Giving and a Servant Attitude

We attended a Kitchener and Waterloo Community Foundation (KWCF) event this evening. It was the annual Presidents Reception. Wine, cheese, good conversation, good friends.

My wife and I then went out for dinner afterwards and discussed our charitable donations. We’ve been rather haphazard so far. We’ve lacked an overall strategy and philosophy. Our discussion this evening was the beginnings of said strategy and philosophy. The process has only begun.

Earlier this week we finalized arrangements with Thomson Associates Inc. Bill Thomson offers an angel funding facility to entrepreneurial ventures such as ours. Basically, he houses information regarding the business and investment offering on his website. He then sends a “nudge” to his close contacts and associates, urging them to have a look at the information and to consider their involvement.

Bill seems to approach this area of the business with somewhat of a servant mentality. His typical “deal” is certainly many times larger than my offering. There’s not much upside for him in working with me. Except that, he wants to help and enjoys seeing businesses and entrepreneurs succeed.

Bill has a vast and very influential network. I’ve already noticed a substantial increase in traffic on this blog.

So, to all of Bill’s colleagues, welcome. I look forward to future discussions.

I met Bill through my continued efforts to build out my own network of colleagues. JP introduced me to TW. TW introduced me to Bill. I’ve also introduced Bill to Parmasters HQ, specifically our CEO, as there are certainly several ways in which Bill can benefit Parmasters, and vice versa.

As I close this entry, it’s clear to me, as an entrepreneur, that our current charitable donations are not “sizeable”, nor will they be sizeable for quite some time. However, I’m reminded of the following quote.

“Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things ... I am tempted to think ... there are no little things.” -Bruce Barton