John C Maxwell's Personal Insights on Intentional Giving

John Maxwell received the Entrepreneurial Leaders Award on November 16th, 2016 in Toronto at the annual Entrepreneurial Leaders Conference. His keynote address that evening was on “Intentional Living,” which is also the title of one of his recent books. The next morning, on November 17th, 2016, he met with a small group of us to share insights on “Intentional Giving.”

 I was curious to discover his views on the topic. Maxwell has been a pastor for many years, he is involved in working with non-profit organizations (NPOs), he has his own foundation (John Maxwell Leadership Foundation) and he has supported many other causes.

 For starters, he highlighted the importance of generousity. He quoted Deut 15: 10 – “You shall surely give to him, and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.” Maxwell highlighted that generousity is a biblical principle and that blessings—not necessarily financial ones—will come to the giver.

 He shared from his personal story. He said that he has “taken care of” his children. He noted that he has sold enough books to have some resources—he’s “doing OK.” His intentional focus, however, is to have an impact beyond simply looking after his family.

 He said his goal is to die with no money. He joked that his children are nervous. “What happens if you run out of money before you die?” Maxwell said that’s easy, “I’ll move in with you!” Maxwell said if he doesn’t disperse it to worthy causes, it will be taken anyways.

 Maxwell’s personal focus these days is to raise money for the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation, which is committed to bringing transformational leadership to entire countries through National Training Initiatives. He wants to influence a nation’s top leaders. His recent focus has been on working with leaders in Guatemala and Paraguay.

 His approach, to quote a common slogan, is to “do your giving while your living, so you are knowing where it’s going.” You are not being generous when you don’t need the money anymore!

 Maxwell said that every year his goal is to give more than the year before. He said that you can tell when you are growing, when your goals from five years ago, don’t impress you. In others words, you have kept developing and are focused on even bigger objectives.

 As there are countless good causes, often the issue arises as to who and how many to support. In short, “Are you going to give to many or a few?” Maxwell’s approach is to, “Do for one person what you wish you could do for many.”

 He suggested to figure out the few that you will really commit to. He shared that he at one time supported 50 different organizations—now it’s down to four specific causes. Maxwell said would rather give to a few and make a bigger difference.

 Maxwell has a knack for devising simple rules or formula with practical impact. He asks himself four questions when deciding whom to support.

 First, there is the “leadership” question: – does the leader have competence and character? It must be both. The biggest waste of money is to support bad leadership. The unfortunate aspect of giving is that a person could give what to them are considerable sums of money. Then one poor strategic move by leadership could cost the organization hundreds of thousands.

 For example, let’s say that an NPO has a leadership fall out and there is a dispute between the board and the president. The president is dismissed and there is a settlement of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The whole process had been mismanaged, not due to outright negligence but a serious lack of competence. In other words, the $1,000 of hard-earned money carefully allocated to the NPO is in effect contributing to cover this incompetence.

 Maxwell talked about the “law of buy in.” He reminded us that people buy into the leader, before the organization. Without great leadership, the organization will not succeed.

 Maxwell talked about how Christians have supported well-intentioned, incompetent people for far too long. He lamented the fact that people give any credence to “good intentions.”

 Second, there is the “involvement” question. “Can I get involved by doing more than giving?” In other words, is there an opportunity to contribute my time and talent to the organization? This is a case of being more than simply a funder of other people doing good things. In my experience, this is particularly relevant for entrepreneurs, who want to be hands on; they don’t want to simply give money.

 Third, there is the “difference-making” question – “Is this organization making a difference for others and for me?” What is the ROI (return on investment) for this organization? Is it being effective? The bottom line is that donors are responsible to steward their resources. Most people would like to give their resources to the causes which have a greater rather than lesser impact.

 Fourth, there is the “God” question. “Has God nudged me to give?” Do I feel compelled for some personal reasons to give to this particular cause? Do I feel a particular passion? This may come from some personal experience with the particular illness, the people being served, the country being targeted, or attendance at the specific institution.

 The bottom line is that just as there is intentional living, there should also be intentional giving. In other words, people can give with a specific purpose.