Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Sink Gordon Accountants & Advisors LLP on the GMCF Community Hour Episode - 194
Jim Gordon sits down to discuss his 26 years of community impact through the Community Foundation and the Community Foundation Awards, which honor those who give their time, talent, and treasure.
• Jim Gordon, co-founder of GMCF and title sponsor of the CFAs, shares how the awards began
• The CFAs focus on celebrating volunteers who contribute time and talent alongside those who give financially
• Starting with four title sponsors (Kansas State Bank, Steel, and Pipe Supply, Trust Company of Manhattan, and Sink Gordon), the event now attracts 500-600 attendees
• The awards spotlight lesser-known community programs, introducing new volunteer opportunities to attendees
• Jim Gordon advises finding a charity you're passionate about and turning that passion into action
• His philosophy: "You can't wait to make a difference" – take opportunities as they come to serve the community
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. You know we have looked back on this program and through a lot of the things that the Community Foundation has a wonderful history to reflect upon and one of the names that is just always, not only at the very beginning, but has been a constant through the 26 years of the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation, and that is Jim Gordon, St Gordon and Associates, co-founder of the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation, all around good guy and a sponsor, a primary sponsor here, of the CFA's. Good morning, sir.
Speaker 2:Good morning, Dave. It's always good to be here and to talk about community events and specifically GMCF.
Speaker 1:I'm proud of you that you wore some green today. You got your master's jacket on. That's good.
Speaker 2:You have to wear just a little green, and this is the only green in my closet. Is that? Yeah, that's about mine and mine's a gmcf shirt. I do have another gmcf shirt. I should get a gmcf shirt from vernon.
Speaker 1:I think I've earned it. What do you think? You know they? They should have a special edition for you, for mark mark knockadoffel and that j Morrison guy. Yeah, we should have a special Hall of Fame shirt for you.
Speaker 2:When you start getting into the Hall of Fame, does that mean you're getting older? I'm not sure on that.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm in a Hall of Fame, but I'm a young one for that Hall of Fame. There you go. Yeah, it's just an honor, it doesn't matter what the age is. You know you've done so much for this community and, and you know, we are so grateful to have you, and, and you know we talk about Mark, and you know. And then also another name that comes to mind is Roger Sink, which I, you know, a legend in this community in many respects and I know you took a lot from him too.
Speaker 2:You bet there's been so many mentors in the community, and that's something that GMCF continues to try to do is to provide mentorship for younger volunteers in the community, and that's part of what the community awards is all about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So let's talk a bit about the local philanthropy side. You know we recognize a lot of people, but often you know the people that are the, the ones that do the time, talent and treasure and and there seems to be at some times maybe an overemphasis on the treasure side of things those that that give. But you know there are so many people and that's one of the things I love about the CFAs is that there are a lot of people that don't have those resources available, but they have the time and they have the talent. That is even more so important.
Speaker 2:That's actually what sold me on the whole concept of the CFAs when Vern brought this to us the first year he was hired, that he wanted to take our annual meeting and move it to be part of a bigger program and to have these community awards.
Speaker 2:And, as an accountant, when people come in to do their taxes, we go through charitable contributions, which is a tax deduction, and one of the things we notice just in talking with our clients is the number of people that are involved in different charities, and it's not just about the contributions of dollars but the contributions of time, and one of the things is mileage, and you know we have people that spend a lot of time and develop a lot of miles, and so I'd be talking to clients about this, and so I really had never put together how important it was to the community until I started seeing just how much people were involved and really that creates a fabric to the whole community, bringing people together.
Speaker 2:And so when Vern brought the idea of not honoring just the people who had the resources to give treasure, but also that time and talent, that's what really sold me to become one of the early sponsors. Kaya State Bank Steel and Pipe Supply Trust Company of Manhattan and St Gordon were the original title sponsors and we've got more sponsors that have joined us since then. But I think all of us were impressed and we did this not so much to get our name out of sponsors, matter of fact, something probably Vern doesn't know we all kind of agreed behind the scenes that just in case this didn't take off, we'd kind of keep our sponsorship low key that first year. So that is one of those funny stories. And now we're going to have five or 600 people there at an event really honoring volunteerism and celebrating our community. So it's really a great event and a great tribute to the whole Manhattan community.
Speaker 1:And that's one of the things I like most about it, and I've been the emcee of it every year. And you know, when he first talked to you about this, did he tell you that he was, you know, inviting me to be the emcee, and you still went with it.
Speaker 2:We did not know about that at the time.
Speaker 1:Okay, so some things are better left unsaid. That's right, but it is such an honor and not only to be a part of it, but to have been a part of its growth and development over the last 11 years, and it's just astounding. It says so much about the people in our community.
Speaker 2:It really does that first year. We were all impressed and it was just a fraction of the size it is now, but we were impressed. I think Metal came in and did their videos that year and it really gave it, along with your MC work, gave it that classy feel of an award show.
Speaker 1:And that was what Vern was doing. I can't use the word classy. I can't use the word classy as an adjective when you're talking about me. That's completely inappropriate. Okay, all right, I'll accept that.
Speaker 2:Just a really professional job that everybody did and how seriously it means that we take the time to thank the people who are providing that time and talent and the treasure as well. But it just really makes an event that is somewhat unique to Manhattan, I think, but also kind of tells the type of community that we have and the quality of the people that are here the type of community that we have and the quality of the people that are here.
Speaker 1:Was there anything?
Speaker 2:in particular that inspired you to become a title sponsor for the CFAs. Vern can twist a really good arm.
Speaker 1:He's got a good handshake, doesn't he?
Speaker 2:He does.
Speaker 1:He does.
Speaker 2:He's a master manipulator. As a matter of fact, when we offered Vern the job, it was before he accepted the job that he started coming up with these other ideas, and that's when you know you've made a good choice for somebody for a job is when they are implementing their ideas and making the position even more important before they ever officially start day one. And he said now we want to do this right away and we need title sponsors. And I think all four of us that became title sponsors were on the hiring committee, and so we automatically got that.
Speaker 1:That's called salesmanship, isn't it? That is, you have to make the ask. We automatically got that.
Speaker 2:That's called salesmanship, isn't it? That is, that is, you have to make the ask, but just then thinking about just being able to say thank you to those people were what really made the difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean, there's just, and it is just one of these unique opportunities, I think, for people to continue to have a sense of pride in the community. It's just one of those things where you just you know you walk in the door, you're excited about what's to come and you know one of the things that you and I have heard over and over is that when you walk out that door, you've learned something new about the community. It may be something new about a person, but it may be an opportunity where people are addressing a community need that we may not have known about if it weren't for that exposure at the CFAs.
Speaker 2:You know, I've seen a lot of different charities over the years and you never know what people are interested in.
Speaker 2:And the one of the things I've started telling my, my kids and now our staff is that you need to find a charity that you're really passionate about and then you take that passion and turn it into action so that you can make a difference for that charity.
Speaker 2:You don't need to be involved with every charity in town, but everybody has different things that they're interested in. You need to channel that interest into a passion that you can do community good, and that's the thing that is spotlighted by the CFAs. There are a lot of programs that I hear about because of clients who contributed to them, but every year there was a new program I've not heard about that will be highlighted at the CFAs in one manner or another either a volunteer or one of the charities that's being recognized, and it just is. Really it adds to that community impact the spreading of the knowledge of what is really out there that you can become involved in, because you never know when that light is going to click and somebody's going to say you know, that's a program I really, for whatever reason, suits me as a volunteer.
Speaker 1:You know, I think about seeing Gordon and Associates and you know, one of the things that just stands out about me is that you are a leading community player and that's you know. One of the things that just stands out about me is that you are a leading community player, and that's you know as a firm, and I know that that is something that has been accepted deeply within all of those that work for you.
Speaker 2:We. We really try to stress that uh, the firm cannot grow and prosper and make a difference for our clients if we're not involved in the community Anytime. You have a professional staff that comes with some privileges but also some responsibilities that as professionals, there are a lot of charities out there that need work. We make a joke that the accountant on the board always gets to be the treasurer, which is not always the most fun, but at the same time, that's an that we also need to be successful as community sponsors and and community providing community resources.
Speaker 1:So you know I'm going to, I'm going to do a quick shout out to, I think, a young couple who is emblematic of what we talk about community service, and that's your son Seth and his wife Natalie, and what they are doing in leadership capacities and obviously you know they learned a little bit, probably from you, or maybe it was from Roger, I don't know, but I know that you provide that mentorship, and what is it you do within your firm to develop these people? Is there anything specific that you utilize to develop your staff and their families into becoming leaders in the community?
Speaker 2:Well, I thank you for that. Seth and Natalie are a great young couple and three wonderful grandsons, including a newborn that was born the day before the big blizzard.
Speaker 1:Oh, really Okay.
Speaker 2:We got pictures from the hospital of people getting stuck on college avenue, so uh, but uh, they are a great young couple and and. But throughout the uh, throughout the firm, we have professionals like that. That. We really stress that community service and one of the things. We go as far as to put that on our annual evaluation.
Speaker 2:What community projects have you worked on? Do you serve on any boards? Do you have any leadership positions on any of these things? And it's one of those things. It's not something that can be your entire job at our firm, but if you're going to move up, you need to be showing that you're active in the community. From a strictly business standpoint, anytime you widen your connection of people that you associate with, that increases the chances you're going to get those people as a client, and so there is some benefit, but mainly it's just the community benefit of building that larger community for us, If you could put into maybe a sentence or two a message that you would share with other individuals or businesses, that you would share with other individuals or businesses, organizations why it's important to support local philanthropy through events like the CFAs.
Speaker 2:One of the things I sometimes tell people is you can't wait to make a difference. A lot of organizations and people procrastinate and think that the time will come my time will come to do any number of things in life and as you're out there, you just need to take these opportunities that come up and be there for the community and be there for our fellow citizens, and so just being active and doing that, I think, makes a real difference.
Speaker 1:Well, jim, thank you again for your sponsorship of the CFAs and all the work that you and so many others have done. Through the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation, you have helped create something extremely special that has made this community a lot better, and also the people within your organization, making them better leaders and contributors to our community as well.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, and thank you for your MC work and all the behind the scenes work. Just as I was driving in today, you were talking a little bit and all the behind the scenes work. Just as I was driving in today, you were talking a little bit about all the behind the scenes activity that goes on to make this program successful and people don't realize all that time and effort that goes on and we appreciate that and that has been a real plus to make this a professional operation.
Speaker 1:We're going to have a lot of fun. We'll see you next week. Thank you, jim Gordon, here on behalf of St Gordon's accountants and advisors here, sponsor of the 2025 CFAs, which is one week from tonight. You can get your tickets at mcfksorg Back with Vern in just a couple of moments here, as we approach the final segment of the GMCF Community Hour here on NewsRadio KMAN.