GPC Spotlight - Glen Evans

Donor Liaison, Philanthropies

Hello, I am a recovering banker. Did you know that is possible? Well, I have worked for 17 years as a Major Gift Officer in the Philanthropies Dept. So yes, it is possible. Read on.

I tease a bit but, in reality, my banking career was awesome and 100% focused on Institutional Trust. I earned my Series 63, 65 and Series 7 stock brokerage license, my insurance license, and a CFP. That’s a lot of book learning. But the most valuable learning has been through experience. In the last 10 years of my career, I worked for JP Morgan Investment Advisors in Kentucky and served clients located throughout Kentucky and West Va – most of whom were large ERISA qualified retirement plans (Profit Sharing, 401k, Money Purchase plans, Stock Purchase plans etc.). 

After 21 years in the banking industry, my wife Rosemary and our 3 kids took a bold move to cut our income in half and join the Philanthropies Dept. That decision made no sense financially speaking but we sensed that we were passing through a rare moment of endowed courage (it didn’t seem to come from us). So we looked then leapt, with a little uncertainty, from Kentucky to Utah in 2007 to begin what has been a thrilling and fulfilling time working in the Philanthropies Dept. We are so grateful that we did. Turns out my banking skills were transferrable!

Since then, one of my great joys is to continue my association with you - financial advisors, attorneys, CPA’s and similar trusted professionals. I greatly admire who you are and what you do to demystify a variety of complex financial matters for your clients. It is great work that you do, and I say this because I have seen it firsthand. Most of my banking clients were business owners, smart people, risk takers. Yet, many lacked a solid and disciplined foundation from which to work when they approached personal or business financial decisions. It became evident that the expertise that the adviser community has is very much needed, perhaps most needed among those clients who know most. Among my clients were bright professors, doctors, lawyers, business owners, leaders, etc who needed help with the basics of wise financial stewardship, inheritance planning, business succession, and investment and retirement planning, etc. So please never doubt the value of what you do. It is, in my view, very close to transformational. Thank you for hanging in there to help people (including some of your smartest clients who may not think that they need your help) to navigate our complex world today.

So here we are. As I work with donors, I often think of you. Our Philanthropies dept reports straight up to the Presiding Bishops office and General Relief Society. We get our marching orders from them based on needs that are the most prominent presently. That has been a credibility factor for many donors. They trust the Church, trust what we are doing, but we also know that there are many good ideas and causes out there. So, what we present to our donors is essentially this: “we are not just going to show you our favorite list of things and leave some things out. We actually have a very short list of approved priorities, and we invite you to consider where your heart is. What resonates with you? What Church related Philanthropy have you thought about doing one day and have not yet had a chance to do? 

When donors discover our list of approved priorities, they are often excited that a way does exist for them to give beyond the Tithe and Offerings to make a difference. They can do this through a cash gift or a legacy gift (such as an endowed scholarship at most of the Church schools, or a Donor Advised Funds). Some have asked “should we give to a Church cause or to our favorite present charity that is unaffiliated with the Church?” Our response is essentially “That’s great. We support you. Go be part of that worthwhile thing you love doing. There are many wonderful causes worth supporting outside of Church causes. When or if that changes, you know where to find us. We are glad to help”.

I am a major gift officer (MGO for short) and work with about 80 Major Gift Donors located in Texas and Arizona. Each of our 21 MGO individuals is assigned geographically across the USA and help any donor who wants to give major gifts to Church causes (Missionary, Humanitarian or the General Fund) or CES related causes (BYUH, BYUI, Ensign College, Pathway Worldwide, and BYU). Most of the donors we work with ask for very little information back on their gifts. Still, we enjoy “reporting back” and feel duty bound to do it, to help show their gift impact. This is often a pleasant surprise to donors.

One of the most enjoyable experiences that I and my colleagues have is helping a donor meet a student whom they have supported. It’s almost like General Conference to watch that interaction. In our work, it is individual helping individual. Donors fund the greatest variety and number of endowed gifts and make a huge and needed impact.

Several prominent lessons that I have learned in my years in the Philanthropies Dept are 1) many people do not know we exist and when they do hear about us, they rightly wonder if we are an official/legit department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That probably makes sense given that, at 85 employees presently, we are one of the smallest Church departments - and we don’t advertise much. Secondly, the Church CES entities or Church Departments do NOT sit around trying to figure out how to spend huge piles of donor funded money that they have no idea what to do with. It’s quite the opposite. Donor gifts move the needle and allow these entities to go further and stay longer in how they help bring students and families into self-reliant positions. Yes, we are blessed with wonderful donor participation and No, BYU and its related sister CES entities do not have all the funding they need to do all the things for students that they would like to do. Bottom line – when donors give, they move the needle.  And we like to show them how. This is one of the greatest joys.

With this, the Gift Planning Council is something I use and refer donors and advisers toward. It is a unique place to gather with credentialed professionals who want to help donors and their clients to be good stewards and at times to make a Church related gift. I have taken many donors with me to the bi-annual Gift Planning Council Conference. All have without exception commented “why have I not heard about this before”. It has changed the way they talk about money with their family. I have seen some very wealthy people with very good financial and legal advice who still come away armed with power, more aware the behavioral aspects of money and philanthropy, how to involve their family, how to pass on the giving gene to their kids, and what practices they can begin as families or individuals to make a difference in the world and look beyond the present.

I hope this helps. The above amounts to just one former bankers’ perspective who is still becoming. My thanks to my GPS colleagues and to each of you for what you do. Money moves people to act, for better or for worse. And people change the world. Your guidance helps them choose the better part. Your work makes all the difference.

Cheers for now, Glen Evans, CFP.