The $400 Million Gift That Didn’t Start With an Ask

Fundraisers spend a great deal of time thinking about how much a donor might give. Perhaps we should spend more time asking a different question: What does the donor ultimately want to accomplish with their resources?

Eddie Smith Jr. spent nearly six decades building Grady-White Boats, a North Carolina company he purchased in 1968 when it was struggling financially. When Smith eventually began thinking seriously about succession, he reportedly received offers exceeding $400 million for the company. He decided not to sell. Instead, Smith transferred control of Grady-White to a perpetual purpose trust. An affiliated nonprofit organization is intended to receive company profits and direct significant resources toward education, healthcare, conservation and community needs. The company says that could eventually mean tens of millions of dollars annually flowing to those causes. It is an extraordinary philanthropic story. But there is also an important fundraising lesson here.

For many successful donors—particularly entrepreneurs—their wealth is often not sitting in a checking account waiting for someone to ask for it. It may be concentrated in a company, real estate, securities or other appreciated assets. And their biggest philanthropic decision may not begin with the question: “How much should I give?” It may begin with: “What happens to everything I’ve spent my life building?” Smith was concerned about preserving the culture of his company, protecting employees and ensuring that the values that helped build the business survived him. Philanthropy became part of the solution. That should remind nonprofit leaders of three things.

First, understand the donor before discussing the gift. The strongest major-gift conversations uncover values, family considerations, business interests and legacy objectives—not simply financial capacity.

Second, think beyond cash. Some of the largest philanthropic opportunities involve appreciated assets, closely held businesses, estate gifts and other forms of wealth.

And third, legacy is often a stronger motivator than recognition. Successful people frequently reach a point where the question shifts from accumulating wealth to determining what their success will ultimately mean.

The job of a good fundraiser is not simply to ask for money. It is to understand what matters deeply to a donor—and then help that donor see how philanthropy might become part of the legacy they want to leave behind.

Source: Grady-White Boats’ July 27 announcement of the ownership transition; recent reporting by People, Trade Only Today and marine-industry publications.