's control of the country ” and the subsequent conversion from Czech socialism to parliamentary republic.   As well” it vaulted Vaclev Havel an essayist and playwright to fame. Twenty-one years later the Arab Spring was precipitated by students taking part in mostly non-violent protests. In both cases ” it was young people taking the lead.   Today” I heard something that surprised…

  At the most recent Gathering conference I sat in on a session where the dominant topic was dealing with family issues.  That reminded me of an article we published years ago ” but it is just as timely today. The Baylor University Institute for Family Business convened a Forum of 50 people in San Antonio and used an interesting technique for helping family members understand the different dynamics in families. The group was subdivided into several subgroups – including mothers” fathers sons and daughters of owners and in-laws. Each group was asked to converse among themselves and come up with messages they would like to send to the other…

2012 PIGS I am at the 27th annual convening of the Professionals in Grantmaking Society (PIGS). What began as a group of five friends getting together to share information encouragement and frankly ” gossip has become a tradition that will probably outlive us all. That's because the old guard manages not to tell war stories” and the young participants have the freedom to change not only the topics but the format. It's not perfect and none of us would like it to be ” but it is one of the few chances people have to meet with their peers without disruption. I want to list some of the questions and…