2020 PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS IN PHILANTHROPY CELEBRATION November 17, 2020 SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER: MICHAEL MOHR, Founder & Chairman Comprehensive Financial Management LLC.
Audience Questions and Answers from Mike Q: What is the simplest/best way to advise those contemplating giving for the first time? A: I don’t think there is a best way but ways that are more effective than others. Figure out the nature of the hesitation and then help the person reduce that barrier. Q: How do you avoid conflicts of interest when a client asks you to suggest a specific charity
to support? A: Ask the client more about their goal. Give them a few (at least three) to choose from with some simple objective differentiating criteria. DO let them know you represent one or more of them as you enter the discussion.
Q: In this time of so many compelling needs – health care, housing, food security – how do other non-profits (education, the environment, diversity/inclusion) present their appeal without diminishing the mission of organizations working in these compelling areas? A: There is so much need, our passion can turn into a noble competition for resources. The best non-profit execs I know prioritize a long-term fit over a short-term win. They ask the client about their deep interests and preferences to gauge their risk tolerance and potential to be a dependable source of resources over the long term. Committed donors are the bedrock of longterm success for the organization. S=R-E. (“Success equals results minus expectations”). I think you are in a unique position to shape your clients’ expectations today and over time so they build valuable experience and confidence in their judgment. Help clients grow at a speed they can absorb.
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Q: Understanding that change requires vision and perseverance, of the initiatives you are involved in which do you feel provide the best opportunity to improve the lives of the people of Hawai‘i in the short to mid-term? A: Most of what we are doing is building mid to long term scaffolding for the government, social and civic sectors to have good feedback about the results we are getting with the billions of dollars spent annually. Clear goals and personal accountability for these results are too rare today. I think the best opportunity today is help build a critical mass of civic accountability over the government sector and social sector by supporting HCF’s change framework to be the primary lens we use for societal prioritization and decision-making in Hawai‘i. Only by being focused together do we have a good chance for competing with the entrenched status quo.
Q: What advice do you have for those of us in the prime of our practice to help clients and support the community? A: Love and care for your clients like a great doctor would. Make sure you are paid only a small residual of the value you create or as my Grandfather would say “Make sure the excess of generosity is always on your side”.