Ep224 David Aft - Strategic Giving: Aligning Charity with Your Business Values

David Aft 0:00

What we do is we begin the conversation with, how can we help you get the most out of your charity work? We are not selling them a set of ideas or an organization, but rather a framework to respond to the causes they care about.

Mike O'Neill 0:17

Welcome to get unstuck and on target, the weekly podcast that offers senior leaders insights and strategies to not only lead with confidence and vision, but also to achieve groundbreaking results. I'm your host, Mike O'Neal. I coach top level executives on the power of ethical leadership to forge teams to be as united as they are effective in each episode, join me for insightful conversations with leaders just like you, providing practical advice to help you get unstuck and propel you and your company forward. Let's get started.

Mike O'Neill 1:00

Before we dive in, I want to give you a quick preview of what's coming up. If you ever felt unsure about how to handle donation requests or community giving at work, this episode is for you. My guest today is David aft, a long term friend and the president of a foundation that helps businesses give with purpose. We talk about what makes giving feel meaningful and what to do when it doesn't, you'll hear why saying no can be just as important as saying yes, and how the best giving strategies reflect your values, not just your budget. If you're a decision maker, you'll walk away with practical strategies to make corporate giving more thoughtful, less reactive, and aligned with your values. Let's get started. My guest today is my longtime friend David aft, an artist, civic leader and President of the Community Foundation of northwest Georgia. Under his leadership, the foundation manages nearly $100 million in assets, helping people and businesses turn charitable passion into lasting impact across the entire region. David also co owns Dave and Polly's art Emporium. It's a hub for local art and community connection. His work reflects one mission, helping communities live more fully, creatively and generously. I wanted to invite my friend David on for one reason primarily, and that is, it seems to me that many leaders, they want to support causes that matter, but they have limited budgets, but they have endless requests, and that can create tension. So today's conversation is about making giving decisions that fit your values and brand without feeling overwhelmed. Welcome.

David Aft 2:57

David, thank you. Michael, it's always great to see you and to now be part of your podcast. I've been following it for quite a while, and it's, you know, I think really making a difference out there with business leaders.

Mike O'Neill 3:09

Thank you. You know, David, I've kind of listed this as a title, the challenge of of charity, and kind of the tagline is how to say yes with enthusiasm and no with style. So that might be a good starting point here. You have been doing this for a long time. You've spent literally decades in the charitable sector. You've worked with companies of all sizes, and that first question is, when a business leader comes to you really kind of unsure how to handle all these giving requests that they get, where do you start?

David Aft 3:51

Well, I start by asking them to take a step back. It's very easily, easy to feel put upon or put on the spot by a charitable request, they come at you from all sorts of folks. It could be church on Sunday morning or a rotary club meeting or a chance encounter out at the supermarket, but business leaders are often approached any, any number of times during the week to support causes. And nobody likes to say, No, it's a challenge, because, you know, we I believe all people are generous, but finding the way that they feel best about their generosity while promoting the work of their company, building their brand and bringing all those things together tends to be the challenge. David.

Mike O'Neill 4:36

Also know that you work with individuals, you work with families, so most of our conversation today will be more from a company perspective, with our audience being leaders. If you were to kind of step back and kind of characterize what you see, what works well when companies kind of are able to align their giving. Them with their mission or brand.

David Aft 5:03

When we ask people to kind of step back and the key question is, what do you really want from your charitable work? Some people want impact. They want to change the world around them. Some people want to help strengthen their brand identity by acting in ways that kind of reflect their their work. A great example of that would be an optometrist group practice looking at providing low cost eyeglasses to economically challenged families, those type of things. But again, the conversation begins when you step back and really say, What do I want to get out of this. What I found with companies is they are often caught between the responding to their customers who reach out and say, Hey, I'd like you to help me with the cause I'm working on in the community, all the way to to individuals who reach out in need and and finding a path forward is oftentimes beginning to look at your value equation. What do you care about? Not always what aligns with the organization or the needs of the branding apparatus, but how do you want to make a difference? I believe each and every human I've ever worked with, families, businesses and all of the above tend to care about different pieces of the charitable economy, some like children's issues, some like other issues, healthcare and so forth. And when we work with them, we first ask people, What do you care about and what are your priorities?

Mike O'Neill 6:34

So could we just talk that one through for a moment? I I'm thinking of a leader who is generous in spirit and cares about a number of things. If you ask that question, and they kind of look at you say, Gosh, I don't know which I would like to choose. How do you help them kind of narrow that down? Well, I

David Aft 6:55

think first of all, you look at the definitions. I don't think there's any way to escape the importance of responding to customer requests. So usually I say, how much of your charitable budget are you willing to dedicate to simple response to people who you know it's important to respond to you've got a big customer or a colleague or somebody that you've worked with over time. You know, how do you want to respond to that? I usually use the rule of thirds. About a third of your charitable budget needs to be dedicated to customer responsive work, and the more mileage you can get out of that, the better. You certainly don't want to give $10 to everybody who asks you. But really look at how you want to include a customer response segment to that. The next thing is, what do your employees want? A lot of organizations involve their employees in making some of those priority based decisions. And then lastly, and I really strongly encourage this, is to develop kind of a charitable mission statement. And by that, I mean, what does your organization want to invest in? This is what you would do as a business leader, or what would the company as an entity really want to do?

Mike O'Neill 8:15

Let's go through each of those, if you don't mind you and I met literally decades ago, when I was in a corporate HR role, and you were representing, I think, another agency, but it was a charitable agency, and I remember vividly that first meeting you remember better than I do, because you can actually quote things that I had said then, which is amazing, David, but what I remember is your ability to kind of come in and listen and listen well, and this rule of thirds makes a lot of sense. What I remember is you and I both live in a town that's dominated by an industry we have competitors beating it out in the marketplace, but as a general rule, when they want to give, there's a lot of hey, if you'll support my calls, you support I'll support your calls. A little bit of that back and forth that might speak a little bit to the customer piece. Could we talk about the employee piece? Do you suggest that a third come that way? How can employees, involving them help improve overall the outcome of charitable giving by an organization?

David Aft 9:34

I think the key Mike is balance. You want to approach these decisions in a way that does not have the management structure dictating one charitable path or another. But really ask employees, if we were going to involve you in this decision making, what are your thoughts on it, and open a very, very broad question. From that standpoint, some employers. Choose to do workplace payroll deduction type campaigns, and if that fits that's a wonderful opportunity to engage people at a bunch of different levels. Some organizations choose to focus on volunteerism out in the community, and they have work days and so forth, and they connect their employees to repainting a homeless shelter or doing a food drive or acting in those manners, where they're most successful is, and you used the word earlier, listen. I think management is at its best when it listens to the people that it works with, rather than deciding what's best for them and then doing it. So sitting down form a small group of people representative from all the points in the organization, and say, if you could make these decisions on our behalf, what do you think would work best? You know, some company cultures are great on work days and pizza parties and those types of things, and others are just so darn busy that those things often become an imposition, and while employees will go along with that, it's not where their heart is. So again, the beginning is to listen to the employees and figure out some way to do it. There are host of organizations you can partner with, with a host of opportunities, from everything from work days to different types of charitable campaigns. Some of them are fun, where they do a charitable event and they organize a one time fundraiser or a food drive. Within that, it's a way of really focusing so it doesn't become a huge impact on their schedules and their calendars, because you don't want people souring on the idea of charity because it's just added to their list as another corporate expectation.

Mike O'Neill 11:44

So David, let's talk a little bit about the concept of a community foundation. The foundation that you lead is not a foundation for just one community, but quite frankly, for an entire region. We have listeners literally from all over the world. I blast count. It was 60 plus countries. We have listeners who are listening in. So it might be different in other countries, but in your line of work, community foundations. What is it about a community what is about that foundation, a community foundation, that might would resonate, why a leader might say, let's put our money with the foundation, versus maybe some other approach.

David Aft 12:27

Well, I think one of the things that makes community foundations different is our orientation with donors. We become part of their strategy team. When I work for other charities, I'd sit down and I'd have my briefcase and my warm cup of coffee, and I'd look into their eyes and go, I have this cause. Will you help me? And you know, of course, they're saying yes. They're saying no. They're saying, wonder what circumstances but at a community foundation, what we do is we begin the conversation with, how can we help you get the most out of your charity work? And that is a much different thing. So we are not selling them a set of ideas or an organization, but rather a framework to respond to the causes they care about. What that looks like in practical terms for us is we manage scholarships that are established for the employees of specific businesses. We have some outward facing scholarships where companies have created them in alignment with their mission statement. We have a large medical management company that provides scholarships to their employees, children, oftentimes children to pursue work in the medical arena, so they are aligning their business identity with their charitable things. But I've often said that, you know, people hear the word foundation and they think big pile of money, or a big room full of money. I'll get my wheelbarrow and my shovel, and I'll meet you there, and we'll, we'll get some of that. But in in the approach that we have a community foundation is many rooms full of money, each with a different purpose. Some are endowments. Some are church based. Some are working with educational institutions to manage money at the end of the deal. The conversation begins with asking, how can we help you reach your charitable goals?

Mike O'Neill 14:22

So if the conversation started with, I'm not quite sure, and with your help, they are able to come up with a plan that is much more strategic. What do you observe? What works for them and why would be in their best interest to kind of be looking at this strategically.

David Aft 14:42

Well, strategically. I mean, hopefully at the point in the future where your charitable program is doing all that you need it to be, it's responsive, but also rewarding. And you know what that kind of looks like is, you know, how does it support the morale of our employees? How. Does it help us tell our story as a corporation better? I was at a conference a number of years ago, and I believe this to be true, but it makes sense anyway that the McDonald's Corporation. Ray Croft bought the first McDonald's, and he turned it into all the others as they grow as a company, they were consistently asked to support Little League teams and other community based things, and as America's hamburger stand, it felt almost critical that they respond to community based requests for funding, but they found themselves overwhelmed, so they took a step back, as I suggested, and they looked at their corporate value system, and they said the McDonald's hamburgers is really about a family event, a family evening, and that's where we place a great deal of value. They looked out there and they formed Ronald McDonald House. And Ronald McDonald House, for those who don't know, is, is a residential program that helps families with chronically ill or or significantly ill children to stay near the children's hospital or near the care facility. It really takes a lot of the burden off parents. But what McDonald's did in doing that is said, We believe in investing in families, and so the charitable strategy became an echo and an amplifier for their their value system. And so it allowed them, as you pointed out earlier, to say yes, with a great deal of enthusiasm, but also to to say, that's a great cause, but we have focused our efforts in the following. The outcome of that is, it's a Brand Builder. I mean pure and simple. And there's nothing wrong with that. I've had folks over time ask me, you know, David, is it is it problematic to want to derive some benefit from our charitable giving beyond the impact that those dollars or those volunteer hours have? And the answer simply, it's a win, win situation for for corporations. So back to your original question. I asked them, What do you care about and what may align with your business identity? As

Mike O'Neill 17:08

I'm listening to you describe what's going on in your tenure with the Community Foundation, it has grown and grown and grown, and that would hopefully be an indication of generosity of the folks in our region. What is the overall status of charitable giving currently?

David Aft 17:34

Mike, I think it's, it's first of all, I mean, and this goes to your listeners abroad, charity is a reflection of who we are and what we do. It's been one of the most important engines in building our civil society here in the United States. Over time, tax incentives that have, pardon me, encourage people to charitably give, have changed so that has had an impact. The tightening economy, inflation, the reduction in disposable income by many families, has all changed the way people give all of these things kind of coalesce around it. What the national statistics show, and I just saw a report that in 2024 this is from a publication called Giving USA that a little under $600 billion was given to charities in 2024 and while giving was robust to foundations, estates and other things like that, individual giving by middle income people has dropped for the second year in a row, and that is a real challenge, because you see that erosion. The state of charity is good. However, we have put a great deal of responsibility in the hands of public charity, as we have deleveraged the tax load, which taxes used to pay for a great deal of human services, especially humanitarian stuff and arts and the so forth. That change has made the work of charitable enterprise different. It's really put a lot of weight on it. I was working with an organization recently, a daycare center, and they really said it's very difficult for us to find the best director possible, because on one day, they have to be an expert in childcare, but then the next day they have to be a CEO and look at funding, look at management, look at the legal aspects of it, and manage board members. So the complexity is a challenge. I think going forward, we're going to find that the quality employees and leaders that we need in the charitable sector are going to require us doubling down on our commitment to very business elements that support those humanitarian things.

Mike O'Neill 19:56

The nature of your work, you probably have to explain what you do and. What your organization does, our conversation has only kind of touched the edges of that what might be something that you would like to share with our viewers and listeners about charitable giving that might be beneficial to them.

David Aft 20:18

I always encourage people again to step back and think, why am I doing this? If it's to promote your business or to change the way people perceive what you do, that's great, but it helps to know it going into it. If you want to make difference for children at risk, but really care a little bit less about the plight of the elderly, then make sure that you've had an internal conversation or shared with your family or your business colleagues or your partners, your biases and your perspective. I don't think in the charity world, it behooves any of us to either oversaturate our giving, or diluted to some degree where you don't feel like you're getting the satisfaction. There's got to be part of that. I've met people along the way that they're giving away a lot of money, but they don't feel good about it, and oftentimes it's just because they've not taken that moment, that pause, if you will, to say, you know, why am I doing this? What are my goals and objectives? And at the end of the day, what am I going to feel best about charity is essential. It's connected to everything we do. And I've said many, many times, it's not just what we do, but really who we are. And, you know, we get caught up in a very busy world where we are responsive to those who ask us, people hate saying no. They certainly hate saying no without style. Meaning, you know, their their commitment to getting it done right is is just a function of a budget and making the numbers fit. But again, you know, working with people, it's amazing what happens when you connect their passion with a purpose, and then then it kind of takes care of itself. At the end of the year, if you're not satisfied with your charity, then it's just transactional. There are a multitude of opportunities to make a difference, and feeling good about it and driving some satisfaction. And that's that's more connectivity than a plaque on the wall. But you know, all people are different, and you know, the job on our side of the ledger is to help find out what rings people's bell and then help them find the vehicle through which to get that done.

Mike O'Neill 22:38

Dave, you've already hinted at one example, perhaps you can think of another this is kind of in keeping with our core theme of helping leaders get unstuck. Can you kind of reflect on a situation where maybe one of your clients was, in fact, stuck? What did it take to help them get unstuck?

David Aft 22:57

Usually it's just a little bit of information, I think that you know, especially if you're not in the charitable sector, it can present a bewildering set of opportunities disguised as tons and tons and tons of choices and asks and everything coming towards you. So, you know, one of the things that I really loved was I have a client that lives a little bit out of town, and they reach out to the community foundation and say, I like children's issues, I like humanitarian causes, and I really love green space. I don't particularly like the arts, and I'm not really keen to some of the other things that they'd been associated with. And so they asked us to provide some guidance to him. And what that's what's that has become over the last several years, is every year we we help him identify causes that align with the things that he likes, and then we kind of screen out those he doesn't. We also take a multi year view. So this particular client's been with us about six years, and every year, about this time, we begin to compile output or impact statements from the organizations that they have supported and provide them to them with Our recommendation. Now that doesn't always happen. Sometimes people call and say, I really need a mechanical or a business framework to do my work. I don't need you to tell me where to give my money or suggest any things, but rather to be a framework through which I can make some convenient decisions. Great example that is, I've got one client who uses a product that is very common in community foundations and other financial institutions called a donor advised fund. And every year, he brings me a check for X amount of money, and then a list of about 40 organizations that he has kind of compiled that he likes to support on an annual basis. And we write the checks, we provide a convenience source for him. Him. He is a very responsive philanthropist. He gives because people ask him to. We make that more convenient, and that's a great role that community foundations can play.

Mike O'Neill 25:13

You know, as we begin kind of wrapping up our time together in terms of what this conversation might trigger in people's thoughts and minds, but you've really made it kind of clear that generosity is most powerful when it's intentional, absolutely, and you've used this word heart and feeling a lot, and so I would encourage our listeners to take that to heart and to have clear giving strategies that can help both your community and perhaps your own culture. You know David, if listeners right now are listening and they're kind of feeling a little bit torn about charitable request. What would be one piece of advice that they should try, perhaps this week, to help bring clarity and confidence to their decisions about giving?

David Aft 26:12

I think the place to start is ask yourself, or look at what you've done and say, Is there alignment between what I care about as a person, or the identity or branding strategy of my business, and what I'm doing with my wallet. And if you see alignment, then you probably have a pretty powerful strategy. If you see alignment, but don't feel connected to the causes you're working on, then do a little bit deeper dive, or reach out to a professional like myself or or others in the communities that you live and have a good conversation. But you mentioned it earlier. It's developing a strategy and charitable giving. It seems like a very heartfelt reaction to somebody asking for help, but you know, when you take it to the next level and begin to embed it in the institution or in your business. It's as important to have a charitable giving strategy as it is to having a supply chain strategy, a personnel or HR strategy, community development or marketing strategy. And I think charitable giving tends to be one of those things that can be an afterthought, because it is not always specifically aligned with your tire shop or your medical practice or what have you. It becomes that thing that you'll get around to someday, but until then, you'll continue to respond to those who ask you. Satisfaction really comes when you decide a path to take, and you take it. I'm always pleased when people finally look at me and go, I'd never thought about it that way, the light bulb goes off, and I find that, you know, six months or a year later, they come back to me and say, I'm really having fun, and I feel better when I have to say no, because I'm very confident when I do say yes.

Mike O'Neill 28:03

Ooh, what a powerful recap. David, you know, I want to thank you for joining us today. You do some incredible work, both in your working in philanthropy and the arts. We didn't spend much time on the arts, but

David Aft 28:21

David, maybe you'll invite me back one day.

Mike O'Neill 28:25

Well, David's a gifted musician. He's a gifted artist. There's so many things that that you could contribute to the to the podcast, and we maybe bring you right back on. But you have helped us see what's possible when generation come together with the mindsets of generosity and strategy. So where can listeners connect with you to kind of learn more about you, David, or perhaps the Community Foundation.

David Aft 28:51

Well, I always tell people, you can go on Google. David aft. Aft is my name. I can be reached through the Community Foundation of northwest Georgia. I always tell people I'm about the easiest guy in the world to find, and I do google myself from time to time. And it there are a lot of different vectors through which to reach me. David dot Aft at Community Foundation, n, w, G, A, dot, O, R, G, is a very direct way to get me. But you can also call our offices at 706-275-9117. We love people, and we love helping them. You know, de stress their lives a little bit. You know, I always love to work with you over time. As you've mentioned to your listeners, we've been together as friends and colleagues for pretty close to 30 years, but when you came up with the notion of helping business leaders become unstuck, the light bulb went off above my head, because we, we live in a complicated world, and I've rarely, almost never, met people who don't want to do a tremendous job. But by throwing yourself. Into things. Occasionally you hit these brick walls, these impediments or these stumbling blocks, and again, at the end of the deal, step back, decide what you really want to do and how it aligns with the work. And then, as I have done many times with you, reach out to somebody you like, you care about, you trust, and have a great conversation. It'll change the way you look at things.

Mike O'Neill 30:23

I've enjoyed literally decades of great conversations with you. This is no exception. Thank you, David.

David Aft 30:31

I appreciate it, Mike and good luck and go bench builders that are making a big difference out there in the business world.

Mike O'Neill 30:38

I do appreciate that. So here's my invitation to our listeners, and that is, if this episode sparked an idea or maybe kind of brought up a leadership challenge to mine, I love to kind of help you think it through. I offer game plan strategy calls. They're by invitation only, and they're focused. There are two hour coaching session where we tackle one leadership challenge that really matters to you. There's no sales pitch, there's no agenda other than hopefully be serving you well, but you'll leave with a practical clarity and a meaningful next step forward. So if that sounds valuable, you'll find the link in the show notes. You'll also find a link to all of David's contacts information in the show notes. So for those listening, I hope this episode has helped you get unstuck and on target. Thank you, Michael. Thank you for joining us for this episode of get unstuck and on target. I hope you've gained insights to help you lead with confidence and drive your organization forward. Remember, at bench builders, we're committed to your success, your leadership excellence and your strategic growth. If you've enjoyed our conversation today, please leave a review, rate and subscribe to keep up with our latest episodes. This show really grows when listeners like you share it with others. Who do you know, who needs to hear what we talked about today? Until next time, I encourage you to stay focused on the target and continue to break new ground on your leadership path.

Speaker 1 32:32

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