Why did One Another Foundation get started?
As business people, we have a bias for results and we expect returns on our investments. After years of personally engaging with our community and helping where we could, we decided we wanted to apply our business mind-set to find more meaningful and intentional ways of impacting others. We believe these are not just words on paper, but something we have been called to do. After some research, we found we weren’t alone – a recent report by Fidelity Charitable said that philanthropy is a major focus for entrepreneurs; 79% of us say charitable giving is a critical part of who we are. We just aren’t clear on how to do it in a way that is meaningful and impactful. This is the gap we are committed to closing. We believe God’s grace calls us to do something counter-cultural; to see the marginalized whom He has placed in our sightline; bring them into our circle and lift them up.
Where did the name One Another Foundation come from?
The phrase “one another” occurs 100 times in the New Testament and more than half of those are specific commands teaching us how to, and how not to, relate to one another. It forms the basis for all true community. We imagine a world where it is visible to see how well we treat others and for people to decide they want to follow our example. A world where people choose to work with us, work for us, hire us, be our neighbors, support our businesses, help our families, and love one-another; it’s the kind of world we want to live in and invest in.
What does One Another Investing do and is there a link between the model and the bible?
The bible and Jesus’ walk are in fact the basis for this model. We make investments in under-resourced people, projects and organizations. Our investments help create pathways for growth, break cycles, turn users of resources into investors, and create exponential returns. The first part of the model is Investing and James 2:17 tells us that: “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” We believe in acting out our faith and doing that with all God has entrusted to our stewardship. When Jesus lived, he invested in the people and communities around Him – namely the disciples.
The second part of the model is to Create Pathways for Growth. 1 Timothy 4:15 tells us to: “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” Writing a check or clicking on the ‘donate’ button is commendable – we want to go further and step out, roll up our sleeves and get into the dirtiness. This is the way Jesus continued to pour His teaching and example into the disciples and ensure they received all that He had to offer.
Part three of the model calls for Exponential Returns. This is a higher level objective – a very attainable one, but only if we declare it as an objective and work toward it. It is this step that yields the fruit of previous labor. It is this step that ensures the initial investment continues to multiply and pay dividends – even after we’ve moved on and are investing in other things. John 3:30 says: “He must become greater; I must become less.” Jesus expected his disciples would take the lessons he taught them and the investment he made in them and carry them forward, sharing them with the world. We expect the people, projects and organizations we invest in will eventually be catalysts for transformation.
What do you invest in?
We have made the conscious decision to invest in under-resourced people, projects and organizations. All investments are made after prayerful consideration and due diligence.
- We invest in individuals or families who need a hand up – not a hand out.
- We invest in projects where we have confidence in the leadership and execution plan.
- We invest in organizations where we believe in the mission, leadership and ability to grow.
All of our investments are made with the full and stated intent of producing exponential returns.
What do you invest?
We invest our time. Time is a limited commodity that we can’t expand, replace, or make more of. When we apply our time toward a task or a goal, we want to see good returns on the investment because it is such a precious commodity.
We invest our talents, gifts, energy and competencies. Each of us have acquired competencies through our life experiences, have developed talents over time, and have been blessed with gifts. We use all of these in the service of others.
We invest our treasure. Whether loose change we pull out of couch cushions, large checks we write, or other items of value to us, we believe in using them to invest in others and engage in helping the investment grow exponentially.
How do you ensure your investment grows?
Once we make an initial investment we monitor the progress of the investment and often times provide assistance to create pathways for the investment to grow. This assistance usually come in the form of:
- Conveying that we truly see, hear, accept and understand the need and the path to growth. We also understand these paths are not always straight and without additional difficulty so we forgive setbacks along the way.
- Providing hope, showing we care, acting and speaking with love, care and encouragement.
- Offering our support, wisdom and experience – this often comes in the form of mentoring and counseling.
- Providing time to pause, catch-up or catch a breath, and restore progress.
- Creating connections, sharing our networks and making warm introductions.
- Encouraging others to share success stories.
- Creating cultures.
How do you measure the result or return?
Measuring the return is by far the most rewarding piece of One Another Foundation. We measure returns tangibly and quantifiably – and among those returns are: cycles broken, organizational growth, organizations saved, recipients becoming investors, and lives changed.
Our investors also experience returns. Individual and small group investors are more engaged in their community, improve their mental health and experience more pleasure, become more thankful, cultivate caring children, inspire and motivate friends and family, improve personal time and money management, bring more meaning to life, and create a legacy of what is important to them.
Employee and employer investors also report value in work-place engagement, reduced turnover, enhanced teaming and leadership skills, team or group retention, attracting talent to the organizations and organizational branding.
What’s the difference between giving/donating and One Another Foundation?
Defined: giving is the act of turning over a possession and donating is a form of giving. We believe all forms of lifting up our neighbors is good – it means our hearts are in the right place. The act of investing means to expend money with the expectation of achieving a return or material result. When we invest in people, projects or organizations, we unabashedly expect an exponential return. The return doesn’t come directly to us but it is a catalyst for transformation and pays dividends for others.
By thinking about our investments in this way, we have high levels of engagement, clear and quantifiable expectations and the impact is exponentially multiplied.
How do I get started?
We invite you to think about your business, your talents and your philanthropy in a way that aligns your passion and God’s will for you. Did you know that a recent report by Fidelity Charitable said that philanthropy is a major focus for entrepreneurs; 79% of us say charitable giving is a critical part of who we are.
We have decided to use the profits from our business accomplishments to be venture philanthropists and we’d love for you to join the journey with us – and tell us about your adventure.
You are welcome to steal a peek at the way we’ve thought about our investments from the One Another Foundation Model (see separate). We have also included some practical questions and suggestions to guide your thinking and help build your framework (see separate).