Turn Good Intentions into Real Change with Collaboratory

Want to make an impact in Southwest Florida? Start here.

In this episode of Chapman On Air, we sit down with Eric Lane from Collaboratory to break down how modern philanthropy is changing—and how businesses, employees, and individuals are playing a direct role.

Whether you’re a business owner looking to align your company with meaningful impact, or someone who wants to give back but doesn’t know where to start, this conversation shows you what’s possible.

Here’s the truth: you don’t need millions to make a difference.

Real impact is happening when communities come together—through partnerships, shared values, and intentional giving. And organizations like Collaboratory are helping connect people to causes that matter right here in Southwest Florida.

Think you can’t make a difference? Think again.

If you’ve ever wondered how to give back in a way that actually drives change, this episode is your first step.

Prefer video? Watch Chapman On Air now: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgAsExTYo4oD3CI_C0tPDDpK--f7am5KJ&si=fflKd7uIXSMkicWD

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Today on Chapman on Air, we're talking about the power of philanthropy and how the right connections between people, resources, and ideas can transform an entire community. Eric Lane is a senior philanthropic advisor at Collaboratory, where he works with donors, nonprofits, and community partners to help tackle some of Southwest Florida's most pressing social challenges. Eric has spent his career building meaningful partnerships that drive impact. Before joining Collaboratory, he spent eight years with the Salvation Army, leading business development efforts, corporate partnerships, and eventually serving as director of major gifts, cultivating transformational donor relationships that expanded support for programs across the region. A graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University with degrees in legal studies and mass communication, Eric has also stayed deeply engaged in the community, serving on the board of the Dubin Center and mentoring youth through Big Brothers, Big Sisters of the Sun Coast. Today we're talking about how modern philanthropy is evolving, what makes donor relationships truly impactful, and how collaboration across organizations is helping shape the future of Southwest Florida. You ready?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Man, you are such a natural at that.

SPEAKER_02 1:19

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

It's just very smooth.

SPEAKER_02 1:21

Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. So obviously, we're here to talk about collaboratory, but we want to know a little bit about you as well, or a lot about you. Sure. It depends how interesting it is. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Sure.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

So take us back to the beginning. What first drew you to nonprofit work and philanthropy?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Well, first I want to say thanks for having me today. Uh appreciate that. Uh, if I were to go, I think, back to maybe where it all started, my parents. Uh, my background uh is in the Salvation Army. My parents were Salvation Army pastors, so I was born into a family that um had really answered a call to uh work within an organization where they could really be utilized to the fullest extent uh in ministry to uh work with those that are lost and broken, uh, typically um the lowest points of the of this of the counties, of the cities and uh towns that we would live in. So I was born into that family and and uh was a preacher's kid my whole life and tried to do the best I could to not embarrass my parents too much as a preacher's kid. But growing into an ad uh adulthood was in different areas of sales management and things like that, and really had an opportunity to come on board with Salvation Army in a professional sense about 12 years ago, and uh really wasn't sure what that would look like, but took advantage of the opportunity and never looked back and fell in love with working in the nonprofit space, uh, especially with a focus on homelessness and hunger and trying to um make a difference, especially right here in our community, after going through a couple different hurricanes and COVID and things like that, and seeing how um homelessness had started to change and become the ch the face of that was starting to look different, and the people that were uh needing help was starting to that that was starting to grow, that number was starting to grow. It really, I think, kind of was a validation for me that I was in the right space, that I was working uh in a place that I could actually uh make impact and and make a difference. And really kind of left there uh after about 10 years with a phenomenal opportunity to go work for the collaboratory, which is our Southwest Florida Community Foundation here in downtown Fort Myers, and take my passion for working in the space of philanthropy to a much bigger area where I could not only be an advocate for the great work that Salvation Army is doing, but so many other phenomenal nonprofits that we have in the space, uh Harry Chapman Food Bank, uh Community Cooperative, um, so many other uh agencies that are working throughout uh our our county and throughout our kind of tri-county area. Uh we we serve a Lee Hendry Glade Charlotte and Collier. So um really gave me an opportunity to um join a bigger place that would open up the area of impact uh to a much bigger um opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Beautiful. Yeah, so I I did have a question, but I feel like you kind of answer this. Maybe there wasn't a turning point um because of how you grew up, but you studied legal studies and mass communication at FGCU, which by the way, Brian also went to FGCU.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Fantastic. Go Eagles.

SPEAKER_02 4:16

Yeah. Um and it's go eagles.

unknown 4:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I know nothing about that. Sorry, I'm not gonna pretend. Um so was there a certain point where you realized your career was going to evolve around community impact in your studies, or was it just something you were always going to do?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah, that's a really good question. So again, I was I was in a sales role, uh, had cut a couple different areas of um, you know, was going in a totally different direction. My dad passed away in 2014, and I think uh that was a really big turning point, a pivot for me. Losing him, but also having the opportunity to reflect on his life and how impactful it was, made me question the direction of where mine was going. And God is amazing and uh provided just a really incredible opportunity that coincided around the same time for me to change paths and um thought like it was it was that was the moment where I think things kind of changed. Uh, and it really um was was that simple. It was really just uh taking a look at the amazing life my dad lived and and the impact that he was able to leave and answering a life to a higher calling, and just really felt the same thing on my life and wanted to make him proud, I think. So I think it was a really big pivot for me in that moment to transition into something a little different.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Wow, that's really beautiful. Um, as a parent myself, that actually really touches my heart because you hope that you're living in a way that your children want to model. So I think that's absolutely incredible. Well said. Yeah. So um in throughout your career, have you seen a moment firsthand how powerful philanthropy can be? Any anything that stands out?

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Absolutely. Um I I've already experienced a couple different opportunities uh through partnerships uh with my time at the collaboratory on on funding projects, being able to provide grants to an organization when they're in a time of of great need, I think is the epitome of how our philanthropy in a community is supposed to work, how it's evolving and how it's supposed to work. I think if I were to probably go back to the most impactful time, it would be through some of the hurricanes that we've suffered through here in my time of Salvation Army, being able to lean on people that uh weren't even in our region that were sending in support because they could see what we're going through and they were fellow Floridians or they were snowbirds that were back at their winter homes and seeing what we were going through, I think was probably the most impactful time uh and and and moment in philanthropy that I've experienced. COVID was another time as well. I think when the entire world just kind of shut down and we were experiencing almost like a biblical stop in time and something that really just changed all of us in a in a way, every industry had to shift and change how they did things, and philanthropy is based on relationship, and a lot of that relationship is based on face-to-face. So um being able to change with the times and and utilize the value of technology and connect with people virtually um and still be able to bring impact to things of need, even when we were separated by COVID and things like that, uh, I think would probably be some of the most impactful opportunities that I got to be a part of and that stand out to me the most.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Yeah. Can you explain a little bit more about your role at collaboratory and what makes it unique? What exactly do you think? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Yeah. So uh with Collaboratory, we are a community foundation. And I find a lot of times that some people know a little bit about that or they know a lot about it, um, but maybe not the full scope of what we do as a community foundation. So we exist uh primarily to help those nonprofit agencies that are within our community, help them with setting up agency funds, uh, help them with capacity building. We have uh a phenomenal location downtown in downtown Fort Myers at the old train station, where we've been fortunate enough to partner with the city and the county and uh taking over that building and revamped it. And it's become quite um uh a special space of innovation uh and community where we are very proud to offer classroom space, meeting space, um multi-purpose room space for all of our nonprofit partners at no cost. Um, that gives them the ability to come in and uh have board meetings, brainstorming meetings, you know, whatever the case may be, uh we try to help in that capacity. We host uh a lot of speaker series and things like that that try to bring updates on uh changes that may be happening within the industries that they're operating in in the nonprofit space. Um so we always want to try to be there as a capacity builder, but also as a help, hopefully as a fundraiser in certain ways, where we um channel donor-advised funds, uh things like that with the for-profit community. We help the business community strategize on their philanthropic giving. And then hopefully we're coordinating those conversations to meet the needs of our agency partners that have agency agency funds with us. So uh in a lot of ways, we're almost like a community bank for our nonprofit partners to assist them and provide some capacity building.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

Yeah, and it's incredible. I can speak from our side of things. Um, Chapman has always done a lot of giving, and it's something that is really important to Brian. Actually, he doesn't like it to be spoken about. So every time I talk about it, I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. He's somebody who likes to give without being applauded for it, and I love that for him. However, I'm in marketing, so I let it be another one.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

You like to talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yeah, we talk about it. You know what? I I feel like there are two sides to that coin. Yes, you don't want to give in a way that's purely selfish because then it takes away why you're giving. But at the same time, when you talk about it, you might be encouraging other organizations around you to do the same. And then everybody giving together can make an even bigger impact. So I like talking about it.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Absolutely. Yeah, I I if I could, I I would share. Um, you know, I've had a relationship with Brian and with Chapman uh for for quite a while, going back to my time with Salvation Army.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

Um so I would say, you know, it's like over ten years now I've had a relationship with with Brian and you guys, uh, and uh he absolutely does a lot to give back to the community that he doesn't like to talk about.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Um I don't even know about this actually. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

So it was um we did a Christmas in July and this is one of those types of fundraisers that uh people in development and nonprofit world love to hear about because we I didn't have to do any work on it. Um they came in with a couple of other really good friends of mine that were uh running a committee, and Brian was one of the major sponsors uh that had shown up to the plate to really help support the event and come down uh at the Diamond District uh with Jason and Todd down in Coconut Point, just did a really phenomenal job uh supporting the Salvation Army in July during a time where it's summer. A lot of our um, you know, in our beautiful area here in Southwest Florida, a lot of folks start going back up north for those summer months and uh it's a little cooler up there. So it can be kind of a tight time for nonprofits during the summer. Uh so when somebody like the Chapman Insurance Group comes along and says, hey, we want to try to do a little something special for you in July, that stands out to you. So uh a huge memory that goes back and a very appreciative moment for what you guys have done for the community for quite a while for me at least.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

That I didn't even know about.

SPEAKER_00 11:15

That's a little tidbit there, a little did you know.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

Yeah, you're giving me information about our company that I didn't know about. Right, right. How do you like that?

SPEAKER_01 11:22

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

Well, one thing that you mentioned was the donor advice fund, right? So Chapman has come in as a partner there, and you've connected us with United Way, and we are looking forward to being able to have an even bigger impact in the community. And you will be hearing about it because I want people to know I mean, our company's getting involved, the team members are getting involved, and I think that's really special. It's not, it's not just transactions, like it's changing lives of the people you're helping, but it's changing your own life too, because you're helping. You do good, you feel good.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Absolutely. I I think if we're doing our job right as your community foundation here in Southwest Florida at the collaboratory, we want to make sure that we're bridging gaps, not just in impact and things that need to be met and services that need to be met, but we want to make make sure that the relationship's being made there. The importance of philanthropy and how it's changing is you are seeing more things like donor-advised funds. Uh, more people are realizing that their level of philanthropy doesn't have to have six zeros behind it to have impact. That we can collectively as a community come together. Um, it can't be just the business, it could be the employees and the business as well that are all facilitating that impact together. And I think that's how we've seen philanthropy change the most recently is the uh emergence of donor-advised funds and how easy it can be to partner with collaboratory on handling your corporate philanthropic giving, um, connecting you to projects that maybe you weren't aware of and and providing a little bit more exposure to how much you do give back, because you do have a lot of CEOs and people at the top that are a little bit more shy and they're very modest, and that's speaks to the humility of their heart, and we appreciate that. Um, but we also want the community to know when they're making decisions on who they want to do business with, who's helping to give back and make sure they're invested in this community. And those things are important to the to our, I think, to everybody in our community. So um we're grateful and super excited about partnering with you guys on your donor advised fund and how we're gonna be able to uh channel that impact back into the community in ways that are exciting to you guys and align with your corporate values and hopefully get some more in the uh employees involved as well.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

Yes, well uh we have huge initiatives coming for our employees and it's really a gift to all of us here at Chapman Insurance Group to have that opportunity to give back and take some time that might be spent normally at work and use it to uplift your community. But I think you touched on something really important as well is when you're looking at companies to do business with, do you align with their values? I think that's so important. That's another reason why it it is important to share what you're doing. I think everyone has the right to know the type of company they're working with. And at the same time, I wouldn't change Brian at all because the reason why the company is where it's at is probably because of that humility that he shows in so many different areas, and that's why he runs the company the way he does. So he can continue doing that, and then I'll just I'll continue doing my job.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

I think I think it's a that's a natural fit. That's a good natural. Okay, I like that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 14:21

All right. So tell me more about collaboratory. I know you have some information that you can share with us.

SPEAKER_00 14:26

Yeah, so uh we are collaboratory. We, you know, DBA is collaboratory, we are the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. Um proud to say that we are in our 50th year of existence, founded in 1976. Um we are proud to uh be a community partner for so many different agencies, funds, different things like that. To give you a couple stats, we've distributed more than $132 million in grants that are awarded to Southwest Florida via things like donor at bias funds, field of interest funds, things like that. We've given out $1.2 million to scholars through 177 scholarships, which is also probably one of our most proudest, I think, achievements uh in our FutureMakers program and through our scholarships being able to affect workforce and really hopefully uh have the see the trickle effect of that happen with housing and everything else like that, if you can affect the jobs and things like that. So 480 plus donor funds um that are very fine-tuned to specific target areas, and that that's essentially the reason that we exist. And we don't exist without the um the ability to partner with community members and people that trust us enough to help leave their legacy with us and allow us to guide that and uh according to how they want it. But our biggest honor is being able to be the philanthropic partner for not just our for-profit community for but for our individuals and those that have come here to retire and things like that. Um we are channeling all of that energy to try to affect as much change as we can, specifically speaking, in a couple different areas um that are we we're really trying to move the ball along. A lot of that you will see um is in our health and wellness coalition, our home coalition, and our future makers coalition. That's kind of uh the pillar of how we're creating impact through investment, through conversations. Um, we're trying to make sure that we're all talking together as well as funding issues and bridging gaps uh to make sure that we're collectively trying to change the problem instead of just band-aiding things over and over and over again. Um so we're always trying to look at making sure we're inviting everybody into that conversation, that um we're making it full circle with our donors as well to offer those opportunities should they be interested in that. Uh, but really give the community a place to jump in and be heard and talk about things and connect with our staff and our team to make sure that we're aware of all the issues that are out there and that we're we're all moving in the same direction and trying to hopefully address it in a way that's impactful for all of us. So um very excited to be celebrating our 50th anniversary. Um we've had um an exciting couple of months preparing for our uh 50th Gala celebration and had a ton of incredible sponsors like the Chapman Insurance Group. So we're very grateful for that. Um but very excited to be celebrating 50 years in the community and really cheers to 50 more, uh, we're hoping.

SPEAKER_02 17:16

So yeah, I'm hoping so as well. So um I know you guys are touching on a lot of different issues and challenges here in Southwest Florida. What would you say is probably one of the biggest challenges in this area?

SPEAKER_00 17:28

I I think right now, I mean, the biggest hot topic that I seem to hear the most around our offices is mental health. Okay. Um I think that that's even with our coalitions that I've listed, you know, looking at homelessness and trying to affect our education and getting more kids with a better pathway to either degrees or secondary education. Um the biggest thing that affects every category is mental health. Um I you know, I think we're trying to find ways that we are are mapping out what's available within our community, uh keeping up with the most cleanest statistics of what's available doctor-to-patient-wise, but also um looking for partnerships that are outside of this area. You know, I think far too often we are looking within the same space to try to solve the problem. And and sometimes that answer may not be there. So sometimes it's looking at partnerships that you have that exist with outside your maybe your regional area or your geographical space to see what else is working. So um I think that that's probably the one area that would be the hottest topic for us because it touches everything. And it's it's really an area where we're just starting to kind of scratch the surface of what's available and how much more dynamic our partnerships can be so that we're serving our community, both young and old. Um we have such a different demographic here, uh, both from people traveling throughout the world that have settled in Southwest Florida, uh folks that are you know snowboarding here, people that are vacationing here, um, college are you know, everybody's coming to Paradise. Everybody wants to come down to Southwest Florida. So um, you know, with that uh growing population that we have, it grows our mental health issues because uh, you know, almost everybody's got something that they're battling or or they're touched by it in their family. So um that would probably be, I think, the biggest way that we're trying to bring impact and that we're having those discussions and finding ways that touches everything that we're already working on anyway.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

Right. Have you guys seen uh an improvement or would you say a decline maybe uh since things like COVID and the hurricanes? I know that played a huge impact on the mental health of those in Southwest Florida.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Absolutely. I would say um natural disasters, things like that m massively play a huge role in the mental health space. I I'm not a mental health practitioner, but being on the philanthropic side and working with agencies that do try to speak to that, you know, you you hear the stories and you hear the statistics and you see the numbers begin to rise. I mean, we deal with a lot of different things in this area that I think speak directly to mental health issues and to the crisis that we face by not having enough providers and then being completely overtaxed with patients and just no way. But yeah, we've seen the numbers go up. I think if there's the positives to take is that there's uh more and more funding becoming available. There's more and more people that with the awareness that it grows, we're able to grow funding by donor-advised funds, uh, you know, um legacy giving, things like that. Uh, as that issue becomes more of something we're championing as a cause across the board, people are giving more. And the the more awareness we have, I think, the better it becomes. The more awareness that people have that we're, you know, in an area where we're in a deficit. We need more practitioners, we need more um therapists and things like that, but also a better follow-up, you know. We need better overall care. So it's never just the doctor or the patient. We need a better system, you know. We need something that's in place that's that's gonna be there to catch people in a cauldron almost, you know. So, um, or in a colander, excuse me. Um but I I would say that we've seen it change in a positive way. Impact is changing, awareness is getting better, uh, but it's gonna be a slow thing, you know, because as it's like anything else, like homelessness and hunger, when you begin to fix certain parts of it, it morphs into different areas or you big you discover other areas. So hopefully we're gonna see some some you know impact and we'll see some numbers that correspond with that. Uh but it's it's a big problem that we're I think we're all working on together collectively.

SPEAKER_02 21:14

For sure. So can you like paint a picture how funds are used to help that specific issue? Are you putting people together and paying for their visits, like two therapists?

SPEAKER_00 21:25

So we as a community foundation would typically never be ones funding direct to service. Okay. Um and that's a great question. What we would do is we would partner with an agency or a nonprofit agency specifically that is doing things like that, like saless care or whatever. And at that point, it becomes a conversation of combining uh donor funds with that are aligned with the mental health space that speak directly to the problems that they have. And then we have conversations where we present the problems or the projects that they have in that space to fund those things. So we don't do a direct disservice, we become kind of the conduit of those um with the ability. To fund those projects, we bring those projects to them and kind of uh present those opportunities. Okay. So yeah, it would never be directly to the patient, but directly to the nonprofit organization so that they have the ability to pay for those types of uh operating procedures and things like that, whether it be visits, doctor's costs, things like that. Referrals.

SPEAKER_02 22:17

Yeah, that makes sense. So obviously you've spent quite a few years cultivating major donor relationships. So what would you say separates a transactional relationship from a transformational one?

SPEAKER_00 22:31

That's a great question. Uh probably I think a lot of it rests on the information and and the time that you've put into finding out what's important to your donor, what's important to that individual. Um, you know, if you don't know what their passions are and what maybe some of their background is and what they've been through in life and what got them to where they are now, it would be really difficult probably to try to match them up with that. So I think in order for it to be anything other than a tax write-off, um, there's got to be a story involved and there's got to be some um sharing of things sometimes that, you know, maybe are a little di little difficult or a little uh more sensitive, but uh a story usually uh and asking some questions, finding out what's important to them. We have agencies from top to bottom that are working in pretty much every space where you can think there's a where you can think of a crisis being, and I'm proud to live where we live. I'm proud to see how we respond to problems and issues and things like that. And even sometimes when we don't agree on things, we still find a way as a community to get together and and fix and help each other. And I'm happ happy to sing that tune to people. I'm happy to um sing their praises and be their biggest advocate about what they do. So it's really just connecting those amazing causes and the people that run our organizations here in Southwest Florida with a donor base that is really just dying to meet them. You know, they just don't know. So sometimes it's just uh it's the privilege and the blessing I have of being in an opportunity where I connect the problem to the solution a lot of times um uh or the relationship that they may be lacking. Right. And that's it. It's just really listening, asking questions and um making sure that you're you know following what your person's telling you, listening to what they're telling you.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

Yeah. Well, you mentioned uh connecting a problem to a solution. So is there a can you give me a good story? Everybody loves a good feel, good story, um, of where the impact for something you were involved in or you were close to exceeded what anyone could have expected.

SPEAKER_00 24:28

Yeah, I I probably would have to go back to a time with Salvation Army. Um it this is right after Hurricane Irma. And I was overseeing the red kettle campaign, um, which if you're not familiar, I think most people see the kettles, the bells, and everybody at at Publix locations for Salvation Army with the red kettles at Salvation at Christmas time. And we were going into um a year where uh the calendar year we had lost a couple days uh from when we were going to be able to be out there, and we weren't very far removed from a hurricane that had pretty much devastated uh Southwest Florida. And we were still facing homelessness and hunger issues and crisis within the walls of our pantry and our homeless shelter at Salvation Army. So we would um still have to put out our kettles, but we really knew that you know we're asking people to contribute during a time where their houses are falling apart. And insurance is, you know, getting to it as quickly as they can, but that's a process that has to be followed as well. And so people were really, really struggling for a couple months, and it can be a little sensitive, you know, to still be in a place in philanthropy where you're asking or having a conversation and communicating needs. But we we knew that we still had to do and carry on and uh move the campaign out. Um and I went into it with a different expectation and we re kind of removed our financial goal, and we actually ended up uh surpassing what our original goal would have been in a much shorter campaign. And I think it it never left me um the impact of opening up checks and envelopes that were within our kettles and counting those down every night to see just how many people were giving, even from a place where they were really in uh a need themselves. Need begets uh oh when you've experienced those types of issues, it it leaves you with a feeling of understanding that it's hard to have any other way than by experiencing it yourself. And it's something I've never forgotten about. I've never been more proud to be from Southwest Florida or live in this area called home now than I was after Irma and then after Ian uh to see how our community responded and took care of each other. And you know, we live in a time where the political climate can be really dicey at times and very hot. But when we go through devastation and horrible things together, I'm reminded of how everybody comes together, and none of that matters. Um so it's I hold on to those things and I hold on to how much we do have each other's backs, even though it doesn't seem like we do. Sometimes it's the beauty that comes out of the horribleness of disasters is the community that comes together and the way that we grow back together. You know, our trees get taken down and the greenery gets rubbed away, but sometimes we kind of grow back in a better way. Yes, and I think that's probably my best memory of being in philanthropy in the com in this community was seeing just how we responded, how people not just responded with their finances, but were getting out to help each other clean their properties off, help them, you know, cut trees out of the middle of the road, uh remove limbs. You know, you're helping people, sometimes multiple people a day that you've never talked to or met. And that may be the first time you've ever done that in your life.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:36

And there's something that comes from that. And that's the beauty of philanthropy. It's not always about the money, it's about giving of yourself in a way where you expect nothing else of the other person except for um to help them. And that's it. And something special happens from that. And when you start experiencing that as a community, like we do after disasters, really special things happen. We just don't, I think, get to experience it as often, unfortunately, because it takes really bad things for us to get there. But that would be, I think, the best answer I could give you for a a moment in philanthropy that really left me with a huge memory.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

Yeah, that was beautiful. And as you're talking, I'm like replaying so many different scenarios in my head that prove exactly what you're saying. Like, yes, of course, nobody wants to go through these horrible things, but some beautiful things did come out of it. I know there's in my community, um, the whole community was destroyed for Ian, and one of my neighbors, uh some of the neighbors that stayed, they had to be rescued. And in that process, the wife was brought to a hospital and the husband didn't couldn't find her for days. And it was really sad to watch. He was frantic. Now they there were other neighbors who they did not get along with. It's an infamous battle, right? And I the picture is so clear in my head of sorry, I get emotional when I talk about this. When I saw them walk over to each other and the two men embraced and cried. I mean, it was amazing. I stood there in awe watching this from across the street because they were not friends. And in that moment, everything went away. It was about finding his wife and just we were just rejoicing that we were all alive at that point. So so many beautiful things have come out of it's powerful. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:20

I appreciate you sharing that. And it and it and what's weird is it extends beyond like our area. You know, like all of a sudden, your extended family from around the country, out of the country, is all watching. And all of a sudden, everybody's praying for each other and thinking of each other, and we're together in those moments. And um we have to hold on to that sense of community and and things like that. Um, I I think we all had some things that touched us in a in a very powerful and emotional way, especially vivid memories uh of things. And um were not so great, but I'm glad that you have one that's like such a powerful and positive thing because that's that's the epitome of us as humans. That's how we're supposed to be for each other. And you know, that's the beauty, I think, of the work that I get to do is sometimes people don't realize that they're gonna receive so much more than what they're giving away. The money they they give is is gonna make dreams come true, but I think sometimes what's lost or what they don't expect is the feeling they walk away from by giving, because it is far better to give than to receive. And it's just always a shock. Uh it's always interesting to sit back and see people that experience that for the first time and how overwhelming it is.

SPEAKER_02 30:27

Yeah, there's more joy in giving, a wise man once said.

SPEAKER_00 30:29

There is.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

And I don't know where that came from, but I don't know. I think he was speaking some facts. So that's right.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 30:36

Yeah, amazing. So obviously, philanthropy has evolved a lot in the last decade. What trends are you seeing now that will shape the future of giving?

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Well, I think there's more people that are aware of how they give now. I think giving has evolved from maybe a tax write-off. Uh, I think the vehicles for giving have become more efficient. There's more opportunity now. I think more people are educated on what's out there and ways they can give back. Uh obviously we've mentioned it quite a few times here, donor advice funds. I always say, you know, if you're giving to more than one charity, it's super beneficial to go that way, especially when you partner with your community foundation, because we have the benefit of, you know, once you make that initial gift into your donor advice fund, that asset gets invested with our pool of assets of roughly 180 million in assets. So our return on investment in that account, while we're figuring out how you want to channel that philanthropy or figured out, we grow that investment over time and try to make it bigger than what you had initially put in there. So we also have a unique ability to partner with different projects from our region and paint those pictures. So I think it's becoming a more efficient world. Uh I think we're seeing things that are changing as far as how the younger generations are handling their finances and how they're doing things. I think the way our grandparents and our parents maybe gave back to organizations is still of value, but I think uh our younger generations are looking at different things. Some of them are a little bit more curious of the impact that the organizations are having, and it's not just, you know, on name value alone. They want to see statistics, they want to see how you're changing, they want to see if you're utilizing technology and things that are available to you to best suit your uh mission. And I think that again speaks back to efficiency. Um people want to make the most value uh that they can, and technology is helping us do that in a lot of ways. Crypto is something that more and more people are becoming involved in and diversifying in, and that's something that you know at Collaboratory we're already set up to assist and help our fundholders with, uh, both on the donor side and on the receiving side if you're an agency. We're seeing more and more people that are looking at cashless assets and things like that and ways to diversify how they give back. So uh the field is always changing, as our economy does. Philanthropy will. Um, you know, it's gonna always be a necessary uh means, even if for just a business sense, um, but it doesn't have to be. You know, it can be so much more impactful and exciting and can be a fan something that the whole entire family gets involved with. And that's where we come in. We just try to say what's important to you and how can we set this up, and we we kind of build the the picture to the T of how you you request it. So it it is changing at at a pretty fast pace, and we're we're ready for it. We're excited about how that's how that's gonna look, but we're also still keeping our eyes open for what what's on the horizon and and new things that are out there.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

Yeah, amazing. I love hearing this. Just hearing that younger generations are getting involved is incredible. The work you guys are doing at collaboratory to bring awareness to different ways you can give back is also incredible because a lot of these things I didn't know about before. And yeah, you used to think, or I think many people still think you have to be wealthy in order to give, or I don't I I'm barely making it by, I can't give back. But there's so many other things you can do to get involved. And I when you give, not that you should give for this reason, but but it always comes back to you tenfold.

SPEAKER_00 33:59

A thousand percent.

SPEAKER_02 34:00

Amazing how that works, right?

SPEAKER_00 34:01

A thousand percent. And it's life-changing. Um I think for some it can be where a budget starts. You know, it can be how you begin to turn misuse of money around is when your budget starts with giving back a percentage, whether that's to your church, to whatever's important to you, but if you start building your budget around giving back first and know that you have to be that much more of a better steward with the money that you have, thing different things start to happen, you know, and you become more responsible with that. Uh, but you also start a legacy of giving. And if you don't give when you have a little, you won't give when you have a lot. So you have to you have to make it something that's a principle, something that's a um every two weeks, every month, whatever, however you you conduct your finances, it's gotta be something you become disciplined about. Otherwise, um it becomes hard to do it. And then you miss out on the gift. You miss out on what you just said. That you it's always something you get more out of than you ever expected to bestow on someone else. And that's the bigger miss. It's not the finances that you're giving or the tax write-off, it's the missing of the blessing of of giving to someone else and experiencing that transcendence that happens in that moment.

SPEAKER_02 35:13

It's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 35:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

Okay, so tell us a few things that people can do to get involved with collaboratory.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

I I I would love to. I think we're always trying to look at bringing innovative speakers, uh, topics, things like that that come in. Uh, we've got a light bulb series event that's coming up uh this week at Collaboratory. They can jump on to collaboratory.org or follow us uh on Facebook, and we always have our announcements there, but there's a registration page that's open up. Again, I would say be on the lookout for the Edison Awards that's coming up um in April. That's going to be downtown at the Luminary. Uh, we are a sponsor in that, but that's a phenomenal opportunity to check out uh things that are on the horizon in innovation, technology, AI. I mean, from the world's best. They had Jensen Wang last year, the CEO of Nvidia, come and speak. Uh Greg Greg Robinson, who works for NASA and um was, I think, the chief engineer for the web telescope. Just phenomenal speakers that come by and are talking about things that exceed our planet, you know, that things that are out in the atmosphere that they're working on. It's just like mind-blowing, uh, especially for somebody who has a mind like mine that just doesn't operate in that way. But collaboratory.org is our website. Sign up there, uh, join our mailing list, uh, follow us on Facebook and find a way to get involved. Come and check us out. Come see one of our uh breakouts for our light bulb series. Come in and have a cup of coffee. We're a really great space to come in for meeting. If you've never been, come in for a tour. Um, give at collaboratory.org is where you can email if you want to find out more information on how to set up a donor-advised fund. Okay. How to get involved with uh any aspect of what we do in philanthropy or any of our coalitions. Um, yeah, just reach out. We would we're we're available. We would love to uh be there to serve any and everybody that has a question or wants to find a way they can get involved with their community foundation.

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Beautiful. I love visiting Collaboratory any chance I get. It is a beautiful building, very aesthetically pleasing, but good things happening on the inside as well. Um I have some quick questions for you to wrap this up.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:19

One, how do you start your day? If you want to have a successful day, what do you do in the morning?

SPEAKER_00 37:23

Pray.

unknown 37:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Pray. Uh if I I I for me, I've got to start my morning with uh the voice of God. If I don't start that way, which I'm guilty of from time to time, I find that it is um not the most productive way for me to start my morning. And I tend to get in my own way. So yeah, prayer would be the first way I start my day. Hopefully, is the way I start my day every day. And then a good morning kiss to my wife.

SPEAKER_02 37:49

Okay. I like it. Anything else?

SPEAKER_00 37:51

Oh, that's probably it. Okay. That's probably it.

SPEAKER_02 37:53

Those are two very good things to start your day with. All right. Rapid-fired questions. Um, what one habit makes a great community leader?

SPEAKER_00 38:04

I don't know if I would I guess uh having a a a habit of listening. People are well spoken, but sometimes don't listen enough. And uh I think so I I guess having a habit of patience and listening, being able to be patient with people, allow them to speak and know that you may not have an answer and that you're not expected to fix everything. Um, but sometimes just listening and being present.

SPEAKER_02 38:29

I really love that because most of the time the answer is very simple. So I I like that. Just listen.

SPEAKER_00 38:35

And sometimes people don't want you to have an answer. You know what I mean? Like they're sometimes they're just like, I just need to tell my problem to somebody and nobody else is listening. So I just need you to listen to it. You don't have to fix it, just listen to it.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

I yes, love that. A local organization more people should know about.

SPEAKER_00 38:50

Collaboratory. Uh I I I agree. I have to say, I mean, I I I'm a little biased, but I think we work at one of the most uh impactful organizations in our state. Um I we've had so many amazing people come and work through our organization over the years of 50 years that have come and left huge uh impactful marks on our organization have helped guide us and get us to this point. We certainly stand on their shoulders and are grateful for the opportunities that they've opened and bestowed upon us, grateful for all of our donors who have left lasting legacies with us that are no longer with us, that have trusted us, you know, after they're gone with their hard-earned money, with they with everything they've worked for, to know that, say, hey, we want to trust you with with leaving a lasting uh uh impact and we want to trust that you're gonna keep your finger on the pulse of what's going on. So I would say learn more about how you can get involved in that because we're only as impactful as our community that surrounds us. And if if we don't find ways to involve you or be connected, there's really nobody that lives here that shouldn't have an involvement or connection or get an email occasionally from collaboratory on how they can get involved. We need you. We need you. Uh there's I I don't mince words on that. It's not you need us, it's we absolutely need you, and we exist to be here for you to help any way we can.

SPEAKER_02 40:04

So I thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us here, sit with V on Chapman on Air. Thank you for shedding light on some of these issues and helping us understand how we can get involved. I appreciate you and your time. I appreciate collaboratory. Um, we are big fans here at Chapman Insurance Group.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

So thank you guys so much. Uh it was an honor to come by today. Uh appreciate how much you guys get back to our community. Um, we're excited at Collaboratory to be partnering with you uh and and handling your your corporate donor advice fund. Um, excited about what the future holds, but please keep doing what you're doing in the community and and being um a light in the industry.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 40:41

Like thanks.