Samuel Martin - Charity and Philanthropy Counselor

15/12/2021

Observations on charity and what you can learn about charities by their actions.

A number of years ago, Dr. David Hubbard the former President of Fullers Seminary wrote an article called "The Ten Commandments for Development Officers."

Dr. Hubbard helped to build Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California from an institution of some 300 students to one of over 3,000 students when he retired.

Here are his ten commandments for those working in the field of development, which is raising money for charity.

These ten commandments are very much linked to the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They also are very instructive for all of us who wish to support charity. They represent someone who followed our Lord Jesus in how he chose to pursue developing the institution he loved and worked for and how he wished the Gospel to be glorified in his actions in seeking financial support for Fuller Seminary.

Thou shalt decide who thou art in professional identity.
Thou shalt not take credit for major gifts that come thy way.
Thou shalt err on the side of understatement in the claims for the institution.
Thou shalt not scatter thy energies or turn thy focus from God, family, and mission.
Thou shalt honor the wishes of donors.
Thou shalt not play lawyer, tax accountant, nor realtor for thy donors.
Thou shalt not ape the lifestyle of thy major donors.
Thou shalt form strong ties with academic leaders.
Thou shalt use restraint in academic decisions.
Thou shalt not be shortsighted in the tension between current needs and long-term goals.

Most of these "commandments" are more of an institutional nature and for Dr. Hubbard, they were linked to an institution of higher education in teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but in this short post I want to home in on one of these.

"Thou shalt not ape the lifestyle of thy major donors."

This is an important point and it is kind of an indicator that anyone can use to evaluate a charity to see if it is connected to your values.

For example, I once visited a very large church in a large American city and after visiting it wanted to learn more about it and its very large and extensive ministry.

So, I wrote to the head pastor and the head accountant.

I asked them if they had an audited financial statement that they made available to their donors.

This request was met with absolute shock and dismay.

How could I imagine asking such a question? What did I want to know? What would I use that information for?

Of course, if you see an audited financial statement, that document will include the salaries of the staff among other things. It might not be 100% itemized, but will get an idea of what people are making.

But what does it say about an organization (any organization) who will not quickly and openly reveal how they spend their donated funds?

In looking further at the particular organization, you got a kind of feeling that the pastor and those around him that he has surrounded himself with a very wealthy group of supporters.

Fundraising and seeking donations can have a sense of elitism attached to it because there is a strong tendency by those seeking donations to focus on those who have the most resources and wanting to be close to them for the long term. So says Lorne Miller, one of Canada's most famous fundraising consultants.

So, he may feel a need to try to "fit in" with that group of supporters.

This represents a major violation of Dr. Hubbard's commandment of not imitating or trying to maintain the lifestyle of those who support you.

Doing that may get you off your mission real quick.

In 2020, Americans donated $471.44 billion USD to charity. Most of those funds go to worthy charities. This is the picture of generosity.

But....

Just because someone works in the charitable sector does not mean that they are honest, does not mean that they use your donations wisely and does not mean that what they do is aligned to your values. Their lips may honor you, but their heart may be far from you as we have heard said.

Just watch an episode of American Greed and you will find plenty of examples of individuals, unfortunately, even in charities, whose priorities are focused on getting as much money as they can for themselves.

Be smart before you give your hard earned money to charity to be 100% certain that it reflects your values and that it is not being used to finance someone's lifestyles of the rich and famous dream.

As always, if you every have any questions, feel free to message me.

15/12/2021

I was speaking to a very experienced charity expert in the UK recently and some of the charitable giving techniques used in the USA that I mentioned to her, she had never even heard of. This is because the USA is the most developed country in the world for charitable giving.

In America, it is possible now to donate to charity and actually gain a secure income from such donations knowing that after one's passes away, their donation will continue to work for the future according to their own wishes and giving priorities.

There a number of ways that one can do this, but a very common one is to use a charitable gift annuity.

A charitable gift annuity allows you to make a donation which will be used by the charity you choose but while you are still alive, you will gain a safe and secure income from your donation!

Charitable gift annuities are safe and effective ways to arrange your charity priorities easily and safely while you are still alive and to gain a secure income while doing it.

Here is an example.

John Smith is 80 years old. He is retired and wants to make a donation to a Christian college where he graduated. He wants to make his gift now to reduce the size of his estate, but he still needs to have a safe income stream during his retirement.

He goes to his college and they set up a charitable gift annuity for him. Because of his age, the gift annuity rate is set by the American Council on Gift Annuities - https://www.acga-web.org/current-gift-annuity-rates - John's age allows him to receive a 6.5% annual return on his gift.

John decides to donate $20,000 to his university. For each year until John passes away, he will receive a yearly payment from the college of $1,300.

When John goes on to rest in Christ awaiting the resurrection, his gift will then continue working according to his priorities. He could have asked that some of his gift be used for needy students or to support a particular project.

What charitable gift annuities allow people to do are to help them arrange their financial situation in a way while they are still alive and to help them give their resources to charities they wish to support, but also to allow them to continue to benefit from their financial resources while they are alive.

If this could be a tool to help you in your charitable giving, please feel free to contact me for further information - [email protected] - Samuel Martin

As part of a continuous monitoring process, the ACGA Board held a meeting on November 3, 2021 and reviewed the current assumptions inherent in our gift annuity suggested maximum rate schedules. While interest rates have moved slightly higher so far this year, they have not moved enough to warrant an...

03/12/2021

Working as a Philanthropy and Charity Counselor has been a ministry for which I have been prepared from when I was a small boy. My life has always been oriented towards service in the Body of Christ. This area is one more ministry which my working life experience has allowed me to learn about the world of charity and philanthropy. This is particularly important to me because there is a need today among Christians concerning professional guidance in their desire to be charitable. This is because throughout history there are examples of people who have chosen the wrong path in the world of service to God and mankind. Because of this reality, there is a need for guidance and counsel and that is why I undertake the work that I do as a counselor in this most important area.

Early preparations in my life for a life of non-profit service

I was raised in a Christian home which was dedicated to the ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My late father was at first an ordained minister and later a religious scholar at the university level.

Through his more than 40 years of professional service in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, I was able to learn from him and to observe on my own many experiences that have prepared me for my work today.

When I was nine years old, our family were excommunicated from our church. I grew up in the World Wide Church of God. That church was a patriarchal, hierarchical organization which was lead and controlled completely by one man, the late Herbert W. Armstrong.

Mr. Armstrong was an evangelist and Bible teacher whose ministry was global in nature. He was one of the first ministers to have his own private Learjet. He was in control of an organization which had vast financial resources, but the fruit of this organization all collapsed after his false prophecies about the return of our Lord Jesus Christ in 1972 failed.

This church through the ministry and direction of Mr. Armstrong requested financial support which was oppressive and way beyond the means of many families who were its members. Many church members lived in abject poverty while the church leaders including Mr. Armstrong lived in absolute luxury. This was wrong and evil. That church taught a wrong interpretation of the Bible’s teaching about tithing causing members to pay second and third tithes. In addition, regular offerings were also requested on top of the tithing requirements. It is not an exaggeration at all to say that many children and families went hungry supporting this church.

In response to the breakup of this church, my late father produced a number of publications on tithing and church government which were designed to provide those who suffered under the former church the true teachings of the Bible. For many families, these teachings are life saving.

This is the environment that I grew up in. It was one dedicated to trying to provide God’s truths to families who needed them and were suffering under churches dedicated to teachings the doctrines of men.

Initiation into professional work in the Non-Profit sector

My late father continued his ministerial work through the founding and leading of several non-profit organizations before his death in 2002. I worked very closely with him from 1987-1996. This time allowed me to become very knowledgeable of the American charitable sector.

After ending my tenure working with my father, I worked in the private sector for several years before moving to Israel in 2001 and marrying. When I arrived in Israel, I immediately began working for a number of different secular and faith based nonprofit organizations. Since 2001, I have supported my family as a professional development worker in the nonprofit world.

This work added to my existing preparations in the USA. It allowed me to become very familiar with the charitable sector in the United Kingdom, the European Union and a number of other western oriented countries.

While working as a professional development worker, I have written a number of books. Those books were never my primary means of support. I have always held down a job since 2001 and my arrival in Israel to support my family.

These experiences have allowed me to acquire the knowledge that I use to engage in my work as a Philanthropy and Charity Counselor.
In this regard, my main guidance comes from a solid grounding in the Holy Scriptures and in seeking the guidance of our Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to work 100% in support of my clients always seeking to serve them as sisters and brothers in the Lord with a view towards truth, trust, honesty, discretion, privacy and absolute care in all of our cooperative activities.

My work focuses on helping people channel their charitable giving in a way to maximize their giving and to make certain that their charity really reflects their own values and those reflected in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Many dear Christian sisters and brothers have come to a level where they wish to give back of the resources that the Lord has allowed them to have under their stewardship.

My work as a counselor helps them avoid situations which do not align with their true values and to add value to their gifts in ways which they may have never realized existed.

I would be honored to hear from you or be referred if you know someone seeking to make their charitable impact more than they might have thought possible.

Praying for God's help always,

Samuel Martin