The release of “Joy Giving” has invited deep and thoughtful questions from givers. Two givers have recently come into large amounts of wealth and emailed to ask the question above.
Barry is a giver in the UK. He took his family to the developing world. He made his wealth in the tech industry and has a vision to disciple his children in generosity. Here’s how Barry (not his real name) describes his situation when he travel with his children, ages 16 down to 8:
We have brought the kids – the main things we do are exposing them to people in need. We want them to realize that we have more than we need, and we need to share. I want them to develop some compassion.
But they have not yet stepped up to thinking that strategically around giving.
Each month, we introduce you to a Christian who is on the generosity path, and we ask them what God’s taught them about giving.
This month, meet Imre Somody from Hungary.
“I became successful quickly,” says Imre. “I was an atheist then and I started a business in 1988 and I sold it in 1996 for millions of dollars. Most of the business leaders are happy when they have millions. That’s usually the end of the story.” Imre wondered what to do with his newfound wealth…
“I have a business question for you,” said Rajiv (not his real name) as I sat in his kitchen. “How ambitious is it OK to be?”
Rajiv has been growing his business steadily. God has blessed it in remarkable ways. The business how has assets of about $10 million USD, generating revenue of $1 million. And Rajiv has the chance to take on a new piece of land that would grow his assets to about $15 million and take his revenues up to over $1.4 million.
But there’s a catch…
Recently, I’ve met with two givers who have very different approaches to their foundations.
The first, Amar, is just establishing his foundation. He wants to do everything the right way. He sees many established foundations have boards, so he is considering having a board for his foundation. “What is the role of the board and how often should a board meet?” he asked me.
The second, Bernard, has had a foundation for a while. He has put together a board with six to ten members…
