Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
CFA Sponsor The Trust Company on the GMCF Community Hour Episode - 192
Greater Manhattan Community Foundation founder Mark Knackendoffel shares how recognizing philanthropy drives more charitable giving and strengthens the community. The GMCF has exceeded all expectations in its 25-year journey, providing structure, discipline, and support to local organizations while avoiding direct competition in fundraising.
• Community Foundation Awards bring visibility to worthy causes and inspire others to contribute
• GMCF was created to provide structure and discipline to philanthropic efforts, not to be a direct fundraiser
• The foundation reached its "10 in 10" goal ($10 million in 10 years) in just 7-8 years
• Trust Company actively encourages staff to take leadership roles in community organizations
• Community involvement provides leadership development opportunities that benefit both organizations and businesses
• Foundation affiliation gives nonprofits credibility with donors and ensures good stewardship
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Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. It's now 1037. This is the GMCF Community Hour on NewsRadio KMAN. Our next guest is here to talk primarily about some of the impacts of the CFAs and the GMCF. He is one of the three that we credit with getting the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation started. He is the CEO and founder of this trust company. He is a well-known community icon and just a great overall dude. His name is Mark Knockendoffel and I think this is the first time we've had you in on the radio program. I believe so.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you've been on a few podcasts.
Speaker 1:Yes, Philanthropy Today is the podcast. Wherever you get your podcasts, we take these segments that we do on the radio and now we create podcasts out of them.
Speaker 2:Oh great, yeah, yeah, that's really good, yeah. So the CF, I would imagine. Is there a list of them at some point? You?
Speaker 1:just they're all listed there, whatever you go to, to the ones you can pick and choose who you want to listen to. You know, and the ones you don't want to listen to Wonderful, but they're always educational, very informative. So you know, you got this thing started here 25, 26 years ago, you know, and this has been a story that we have shared and it's also on our podcast series and YouTube channel. But with the Community Foundation Awards and the annual meeting tied in together, how do you see this making a difference in our community?
Speaker 2:Well, I think part of it is that it brings some visibility to it on a larger scale, which can't do anything but help in terms of promoting philanthropy, and I think that's kind of the. You know, there are worthy folks within the community and organizations that are part of that celebration and that celebration, I think, triggers more philanthropy. That's how we've determined that we want to promote it and support it.
Speaker 1:Why do you think it's important that we recognize philanthropy here on a local level?
Speaker 2:Well, again, I'll go back. I think when you recognize something, you get more of it. And in terms of support for organizations, because a lot of people, if they don't hear about it, they're not necessarily going to go look for it on their own. And when they see, oh, oh, that, yeah, that makes sense, yeah, I like that and I'll help support it, you know, from a donation standpoint or maybe it's volunteer efforts, things like that. And it also recognizes what I would call sort of best practices. When organizations are are, you know, receiving awards, they're doing something right and hopefully other organizations can try to, you know, emulate that.
Speaker 1:It does provide an initiative. You know, and I you know, and I think it's probably safe to say 100% of those that work or not work, let's just say, provide funds through their philanthropic efforts. They don't do it for the recognition, they do it because it's the right thing to do for their community and the people that they love and want to help.
Speaker 2:There are a lot of silent donors out there. Aren't there, though? Yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, we and the ones that don't want that you know, and I. The name Phil Howell always keeps coming to mind because he wasn't one that did it. He didn't. I don't think he really enjoyed the recognition.
Speaker 2:He was uncomfortable, but it was.
Speaker 1:But you know we do that not necessarily for the donor, but we also do that for those in the community to say it's another way for them to say thank you. We certainly appreciate what you do for our community and the people that we work with.
Speaker 2:One of the other aspects of that is that, um, I've always considered the community foundation itself to not it is a legal charitable organization but it's not really a fundraising entity. It's there to support other organizations that are doing fundraising and it provides, again, leverage and discipline. Discipline and that was kind of the motivation that when Jim Gordon and Jim Morris and I got together on this, that we said we need something in this community that will provide some structure to philanthropic efforts and help organizations, and that's what the Community Foundation is there to do. And so they don't. And we consciously, when we got started, we're not looking for or to promote particular, you know philanthropic efforts.
Speaker 1:You know just philanthropy in general that you know, we've got a lot of experts around here, a lot of people that do this and and enjoy doing this type of work and guiding some of these nonprofits to help with those fundraising efforts and and not just the fundraising efforts, but the the financial side and and giving them advice as to what's best practice for for use of that money that they've raised Exactly and and seen that with respect to organizations in the community, some good, some not so good.
Speaker 2:I remember early on the Manhattan Emergency Shelter and I was on that board. Oh gosh that had to be 35 years ago and we received a bequest um happened to be from a client of ours and uh, um, and so somebody on the board said, well, we ought to start a foundation, and this was long before the community foundation got started.
Speaker 2:But, um, we said, well, that seems like a worthy effort, okay, and so we got it set up and the funds got deposited. And then I remember Jan Marks was instrumental in that, and I think Therese Miller maybe and myself and I forget who else was on it.
Speaker 2:Anyway, we all cycled off the board and then, the first time they had some kind of financial emergency, they spent the whole, the whole amount, and it wasn't spent unwisely, it's just that it didn't have the discipline to. You know, they weren't in a position to really have a community foundation. Now they they are, you know, one of the participants in the community foundation, but you know, it just provides some discipline, I think, and some structure and a good forum for those agency directors and also maybe their board members and maybe some of their donors to collaborate on sort of best practices for, you know, charitable initiatives. We learn a lot of lessons along the way.
Speaker 1:Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we screwed up on a few things. That's part of the growth process, Absolutely. You know, we're kind of one of these things where you kind of go what were we thinking? You?
Speaker 1:know, last year we celebrated our 25th anniversary of the Community Foundation and you know and one of the questions I know that you've been asked this and and probably everybody else could you envision 25, 26 years ago, when you and the two gyms got together and talked about this, that, uh, that the community foundation could be as strong and vibrant and probably as financially stout as it is now?
Speaker 2:Not a chance. I remember early on we'd been in existence maybe two, three years and we sort of did a challenge or had it. We won the goal and I don't recall who it was. I know I supported the goal and but I said, how about 10 in 10,? I know I supported the goal but I said how about 10 in 10, you know to hit, you know, 10 million in 10 years? And I remember Jim Morrison said, oh, never happened, never happened. And we made it into like seven or eight. You know.
Speaker 1:And so.
Speaker 2:It's always fun to prove Jim Morrison wrong, isn't it? It doesn't happen very often, I know it, I know it. So again, one of my best friends.
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely One of the great people in our community, Gosh, we got a lot of great people here don't we and? That's part of why we have the CFAs, so that we can recognize them and thank them for doing so. So you're with the Trust Company and I know how engaged you and your employees and staff here in your semi-retirement have been involved in the community.
Speaker 2:I'm not hardly even semi-retired yet, but looking ahead, perhaps Okay, so you've downsized A little bit.
Speaker 1:You've got a 10% per year plan, don't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, something like that.
Speaker 1:How does what is done here at the Community Foundation align with your practices at the trust company?
Speaker 2:Well, one of the things that we strongly support is engagement by our staff members, and we promote that, we help pay for that. Sometimes we'll add matches to you know things that they want to do. The other thing is, not only do we want people to join things, we want them to be leaders, because that leadership, those leadership opportunities, not only help organizations but makes them perfect their leadership skills, as it might relate to what we do professionally, right, and I think there's sort of a symbiotic relationship there that it benefits us as a company. It also provides visibility to people, but it also lets them practice their leadership skills.
Speaker 1:I know that we look at our list of young trustees. There's a bunch that have connections with the trust company. Yeah, we have had quite a few, that's that's what's that make you feel?
Speaker 2:Good, you know, and and we've been very blessed, we've hired a lot of great talent and and then we, we promote their you know, the deployment of their leadership skills and talents, and and then eventually, at some point you know, for example, katie See, who is now president and director of wealth management and one of the when people talk about my career, and I'm starting to slow down just a little bit, but I now only have two people that report to me, which is great. I've become kind of a yes man, so and but Katie was, I named her president, and and and Louis Smith is our chief operating officer, and so the team of us kind of make up the executive committee of the of the company. But Katie was just recognized as the I'm trying to remember what the exact title by the chamber, I think it's under 40.
Speaker 2:No, no, it wasn't that exact title by the chamber. I think it's under 40. No, no, it wasn't that it was.
Speaker 1:She was recognized as the um young leaders. Oh, yes, yeah, I forget the exact name of the title.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, and uh, yeah, it was kind of the young leaders award of the year or something like that. So but and well-deserved, you know she's, she's a rock star.
Speaker 1:One of the things we want to be able to do is, you know, when we have this interview. We'd like to say thank you for your sponsorship of the CFAs, but we also want us to give your perspective on why you would want to support the CFAs.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it goes back to what I said earlier. I it it. It helps promote philanthropy and that is one of the missions of the Community Foundation. Like I said, they're not a charity in and of themselves and they don't, and I'm proud of how that legacy has continued on with under Burns leadership. They have stayed true to their word to not be in the you know fundraising business. Now what they're here to do is to help other organizations that are raising funds and then they'll get a little lift or assistance from the community foundation itself. And but it also provides some structure, also kind of instant credibility with donors. You know, if they're tight, if an organization's tied in with the community foundation, they can trust that that they are well-run and and will be good stewards of of those donated funds.
Speaker 1:Well, it seems like there's just a lot of things that you know. The trust companies' perspectives on business are really very much in line with what is done with the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. Because you're A, you're dealing with money, you're dealing with people's futures, you're advising them on a lot of different things. You may be a little bit different than a lot of other people that participate in the community foundation because you do bring that financial aspect, but you also bring that community perspective that a lot of people may not necessarily grasp early in their careers. But you and your cohorts now at the trust company, that's part of your plan.
Speaker 2:It is yeah and uh, we think that uh makes for a better, a better community and, and hopefully, a better company.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So, um, yeah, I'll look forward to seeing what, uh, you know, happens over the, the, the longterm, you know, and I'm just getting ready to turn 70. And so we'll see what, you know, the next 10 to 20 years looks like. Hopefully I'll still be working some. I don't think I'll ever fully retire.
Speaker 1:No, that's not in your MO.
Speaker 2:But yeah, that's kind of the Phil Howell model, you know, and I don't know that he ever fully retired. So anyway, it'll be fun, but it's part of what drives you. Oh, yeah, exactly, it's a passion for you, yeah.
Speaker 2:I got you know. I've heard of several friends who've gotten bored in retirement and I go, god, I can't run. I have so many different interests and and uh. But you have flexibility in your life. Yes, I'm starting to get some of that. But you have flexibility in your life. Yes, I'm starting to get some of that. And Anne's been retired about three years now, but she's as busy as all get out because of all the various boards she's on. And after she retired, not only was she on those boards, then she took on leadership roles and I think she's the chair of maybe like four organizations right now, and she's constantly dealing with that.
Speaker 1:That's why your partner's in crime.
Speaker 2:Yep, very much so, Mark.
Speaker 1:Kadof. Well, thank you for joining us.
Speaker 2:Thank you for your support of the CFA. My pleasure you bet.
Speaker 1:And all the work you've done on behalf of the Greater Manhattan Community. Foundation and the community in general. Yeah we love this town. Thanks, pretty obvious. We'll be back, love this town Thanks. Pretty obvious. We'll be back. Vern's going to return. Bring us some updates on some things that are happening in the community here in the next few days. No-transcript.