East Texas UNFILTERED!
Welcome to EAST TEXAS UNFILTERED w/ J. Chad Parker, a podcast hosted by native East Texan and prominent attorney J. Chad Parker. This unique East Texas platform features candid interviews with entertainers, local celebrities, and inspiring figures from all walks of life, sharing stories of business, philanthropy, and community impact. From spotlighting unsung heroes to showcasing those shaping the region’s vibrant culture, UNFILTERED offers an authentic view of East Texas. Join Chad for unfiltered conversations that entertain and inspire. Subscribe now for new episodes!
East Texas UNFILTERED!
Tyler’s Giving Guru: The Patrick Willis Interview
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Why is Tyler known as such a giving community? Patrick Willis has spent decades working with the donors, foundations, nonprofits, and community leaders who help make that possible. Along the way, he became a walking encyclopedia of local history and philanthropy. It has earned him a fitting nickname: the “Jeopardy King of Tyler.”
Patrick joins J. Chad Parker on East Texas UNFILTERED to explain how philanthropy really works. He talks about major gifts and family foundations. He also explains fundraising strategy and board leadership. Trust is a big part of it all. Patrick also shares why strong nonprofits matter. They often fill needs that government and other institutions cannot.
The conversation also looks at the people and places that helped shape modern Tyler. Patrick talks about the Rose Festival and East Texas oil wealth. He also discusses UT Tyler, TJC, the Cowan Center and local politics. He shares stories about families who gave back to the community.
It is a look at how Tyler built a strong culture of giving. It also shows why that legacy still matters today. Like and subscribe for more East Texas stories.
Welcome to another episode of East Texas Unfiltered. Today's guest is a guy. You may not know his name. You probably do if you're involved in high society, philanthropy, or something else, but you've definitely seen him somewhere. He's a very interesting person. He does a lot for this community, uh, and a lot of people are happy he's here to help them. Patrick, thanks for being here. Hey, I appreciate you having me, Chad. Thank you so much. I'm glad to have you because I was one of these people who, you know, was older than you by some measure, and and we didn't really know each other coming up. Correct. Uh but you know, quickly you get back to town, you get around, you go to a few functions, and what's the common denominator of the person you see, Patrick Willis? Oh gosh. Right. Oh hell. Uh and I know it wasn't overnight. I mean, it's been a process for you, the way you've you know built your business, you've helped philanthropy, you've you've you've developed relationships, you've fundraised, you do all kinds of stuff, and we're gonna talk about that. But I kind of want to know, take us back to your high school and move us forward before you get into the business world.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Well, first of all, I want to thank you for having me, and I appreciate what you do for the community. You've certainly uh been very philanthropic yourself and uh helped organizations like Path, and I know they've they've recognized you and uh enjoyed getting to see the work you've done. Uh and your wife is uh also, I know, engaged with you in all of these kind of wonderful endeavors you do. So uh but I I grew up in Tyler. Uh my family moved here when I was about uh four or five and uh went to Robert D. Lee High School, class of nineteen ninety-three. I guess that is not everybody knows how old I am, but nineteen eighty six. Okay, yeah. Okay. Uh so we were we uh kind of just missed each other, I guess. And some of that that overlap didn't happen. But um and then I actually uh went and toured when I was looking at colleges, I toured all around the state and looked at all everything from TCU to you know UT to University of Houston, uh just kind of around uh places. And I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I thought maybe I wanted to do hotel restaurant management. And uh once you kind of kind of get into that and you see kind of the work that's involved in that, that's a lot of a lot of hard work that those people do in that industry. It's not as glamorous as it looks like on TV, right? Um but um so I wasn't sure. And the late philanthropist Dorothy Faye White, who was many people uh remember her well, she and her husband Jack gave a significant million-dollar gift to construct the White Services Center on the campus of TJC. Um Dorothy Faye, I didn't know what to do, and she said, if you don't know where you want to go right now, she said, I suggest you go to TJC. And I thought if it's good enough for Dorothy Faye White, it's you know, I'm gonna start somewhere. And I fell into a lot of volunteer work in the community, met some amazing folks, and as a result, um UT Tyler, when I transferred there, they agreed uh developed a degree plan for me in philanthropy, and it was one that I don't think that's ever been done again. Um, trying to work with um wanting to have the idea of for the school to create a degree in philanthropy, so we'll see if if that can work. But they tailored things and I did an internship at the UT Health Science Center when they had a separate development department from the university. Now they're of course they're one university. Uh but met some key people, and that's how I ended up in this business.
SPEAKER_01It sounds like it all goes back to Dorothy Faye White, that is that she was big in philanthropy. She influenced you. Yeah. She probably made some introductions, showed you some things about it. I mean, right, and and it's uh it seemed to be somewhat social, and you you seem to enjoy the social aspect of this as well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. Uh Dorothy Faye and Jack were both uh great benefactors. Uh I learned a lot watching a lot of that generation, Lottie Caldwell, um, you know, people that had come up, but uh the really a lot of the strong influences. Dub Rider uh was a huge influence on me. I have such fond memories of Dub and worked with Bill Hartley, uh, South Sutton Bank. Jim Perkins, uh Citizens First Bank. Um the guys with the money. Yeah, exactly. Well that's it's kind of like dub rider. I mean when people ask in fundraising, you know, they the the old adage I had a former business partner uh and she used to say you know the Willie Sutton story and ask people why, you know, why you know they would say, Will Willie, why do you rob banks? You said that's where the money is, right?
SPEAKER_01Well that in philanthropy, you know, why do you go to these people? Because that's where the money is. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Sure, sure.
SPEAKER_01And if they have the heart, correct. You know, and that's not everybody.
SPEAKER_00No, it's not. It's not. And I I I have learned in this business, and you know, I I could list names, Vivian Heyman, Herb Bowie, uh Harold Beard, my gosh, all the things Harold Beard did for this town. You I I could just have there's so many great people, but what uh what there's a string that kind of ties to it all is authenticity. Right. These people care deeply about this town.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, because you know, i if you try to fake it or whatever, you try to give a gift, one, to get some attention, you know, you it won't be sustained, is what you're saying. The people that are consistent are the people that authentically genuinely care and have the money to care. Sure. But uh that's what it takes, right? Absolutely. But it also takes some people to make the ask. Yes, I mean right. I mean, people don't just sit at home and say, well, who can I write a $100,000 check to? Absolutely. I mean, and that's where Patrick Willis comes in.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Well, there's a there is a significant amount of strategy, especially when you get into major giving. Um and that's a a you know, part of the career path I've had has been working with organizations directly and helping them make asks with the organization. Part of my business, as it has evolved over the years, has been helping to train uh people in in effective ways to ask for a hundred. You know, you don't just ask for a hundred thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_01No, you don't just walk and go, hey, uh I'm so-and-so, and I I know you've got money. Would you please give us a hundred thousand dollars?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And people in this business, um, there is an art to fundraising and a science to fundraising. And you can teach people the science, but you really can't teach them the art. They have to intuitively have it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Because that's nuance and relationships and timing. Correct. Right? Absolutely. I mean, you don't go ask somebody for a gift right after their wife died. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00Right. I mean, exactly. Well, you have to know you have to know these people. Like if you're going to make a major gift, you have to have had typically years of involvement with the organization. They have to trust your organization, they have to trust the leadership, they have to trust the board, and you have to have all of these things in place for donors to want to give at that level. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And we're talking about big donors. Trevor Burrus, Big donors. I mean, every donor wants you you need to trust them, and every donor is important. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: But you know, I know what you're saying.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr., a million or something. I mean, you want to make sure that it's not just, you know, going in a hole or you know, wasted on all salaries or and you know, I I'll say that.
SPEAKER_00I hate to use the word wasted on salaries, but and just as a as a caveat to that, a lot of times the salary portion is important because the people run the organizations, right? Right. You want to invest in it. You want to be able to invest in it. Nonprofits have an obligation to be fiscally responsible to their donors.
SPEAKER_01And so that's why but is it really a fiduciary duty? Like a lawyer client. It's not really on that same level, is it? Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Well, in the sense that it's not as maybe binding, but it is a death for the charity if if it's revealed that they're not good at that, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr. Sure, sure. Yes. Aaron Ross Powell Well absolutely. I mean you want to be you want to be transparent and and nonprofits have a responsibility to be transparent in the way they operate, right?
SPEAKER_01Um Are there charity scores or some mechanism recognized by either philanthropists, governments that you know people can look at and say, well, that gives me some confidence. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yes.
SPEAKER_00They have a charity score system that's out there. Uh but and and those are good mechanisms to look at, but really when you invest in an organization, you know, it's it's all those it's really local, even if it's a national charity. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: For me, it is it's gonna be But I mean it's gonna be all local in the sense that whatever organization you want to know what's happening, you know, you want to be able to be confident and you want to be able to as a donor, you want to know everything. And as a as the charity, the recipient of that, you want to be able to tell those donors. Because you owe them a responsibility. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Right.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I want to know if I give significant money to some charity-like path. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yeah. That you know, that it's meaningful, that it it was an all for nothing, or that it just, you know, somehow didn't have an impact.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: And that that's a I mean, and they're a great organization. I've been privileged to watch that organization over the years, and I know you've been very involved in that organization as well. And I think the story of how Gertrude Windsor started it at 90 years old and brought what she called the boys, right? ML Agnew. M L Agnew, absolutely. He tells the story a lot better than everyone.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna have him on the show probably in September. And I talked to him the other night, and you know, he's so involved in a lot of things, but that's one of the things that he was really involved in.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Oh, absolutely. And and those men got together in her parlor and and he'll tell the story, and again, he'll do a beautiful job of it. But what it what it was so interesting is that she, you know, was obviously had significant wherewithal, and she could do whatever she wanted to do, and her focus was how can we make Tyler better? Like how can we improve the lives of the citizens?
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr. Those that are much less fortunate than she was. And not all people that have money have an awareness of the struggles of the people that are around them, right? Absolutely. Trevor Burrus, and certainly not at her age would they be knocking themselves out to get a new project going, right? I mean, that's kind of the you know, the beauty and the greatness of someone starting something like that at that age and then looking where it's gone 40 years later. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And and I think she would be pleased. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I I do too. I think she really would be pleased. And I think it's a good example. They're a good example of how impact can make you know be made and how it can build. It can build. And you know, obviously, but when you look at a structure like that, an organization like that, they have their board governance is strongly in place. They're fiscally responsible to their donors, they have great CEO leadership, right? Those are aspects that boards that that that nonprofits need to have in place in order to be able to have sustainable fundraising practices. So it's more than just even the the ask is is like the you know the the top of the where people see, right? But there's so much underneath that has to all be right in place.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right. Well you're saying this. When you hear a or see a big donation, you're saying there's a lot of work that went into and leading up to that donation. It did not just they happened on a person and they said, here's the money.
SPEAKER_00Here's uh a million dollars. I I you know I saw your billboard. That that that typically doesn't happen.
SPEAKER_01And you've told me this before that, you know, some charities aren't even set up to handle a large donation. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Absolutely. Right.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Budget size matters. You know, uh an organization if they're in an if they're infancy or they're in a a state where the they you know they they their budget may be $250,000 to operate their program, well, they may not really be able to be equipped to handle a million-dollar gift. Like it it may not make sense, right, to the donor for the project, for the program. So there's so many things that go into making those kinds of decisions.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell Well, on your journey to this I guess amalgamation of businesses that you're in now, I think that's a good word. It's um jeopardy word. Aaron Powell Let's talk about some of the earliest, you know, jobs that you held before you know you got into this and and that helped you realize that you know those jobs are not what you wanted to do.
SPEAKER_00Well, I actually didn't have any other job but this. Okay.
SPEAKER_01So I'm gonna call you I'm gonna call you Bill Clinton. Okay. Right? Remember when Bill Clinton ran for president, they said Bill had never held a private sector job, right? He had been Congressman, Attorney General, you know, and I don't say that as a negative to uh President Clinton, but I'm just saying it. You came up in not politics, but philanthropy. Yes, absolutely. And never left the space. That's correct. And you bounced around inside the space like Clinton would bounce around as attorney general, congressman, right? Sure. You learn different things about philanthropy, and then eventually you've put those all together. Yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I I I did start, I had a job when I was I guess six months before I graduated from college. I went to work for the East Texas Crisis Center. And I I was there for about I guess three years maybe um into the the work before I became a consultant. Three or four years. And um that job, you know, I I I helped them start a an annual giving program, worked with them on major giving, and then we did a capital campaign. And that was the first capital campaign I worked on. And it was about a four point six million dollar campaign for the building. For the building off of uh Old Moon Day or uh back in there in the uh the building for the the space uh for them, and then we had an endowment that was about almost a million dollars that we raised to put into an endowment. So the building campaign was about three point six. So this was nineteen ninety-eight is when we started the building opened in two thousand three. So it took several years to to be able to go through that process and build that building, and it's now twenty-six years old, yeah, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, because you know, I I talked to Jennifer Gaston about this because I had remembered the Crisis Center when I was in high school, you know, 80s. Doctors' wives were a big thing. Yes, but then I knew I really never heard much of the Crisis Center, you know, uh until recently, really. Before that, I never heard a whole lot. You know, I don't know if they had a change in leadership or or whether or not, you know, there's just so many other new philanthropies that came on with demands for money. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I we have we definitely had have had a significant increase in uh uh uh 501. 501c3 in in East Texas and Smith County. I mean, there's alone, there's uh just an I don't exactly know the number, but it's a significant number I've read over the years. Um we've got a lot of we've got a lot of uh competition. For charitable dollars. Yeah. And as as philanthropy has taken hold, I mean I can tell you when I got into this business and uh became a development director, which is my first title or the crisis center. Okay. And then after that I became a consultant and worked with them. And I did work with them for a number of years as well. They were client for a number of years.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell What resource did you rely upon when you initially became the development director at the Crisis Center? I mean, who did you have to go to or what organization was there for you to get any guidance?
SPEAKER_00So there really at that time when there wasn't. Uh we didn't have an AFP chapter here, which is an organization that's come uh I think it ours started in 2007 or 8. Aaron Ross Powell For the audience, AFP stands for what? Association of Fundraising Professionals, thank you. And that's a great resource for for people that can get into this space, right? Um there really wasn't a whole lot for me to do. I had had the training at the Health Science Center and it parlayed into the job with the Crisis Center, but as first resources, they were people for me. So when I looked at I mean, my job was obviously to create a fundraising structure.
SPEAKER_01And as I did that, when you say a fundraising structure, are you talking about a capital campaign where you're gonna announce something that is you're trying to raise money for and you're gonna try to get donors committed early? I mean, how does that work? Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00So the structure would was creating the development office, you know, and really working with their annual fund. Trevor Burrus, Jr. All right. That's internal. Trevor Burrus, Jr. People at a philanthropy like the Cross Center. Yeah, charity like the Crist Center. So the annual fund campaign is the is really the lifeblood of the organization. It's what they raise annually every year. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01And everybody seems to have one. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: You have to.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01I mean, like you know, there's a path luncheon in September, there's a there's everybody's got something. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00And those luncheons, special events, are components of the annual fund if you have a whole complete and it's really the development plan that they're all components of, but the annual fund is the program that sustains the organization. And then the development plan is how they are going to raise the money, right? Aaron Powell To raise operating funds for the year?
SPEAKER_01Yes. Aaron Ross Powell Okay. I mean because that's obviously the first amount of money that has to be raised. Yes. And then if you have a capital campaign, you've got to hope that you can raise additional money that doesn't rob Peter to pay Paul.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus That's exactly right. And every good capital campaign needs a feasibility study. And I tell every organization I work with, whether it's or not. Exactly. And they they are there's a set process. It's it's doesn't hasn't changed a lot over the years that I've done these feasibility studies, but it provides great information for donors to do it. So I'm a big proponent of doing feasibility studies. Yeah. If you're going to do a capital campaign.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Let's say who is our potential donor base that we can count on? Yes. Can they be stretched beyond what they donate annually? Yes. In order to maybe give a larger sum for the capital? Yes. And then can we cover the operating expenses of this new building with this new personnel and this new program?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell Those are all great questions, and every organization who does any kind of a building project needs to ask those same questions. Absolutely right.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus Because I mean you wouldn't want to get in a where you were you know, as an individual, you'd say I'm housebroke. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Right. I mean, I can't I got a nice house in Holly Tree, but I can't barely pay the taxes or the light bill. Yes, exactly. Yes. So those are strong considerations. Um, you you've seen a lot of capital campaigns over the last several years in Tyler. Have you not? Yes, you have. I mean, have you been involved in some of these?
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Yeah, several. Uh, over the years I have I've been involved in different projects, uh it depending on the clients. And my business is has evolved over the years.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Your clients are gonna pull you into the capital campaigns, I suspect. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Yes, if they need that sort of service. Right. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01You're gonna advise almost, you know, going with a big donor that's say um really closely aligned with something like Bethesda or something. Right. I mean, that and you probably got some clients that are in some of these bigger capital campaigns, I suspect.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. I have over the years. Uh I the current my current business right now as it is as a model.
SPEAKER_01Um let's let's name it. So the people that are watching, no wherever they are, and they after after they watch a show and they hear what all you do and they think, huh, I'd like to talk to them or you know, like to learn more about it. What's the name of your business?
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. So it is Patrick Willis Strategic Consulting. All right. And it has several components to it, uh nonprofit consulting management. So I help organizations train them on fundraising, train them on board governance structures, uh, can do capital campaigns, can do feasibility studies. It just depends on the project. Uh I've worked with you know, my business has cycles and I work with organizations. Sometimes I've gotten into organizations where I've I've gotten into a project with them that they hired me to do, and we've uncovered things that needed to happen, or they've had leadership change within the organization, and then they may say, well, now we need help with, you know, um executive search.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Yeah, I was about to say hiring a new executive because I have heard, and I don't know if this is just talk, that you know, the executive at a charity generally is, you know, eight, nine years. I mean, there's some kind of average that's known in the industry, not that I'm using the right number. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00No, but it it's it's and sometimes it may be a little less than that. Yeah, right. Turnover is high in the nonprofit space as you could well imagine. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Is it because of dissatisfaction or is it because of, you know, uh like the NFL, a coach is a winner and and somebody else wants them?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell I think it's a twofold. I think I think that's that's happens a lot if you're gonna if you've got a good executive director or CEO for a nonprofit, and they, you know, somebody needs that qualificated qualified person to do it. And there's also it's just nonprofits are it's hard. It's raising money is hard. It's not for the faint of heart. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I've learned that in the some of the interviews I've done where, you know, um I did Alzheimer's Alliance, Bonnie Varner. You know, she's Chad. She's a great person. When when you when she goes, Chad, I know when you tell me no, no doesn't mean no. It just means no right now. It doesn't mean no later, it doesn't mean no never. And uh you have to have a certain personality, I would think, to be successful as one of those CEOs or executives.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And that's where the art of fundraising comes in. And you know, your executive director or CEO in an in an entrepreneur. Profit relies heavily on the development department, development director, and sometimes it's one person, right? Trevor Burrus And that development director is offering what type of suggestions? Aaron Powell So I mean they're putting the plan together. A good competent development director or vice president of development or advancement, you'll hear that term, advancement, is putting together the plan for how they're going to raise money. So if you Annually or it in all over all their projects. So if a a capital campaign or building needs signal it comes after strategic planning is done, right? So that's a whole nother section of work I've done. And I actually did uh write a manual. Uh it's the Seven Arenas of Infinite Possibilities, uh help had some help with a good friend of mine, Mike Cobb, and laid this out to the Peter. Mike Cobb, was he at All Saints? He was. He was a headmaster when my daughter was there. Yeah. And he was uh when my kids were there too. And Mike is works for a governance firm uh out of Pennsylvania now. But uh and travels all around the country, all over the world doing this uh type work in in high-level governance for private schools uh structure.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus You don't even think about this, but that's what the world's become is systems, process, you know, atomic habits.
SPEAKER_00Have you read that book by James Clear? Trevor Burrus, Jr. No, but I mean you know you're speaking his language.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus It seems like you know that it when you get people committed to a process or you know, you have a system in place because in education, you know, things come up things you never even thought about uh governing a school. Yes, absolutely. Sure. Nonprofits, I'm assuming there's a there's different challenges.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus Yes. So you know, and and 501c3s fall under so many.
SPEAKER_01I mean it's broad. There's laws. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yes. Oh, absolutely. I mean, you know, you have to you can't just go out there and just freewheel it, I mean, without some knowledge of the rules and laws of a 501. Absolutely, yes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, you you need there are there's you know bylaws you need to follow. There are systems that people put in place. Aaron Powell You need to have bylaws, don't you? Trevor Burrus You have to have bylaws. Yes. It's it's a governing factor that you definitely want. You want to have bylaws if you're gonna serve on a board. And I mean, and here's another thing that if you're gonna go onto a board of directors, if somebody asks you, if somebody asks you to go on a board. Hey, I don't know, you know. You want to know their bylaws, you want to know their operating structure, you want to know fiscally how you know, again, go back to fiscal responsibility, how do they operate, what are their policies, procedures around that uh because a board of director member is liable for that organization. Like you're on the hook if something happens now, they have directors and officers insurance, right? They should. That that's another question you'd want to ask, right? Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. Right. I mean, there is board liability. Yes.
SPEAKER_01Just like in corporations.
SPEAKER_00Yes. They are a corporation, basically. They're just a nonprofit corporation. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Right. They are a nonprofit corporation. They're recognized where, you know, they essentially, you know, don't have to pay income tax on donations. Yes. I mean, that's what sets them apart. That's their quote income, like my office has income. Yes. But there's no So long as they follow the rules.
SPEAKER_00As long as they follow the rules. And and you want them to I mean, the budget is real important. You know, you want to be able to s to look at at the budget and know that are they operating in the black? And a good development director and a and then vice chairman of development of the board of directors, like that's a b a board position that they should have. Those two work in tandem with the budget folks, the treasurer and the finance committee, and they're this is how much money we need to raise, and then the development department brings their plan sanctioned by the chairman of the vice of the development uh board position, and they should on the same day that they adopt their budget, they need to adopt their development plan because you've got those two working in tandem. And they and there'll zero out, right? I mean, you you want basically you want to break even. I mean, that's the goal. Or if you have more, you know, you can you need the reserves. I mean, there's all the things.
SPEAKER_01So you need a little extra, don't you? To carry over.
SPEAKER_00Yes, you do need to build responsibilities.
SPEAKER_01Rainy day fund. Absolutely. Organizations need definitely need those. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: But when you say the development plan, I'm trying to envision, you know, not being in the space like you. And I know Path well, so I I use Path as an example. You see, you know, these drives. You see this Marty Gras thing and Stanley's. Yes. You know, all of these are fundraising opportunities. Yes. Right? Yes. And is that part of someone's development plans throughout the year?
SPEAKER_00Yes. So that is all I'm I'm I would assume this is how they're doing it. And I I know the the people over there at that organization, and I I know they're doing a great job. And I I know they've thoughtfully, you know, they plan each of those special events that's a portion of their development plan underneath their annual fundraising raising plan. And then they're, you know, you'll get a year-end letter from them, right? They're also so for major donors.
SPEAKER_01When you say you'll get a year-end letter, you said that like that's something systemic in the industry, is it?
SPEAKER_00Yes. What is it? Aaron Ross Powell, it so the year-end appeal is typically an organization's uh last drive of the fiscal year, and it's usually done around the holidays, and it's something that people can send out and they capture year-in donations, because that's mostly when uh a great percentage of of donations are given year-in because people are doing their taxes and you know all that's a lot of things. I was gonna say it for you, okay? Yeah.
SPEAKER_01The reason the appeal is so uh people are getting there, they're thinking about uh filing their income tax and they're going, hey, I don't have that many deductions, okay? Yes. But you know, that is a silver lining for the philanthropies and the people that it serves in Tyler. Yes. Even if it's hey, I'm trying to get a tax write-off. But at least, you know, the money's going to a good cause. Yes, right? Sure.
SPEAKER_00I mean, the the your your tax and financial planning for for people that are making these large gifts or making a gift, right? It it doesn't even have to be a large gift. Uh you look at smaller donations and how they how those donations add up, um you know, there's so much science behind all of this, you know, that that you get into when you're working on it. Uh and people that have thought carefully about their plans have all of this information. So when you walk in, you know, as a another question I would ask if I were to serve on a board is I would like to see your development plan. What is it? And if if an organization doesn't have a structured plan, they're not gonna have they're not gonna have the results they want. Because they won't be consistent. And you know, it goes back to, and if I look at those the seven arenas that I put together, one of those arenas is systems and internal systems and external systems, right? Consistency matters in fundraising. And right.
SPEAKER_01It's it can't be like like some plaintiff lawyers, for instance, advertise a bunch, get some cases, get some money, and then they quit advertising. Yeah. Right. And then they get dry and then they go back. And it's kind of an example like that. You can't be inconsistent in fundraising. But you don't want to be. Right, because you might have pressure and anxiety that you don't want.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Well, and and the you know, it's hard enough. I mean, like I said, fundraising is if you're on a board or if you're a paid staff member of an organization doing it, or if you're a consultant like me helping organizations learn how to do more effectively, it is it is a contact sport. I mean, there's no doubt about it. I mean, it's a contact sport.
SPEAKER_01I know I get aggravated sometimes because people are, you know, they ask so much, and I know that it's they're they're doing their job and they're trying to help their organization. I understand, you know, but when you're the pinata instead of the bat, you know what I'm saying? Sure. I mean, you know, you gotta be in the right frame of mind when you're out having a drink at the grove and there's two people, hey, I want you to help us with so-and-so and so.
SPEAKER_00And people shouldn't do that. People should not walk up to somebody at a social event. I mean, they may can say, you know, I what I've done over the years is I can say to um, you know, someone like you, you know, if we're in a conversation, I'd love to visit with you about a project. May I call your office Monday morning or something like that would be the extent of what I would want to do, unless it's invited. Like unless you say, well, tell me more. I want to I want to discuss it. But when I it part of my job, I'm gonna tell the story real quick, part of my job now is I'm in the family philanthropy space. I manage the Buyers Family Foundation. Right. And after I was appointed in 2023 to that foundation, obviously you can imagine when we announced it, I got a lot of calls from people. Right. Yeah, all your old relationships are like, hey. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: people that in and nonprofits organizations, and you know, because I had been in the on the other side of the space helping to ask for money, and now I'm also in the space of helping to strategically give money from the foundation. I called Robin Rogers at the Roger who runs the Rogers Foundation, and I said to her, I said, uh, I hope in my life that I've ever asked you for money, that I never did it inappropriately or ever over ask you or ever did all these things that now I'm getting happening to me. I said, I hope I never did it to you. And she laughed and she said, no. But it was it was kind of a realization of when you have to know, and it goes back to your point about being the pinata, right? You are a high-profile person, you have a high-profile firm, you've got great marketing and branding. Uh people are gonna pay attention to that, right? You're generous. So you're gonna you're you're on the radar for people.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Is there a list? Because it feels like somehow everybody, I mean everybody, from a from a you know, uh a nursery school, 501 I mean I mean, literally, somehow I get letters everywhere every week. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I'm sure you get a lot. I just I wondered how in the world did they know to send me something.
SPEAKER_00Well, i if you're a a development director, right, or an executive director worth your salt, you're paying attention out there to who see who's donating, right? Who's advertising to the same thing?
SPEAKER_01I knew I should have never donated.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no. But but uh there's also an adage that I love uh that was told to me one time, and it said, you have to say no to good things in order to say yes to great things. And that's just in giving, right? It's hard. It's hard. Because there I get a lot of great applications, good applications, I should say, uh at the buyers foundation. It doesn't meet our mission, vision values, and we're not we have a s we have a mission vision values that we're those are set, I'm assuming, by the buyers. So the the buyer's family had a uh for their family office have a had a mission statement. And um so I took and extrapolated from their mission statement to write the mission statement for the foundation based on the family offices. So but we do have our own values mission, vision statements. And on our side, that's important, the nonprofits should also have that. You know, you that's and those are another questions that you once you get through the board uh bylaws, you want to know is their mission statement effective? Is their vision statement in place, and do they have articulated values? Because that's how boards of directors on both sides of the aisle need to be making decisions, right, through those lenses.
SPEAKER_01Um Yeah, that's that's that's so much more technical and sophisticated uh than I ever would really imagine as far as giving. You know, I was thinking like, yeah, really, what what kind of mission statement would you need if your if your charity was to give away food? You know, I mean like how would how would that be value unaligned with anything? Or you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00I mean organizations uh one of the greatest books, and I use this in my training, is from Simon Sinek, and he wrote the book Start With Why. And it was a it was a very kind of granular level deal. It's got kind of circles and it's mission, you know, it's it's kind of what, how, and why in those circles, right? People don't give for what you do or how you do it, but they give to why you do it. And so when you have statements of describing why you do what you do, that's where people, you know, why do you why are you an attorney, right? You're articulating, I mean you don't want people to get hurt twice, right? And you've you've articulated.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I kind of fell in it, you know, and then, you know, but I don't know.
SPEAKER_00But but it it's it's important, I think, for everybody, like whatever space you're in, whether you're giving money away, whether you're asking for money, whether you're a nonprofit, whether you're a a private company, people need to know why you do it, because they align with those values. They they believe what you believe, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right.
SPEAKER_01And that's where the mission statement comes in.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: That's where the mission is the mission statement is really what you do. The vision statement is why you do it. You want an overarching. So if if you you know vision statement might, if you're a family violence organization, might say something like, we envision a world without family violence and sexual assault. Right. That's a that's a a very lofty, ambitious goal that you want to you would someday like to achieve, right? And you want to be moving towards that. The mission statement, you know, can for the crisis sake. It would be something, you know. I mean, I'm I'm making the I don't know. No, it's theirs. I'm just saying that kind of fits. That kind of fits within that.
SPEAKER_01But my contrarian mind says, you know, well, I don't you know if it's achievable or not, it it'd be great if it was. But even if it isn't, my goal would be to help those women locally, regardless of whether or not uh eliminating abuse was even possible. Sure. You know what I'm saying? Like it gives them an anchor, right?
SPEAKER_00To let to let people know what's the same.
SPEAKER_01It's a selling point for people who aren't as uh thoughtful or aren't as um it's an engagement opportunity. You know, like some people like the sound of something that has a great mission statement. Yes, yes. You know, like me, I don't care how Path gets the money to feed people, in my just my humble opinion, right? I mean, who cares what the mission is? The mission is let's get as much food down to the food pantry as we can, no matter how we can get it there. I mean I have no governance.
SPEAKER_00No, I know, but but you believe what they believe, right?
SPEAKER_01Well, if it's yes.
SPEAKER_00You believe what they believe. I believe what they believe by I see what they do. Yes. And there that is their words for the Trevor Burrus, Faith that works is dead. True, true. And those those words on those papers have to be living, breathing, action-oriented statements, or they're just statements. Yeah. Right. I mean, uh Marilyn Obeg Glass and I were business partners for um almost ten years, and she used to say um one of the one of the nicest, most beautifully eloquent written mission statements was on the wall at a company in downtown Houston. Uh it was Enron. But they didn't write it. Their public relations team wrote it, right? These statements have to come from the boards so that people, the boards buying in, the staff's buying in, they're all on the same page, gives them language to be on the same page. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Then they'll operate that way. They'll operate that way. That's their guiding structure. So if you value something and you the it's it's a lens, again, it's just a lens that you look through.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Now the Buyers Foundation um you know there's a few foundations uh around Tyler, East Texas, I'm assuming. I mean, I've got to do it. You know, I've heard of Rogers. I'm sure Ornellis had one. Mrs. Ornellis, I don't think she did.
SPEAKER_00She had a lot of money. She did. She was the recipient of a significant stock uh uh option transfer when the company TCA sold, and she definitely did uh put significant resources back in the community. She I don't think she ever established a family foundation.
SPEAKER_01Okay. If if you don't if you have, you know, that serious money or a lot of money and you don't establish a foundation, uh there are other avenues like the East Texas charitable is that East Texas Communities Foundation. Right. Is is that a kind of a way for people to do it? Do many people use that?
SPEAKER_00I mean, what is very successful. Uh that I actually was appointed their board of directors this year, and I'm I'm grateful to be able to do that. Uh community foundations have opportunities for people to set up scholarships, they have opportunities to set up donor-advised funds. So if someone doesn't want to operate their own family foundation but wants to have a charitable arm, they can go to an organization like these Texas Communities Foundation and set up a donor. You know, you could have the Chad Parker donor advice fund. Is there a minimum? Is there a I mean you know I believe to start the scholarship maybe 10,000. I'm not 100% sure about the donor advice.
SPEAKER_01I just want it on the phone. Like if you know people that are sitting back and and the only thing stopping them from giving is not their heart, it's that they don't know how, or it seems like it's a pain. You know, it's like who do I talk to? I don't know who to give it to. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00And a lot of the one of the reasons people will use a communities foundation is because they may not want to be actively receiving applications or they want to be actively receiving calls so they can they can direct money from their fund. You know, they set it up, they get the charge.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry, I don't make the decisions.
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, I mean technically, yeah. I've got a donor-advised fund. Please submit an application. Yeah, and they and that you can you know people can still uh submit things to you or ask you for money, but you can give it through the communities foundation. Then that that can be several ways people want to do it. They don't want to worry about the administration of a foundation or they don't want to worry about they don't want to be actively engaged in the process. They have they may have ten charities they're gonna give to every year, and the Communities Foundation knows their wishes and then directs those funds at their request to the charity. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Do do people you know, do they divert pre-tax dollars to this East Texas Communities Fund? Is that how So you get the tax deduction. You make a contribution to the Communities Foundation, you get the tax deduction up front. Aaron Ross Powell Okay.
SPEAKER_01And if you haven't uh like if you hadn't paid tax on that money in that calendar year, can you donate that money and it's well you you've make the gift and they hold it as a fund and they invest it.
SPEAKER_00So you've it you you that money is it's like an annuity, like a structured settlement of I would give a I would give the Community Foundation a hundred thousand dollars to set up the Patrick Willis donor advised fund, right? And then at that point I choose a they have a moderate or you know the level of investment.
SPEAKER_01I mean, can we see a great guy? Is he asleep at the wheel? I mean, is he paying attention to the Trevor Burrus?
SPEAKER_00He's a very much paying attention. He's a great guy, and he's done he's done significant amounts since that the East Texas Humans Foundation was founded in 1989. It's a very they've given away $200 million since the founding.
SPEAKER_01But that $200 million is other people's money that's in this fund that's invested at the same time that's making a rate of return or interest that's also part of what's given away to the community. Yes, right?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. It's an amplifier, a multiplier. Yes, absolutely. So you so that's kind of one aspect. If you you know what the for instance, I'll go back to the Byras Family Foundation. What they wanted to do was they wanted to have an active foundation that they themselves ran. And so I was appointed as their executive director. Now I also have a the privilege of serving as the vice president of the board of directors, so I have two roles. I'm actually a director of the foundation and I'm the executive director. So I run the foundation, but I also vote on uh have a vote on the grants that they give away.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell I guess when you run the foundation, you do so at the direction of the board of directors, which you are on, right? That's correct.
SPEAKER_00But I mean there's also But the we have a president, Brent Byron is the president of our foundation, and he's and his two sisters also serve as directors of the foundation. And but but the decisions we make are really through the lens of how about what our our mission is and what the values of the foundation and what we align closest with. We very much um we're very active in um uh the the university with the dementia center that we've opened, UT Tyler has opened. Uh our foundation's very much we like rural health, uh education. The family came from Cherokee County, so th that matters to them, right? So we we look at the those kinds of lenses of of decision making for that.
SPEAKER_01So well, you know, and people they might be cynical sometimes and say, hey, well, they set this up looking for a tax runoff. But the truth is, you know, it can either go to the government or it can go back to help people. Yes, right, which is the you know, is what that foundation money actually is. It might have been or a tax benefit when it was created. Designated or created. But what it became was a vehicle to help a whole lot of people that the government wouldn't help in our area.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell I I firmly believe that, yes, sir. And and you know, it it's it's a it's a gift. It really is a gift to be able to have uh to be able to have a foundation, right? It's to be able to establish something like that. Trevor Burrus, Jr. It's a blessing.
SPEAKER_01It's a blessing beyond. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And you know, it also says something about the people that you know are motivated to do that, right? I mean, it's kind of a you know, uh eye of the needle, you know. Aaron Powell Well, and if you look back, you know, Camel can't get through the eye of a needle, right?
SPEAKER_00I mean you you I mean rich people have to keep that in mind, right? Trevor Burrus Sure, sure. And if you go back and look, you talked about the foundations. I mean, you know, the Ryder Foundation, the Wise Foundation, the Fish Foundation, uh, there are so many great uh the Fair Foundation, I mean, I'm I'm gonna the Jenacoves. Yeah, I mean, there's I mean, there's a amazing Tyler's blessed. You know, we're we're a very significantly blessed community to have as many philanthropic arms, and I didn't even list. I mean, the Owen Foundation, I mean, there's there's so many that really have made differences. And these people, you know, uh one of the privileged things I've gotten to do over my career is I knew all of those people, right? I I got to watch a lot of these things uh Come online get set up. Now obviously not the Fair Foundation when they were here in the nineteen forties. But I mean i that's another testament to what the community has done because we've had, you know, during the the East Sex's oil field days, right, when the Depression was happening, we didn't have that in Tyler. I mean, we had you know a lot of money got generated right after that. After that. And and it and the philanthropic really, if you trace back and look at the philosophical things, that's where it came from. And and those families that start set those things up, I mean, it it's benefited generations of our community. And and people talk about Tyler being a real special place and they talk about it being unique. And that's so much of how it was unique because we had so much family philanthropy uh starting in the U.S.
SPEAKER_01And it seems to have all been born out of wealth that was almost instantly created when the you know, the East Texas oil field van and then uh down there around Henderson or what Daisy Bradford. Yeah. Um it's funny you mentioned that. Um a woman reached out to me uh just about two weeks ago and said Um, my dad or my granddad was on the crew the Daisy Bradford number one. Okay. Well this the one that did it was Daisy Bradford number three, was the big big one. What whichever one they drilled, he she said drilled the first well in that field, and then H.L. Hunt eventually bought the leases.
SPEAKER_00He did, and so John uh Joanne Glass, Joanne Miller Glass. The glass center. No, that's a different uh different different glass, but Joanne Miller was her was her great aunt was Daisy Bradford. And Joanne had would have been married, some of your viewers are gonna remember John Glass uh Jr. And they were married for a number of years, and then John uh was eventually married to my business partner, Marilyn. But their family traced back, and Joanne grew up here. She grew up in the house that H.L. Hunt left on, you know, and when he moved to Dallas, and they moved into the Charnwood house. So I actually have was a gifted by the family, the Miller family, descendants of them, Daisy Bradford's two uh silver champagne glasses that she had engraved with her initial after they had the uh big uh uh well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, the well came in and opened up the field, and people said, Hey, there's a ton here. But what's interesting if you think about it from a human standpoint, that wealth was in such dramatic contrast to the poverty and the standard of living at the time. It was. Okay, and so philanthropy would have to be a natural evolution initially because you had millions. People made five dollars a day back then or less. Right? There was no AC, there was no I mean, you know, it was a whole different game. But you know, all that, like you said, it really set this area up. And have generational charity.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. And you look back at people, the the work, I mean, the the things that Jim and Bonabest Vaughn did through the Vaughn Foundation, you look what Mary John and Ralph Spence did. You you could there's so many families that have made this community a great place and they have invested back into it. They were received significant, you know, uh wealth and they put it back into the community. And you know, we we rocked along well until the 80s, and then the banking and the oil kind of came down, and then we were very fortunate our community was able to kind of pivot a little bit, and the doctors came in and the medical centers and that really kind of generated a whole new level of of um opportunity for the community. So we've we've kind of tried to divest a lot of that too. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, I think that was the inception of the idea for Tom Mullins to come in like 1989.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he did. Dub, dub Ryder, and uh Harold Beard and George Auger and some of those people were probably Herb Bowie, too.
SPEAKER_01Her buoy, of course.
SPEAKER_00Anything that's been good in this town, Her Bowie's been involved in it. There's no question about that. I mean, come on, Herb. He's a fantastic manager.
SPEAKER_01Herb doesn't want to come on the show.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I think he's a little, you know, the Trevor Burrus. He'd be he'd be a great person to have on the show. I know he would without question. I know he would be. If Mr. Bowie would do it. But there's it's just amazing when you start to really look back at how, you know, when the community came in, and if you look at early on, Isidore Ruth's when UT Tyler was, you know, they he used to wear a button, I think I've heard the story that would said UT Tyler, it's just got to be. And they would they were lobbying to get it into the UT Texas Eastern into the UT system. And those people, you know, when they hired George Hamm and then they they put a development department for the first time in the U.S. Yeah, as an hour golf classic. As an hour golf classic, absolutely. That was part of it, wasn't it? Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah. Dr. Ham had a real wonderful way about making things glamorous. He did a good job really creating um a uh I mean, he really helped the university get on the map. And we of course you have great leadership, and you know, Chairman Kevin Eltife on the board helped you know put the uh the systems together, I mean the Health Science Center and the university together.
SPEAKER_01And then get the medical school.
SPEAKER_00I mean, he he's another prime example of somebody who you know started a career and uh got on the city council and you know became a state senator and and look at all the lives he's impacted, right, over this year.
SPEAKER_01I mean he's definitely been uh from a business standpoint, you know, for the city of Tyler. I mean, I don't think anybody in the last thirty years has been more helpful, impactful than Kevin Elton.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, that's that is a very that would be a very good statement. You need to get him on the on the phone.
SPEAKER_01I mean, I will I'm going to. I've been talking to Jason Wright. He said he can talk to Kevin, but I don't know. Uh maybe I got to build my show a little bit, maybe for uh we got a bigger audience for Kevin. Yeah. Well, I it's that's true. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Kevin is truly the gift that keeps on giving, though. I mean, he's probably tired of it all now, you know.
SPEAKER_00But I think he's uh he what he's done for the university has been great. I mean, and and you know, it's and anchors our our East Texas with that thing. It is and you know the and you look at generations, I mean Kelly L Tif, and you look at her family, the walkers, and you look at it. I mean, I was on the swim team.
SPEAKER_01I've been with them since elementary. Yeah. You know, Kelly, Jack, Kenny, we're all on the swim team, Tyler swim team, Theron Pickle, the head coach. I mean that's great. You know, it's funny how many people were on the swim team. Kelly and Stacy Heard. I mean, Tyler was so small in the in the 1970s, yeah, it felt small. Oh, yeah, it was small. I mean, I carpooled with, you know, Bitsy and James Wynn.
SPEAKER_00Bitsy Wynn was a one out of the city. I mean, it's crazy.
SPEAKER_01When we go back to who all was on that swim team back then and uh and see how much the city's grown. But in your business, um you you've got public relations. I'm just curious. You know, I've always felt like, ah, Lee, I wish I had a publicist, but there's no publicists in Tyler, really.
SPEAKER_00Is there? Well, I think there's maybe some people that do part of the space. It just depends on what it is you're looking for. Public relations is kind of a broad term, and I kind of use everything that doesn't quite fit in a nice little box of what I do or what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01I'm trying to recover after a criminal arrest or something.
SPEAKER_00You go into yeah. I mean there's there's there's some crisis management that can go along in that and sift the deal.
SPEAKER_01But uh I've certainly um been uh fortunate to have had neat projects over the years and and some of them have Who have you helped if you want if you I don't know if that's a secret or if you don't like to divulge that, but who are people you've helped with public relations?
SPEAKER_00Well it it just depends. A lot of that can follow if it's a is it merged with political uh fundraising? Aaron Powell It can, and that's kind of where I've I've used a lot of that uh in the political fundraising s lane. I've worked over the years with a number of political candidates helping them raise money. I've run campaigns, but more in the last few years, I've liked to stay in the fundraising lane. That's kind of been my uh sweet spot for what I do, and I enjoy it. Um I enjoy working with people. We just we just had a very successful mayor's race. I'm so proud of for Stuart Haney to be our mayor and work hard for him. You helped him, right? You worked for that campaign. I have. And over the years I've I've worked, I've been privileged to to help uh Mr. Perkins at the bank. Uh if he has some political candidates he wanted to help, he would call me in to organize uh events, political events for him or so those kinds of things. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01You know, and I think about that and try to explain to the audience what you're saying. I mean, I'm I'm a translator of sorts, right? Sure. Trevor Burrus, When you're saying Mr. Perkins, you're saying um you know, people that have the ability to uh to donate to candidates in which you know they support, right? Yes, yes. And and so if they want to support them, uh they want to communicate that to them and they want to get others to join them, right? Yes. And they need somebody to pull that together. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yes. Special projects and those are you know, like, hey, we want to bring George W. Bush to town, or we want to bring, you know, whoever, right? Uh because that can be a pretty good fundraiser amongst the friends that have money. Sure, right. Sure. And and they call that a bundler.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely. There's there's uh several of those those folks that that uh Gay Lord Huey. He's a fine fella, and he has certainly made a huge impact in the political space over the years, no doubt about it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01How he got into that as the bundler type, I don't I mean, uh you know, I guess you just you're involved over the years and eventually it just kind of people look to you.
SPEAKER_00Sure. Sure. They've had he's got uh a lot of connections with things that he's worked on projects in the past. And we've been fortunate over the years. I mean, I I really can't emphasize enough the work uh Bill Hartley and Deb Ryder did over the years for a lot of candidates as well. I mean, those and that's really where I first got involved.
SPEAKER_01Um would they donate individually for the candidates, or did they, you know because they didn't always have political action committees, right?
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus No. They they would I mean it would be their their would be the their c point of contact for a state or national candidate that would be want to come in. And they were very active, both of them, in the president's uh President Bush's uh campaign for the in the 2000s.
SPEAKER_01After he was governor and when he started to run. Yes, they were on the ground floor. George W. was coming around. Yeah, he was here a lot. Right, a lot for a presidential candidate. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And and i i you know, obviously Texas is a big state, and Texas got a lot of and support, and I think we were one of the the the uh driving forces about his win, right? I mean, I think there's our state came out in full force for for President Bush. Yeah, East Texas did.
SPEAKER_01East Texas is more meaningful in a statewide election, I think, than people say because you have all the large cities breaking down about 50-50, and you got to look out east to see to to break the tie. Is is there anything to that? Aaron Powell Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean East Texas has played a huge role in in political campaigns over the years for for certain folks, for sure. I mean it's a it's a great and it it was a neat time. I mean, there and it goes back not just for George W. Bush, but I mean uh years ago, Wade and Mary Ridley had a big event in the eighties when President George H.W. Bush was running. I mean, so there was you know, there over the years, lots of folks have have supported uh that particular, you know, group of people.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you know, we've got Nathaniel Moran, you know, he he represents our district in Washington. Kevin, I guess Kevin was we've got Brian Hughes. Brian Hughes, yeah, Kevin's that was the sketch. Kevin L time held.
SPEAKER_00Then we had old Peyton McKnight back in the member? I have have the pr have privileged um to know the McKnight family, and um they have done Jane Fender, it's the one I know the best of his his daughter, other daughter. And um just that was a pretty I didn't know Senator McKnight. I knew Mrs. McKnight, but I didn't know Senator McKnight. But the stories that Jane tells about the it was he was a legendary fella. There's no doubt about it. No doubt about it.
SPEAKER_01I mean, and you think of I mean, I think Richard Harvey ran never won. He might have run a few times.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. He did. In fact, Laura Zorn, that works for my firm, she has since twenty uh thirteen, uh, she worked for Richard Harvey. So she had political experience as well coming into this, but she has great stories of going down to the dealership and buying a Winnebago and driving that Winnebago across the state for uh, you know, his campaign. And uh Richard Richard Harvey was a was a fun character too. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01I mean, because Evelyn, you know, had the honey tree and I escorted her daughter in the Rose Festival and I loved it. I think that hurt me with Evelyn after that.
SPEAKER_00I've been trying to Oh, I'm sure it didn't, Chad. I'm sure it didn't. I'm trying to try to make up for I was.
SPEAKER_01I went to the honey tree at least once uh once a week to support her, and I was sad that it closed. I was too. I was too.
SPEAKER_00That was a neat place.
SPEAKER_01But I mean, I think they had something to do with the Greenbrier Lake out there initially.
SPEAKER_00I believe they were a part of all that. And uh I know BJ and Dub Rider were and several of those folks that uh got that all that Lake Greenboro started. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01I mean anything you did, you told us you'd help run a campaign. I mean, what was the level?
SPEAKER_00Was it state rep, statewide, or so I I did a uh years ago I I was uh on the staff for a Congress United States Congress seat, and my candidate did not win. Who was your candidate? His name was Ramsey Farley, it was uh in Temple, Texas, actually. And uh he was a a great guy. Uh he and his wife were um it was a neat part and it was a neat time in my life. Uh it was a good experience. Great experience um uh working in the in that kind of a uh situation hands-on in the campaign was fun.
SPEAKER_01What about um let's see, we've talked a little bit about we hadn't we'll talk about foundation management last. We'll get into the weeds on that a little bit more. But the political campaigns, um I mean you just finished one. Is there anything of fo that you're involved in, you know, as we move towards the midterms, November of this year?
SPEAKER_00No, uh I that right now with the the work I did with um uh Stuart was kind of wrapping up my political stuff. So I'm I'm kind of that's kind of on on on hiatus at the moment. So and that's not a that's a small part. That's a smaller part of what I do for a living. It it's um I mean I would be afraid of it myself.
SPEAKER_01Okay, because you know, your your business is not political. Correct. Okay.
SPEAKER_00And I have and I do choose very carefully the people that I'm involved in, and it makes sure that there's no conflicts with any of the other groups involved in the Trevor Burrus.
SPEAKER_01You're in the helping people business. Yes. And you know, people can argue about who or what should be the priorities of how the government helps people. Yes, right, and that's politics. And you know, people have become so um incapable of even discussing the topic nowadays. That you could alienate if you were for a candidate or even helping a candidate. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right? Yeah. I mean, so it you know, it it's it mine tend to really be more focused uh locally. Um which is much safer.
SPEAKER_01And it feels more community anyway.
SPEAKER_00It is more community-oriented. And and I um you know, it's I really like I said, I I pick the people that I work with because I value what they believe. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01And you like them, and you generally probably wouldn't just work for someone if you didn't halfway support them.
SPEAKER_00I've never done that. I've been very fortunate in my career. I've never had to take on any project that I didn't believe was valuable, right? I it it I don't like I wouldn't take on anything that was against my own political. You felt like Stuart would be good for the city. There's no doubt about it. I like I like his forward thinking. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You know, I mean that seems to be really the foundational message of the people that supported Stuart and the people and that's Stuart's message, right? I mean like not just what we're doing now, but you know, as you said, if you don't have a plan and you're not consistent in fundraising, I'm sure the development of the city could also fall prey to that same problem.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. Sure it can. Sure. And you look around at cities and we we've had great leadership. Don Warren did a lot, you know, think about all the parks. That was a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean, you know, Don uh Don was great, and you know, and Stewart admitted, and so did the uh John Nix, those parks wouldn't have got built but for Don Warren. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Absolutely. And it's kind of a a lucky window for the most the you know, the people with the least amount of means and just providence that Don came through and those got made, right? Because they would not have under this right now, no way.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus And you know you look back at the different things. I mean, the one person that we've not talked about that has done amazing things for our community is Barbara Bass, during the time she was mayor, uh what she's done what her role was in the medical school coming here. I mean, Barbara's played significant part. So we've had great leaders in this town for mayor. And we've had and I think the mayors have been right in the right place at the right time. And I think your your um example about Don Warren shows that.
SPEAKER_01I think he wouldn't work, you know, ten years ago. Yeah. And he and he he'd have a hard time right now.
SPEAKER_00But I think where we are not because of him. Yeah, no, exactly. Exactly. But I think where we are in as a city is we're at a crossroads right now, and this is why I think you know, Stewart's message was a res resonated with people because we have to move this city forward. We cannot go backward. Right. You know, you've seen cities across the state that you think uh they're not, you know, they don't have near the amenities, or they don't have near the personality, or they don't have near the um cachet that Tyler does for its size. And you know, I love the city and I'm proud to be here, but I also think we need to you know we need to grow to make it better. We need to welcome people in. We need to we need to we need to make it. They're coming. They're coming. Okay, they're whether we want it or not, right? But we want them and we want people to come and we want them to have the experience that we have here and keep it unique, but also we can degrow. I mean, you look out south, Broadway, and the projects that the Genocove group is doing. I mean, there are we've got so many great things. Scott Martinez at the Ray McKinney. Ray McKinney at the Genocove. Uh I wanted him to come on.
SPEAKER_01He's he wants to come on. He's a great but he has some nondisclosure things that he's under. Sure. Because he knows I would ask. Hey, uh, like what is this? Or what's what's that uh what's coming here? You know, that type of thing.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, but it sounds it's pretty exciting out there. Trevor Burrus, Jr. It's there's so much great stuff that's coming out. And and you look at the work Scott Martinez has done since he's been here at the Equality. I had him on the show. And I I I knew that. He is uh really forward-thinking and really wants the city to have a you know, we go back, you know, you can veer back to what we talked about early on about development plans for a nonprofit, you know, the plans that we have in place for our community. Uh I think we're in good hands with the leadership we've got in all the different areas. And they've kind of worked on it.
SPEAKER_01I mean, yeah, no, I mean Nathaniel, you know, shout out to Nathaniel because he pulled off the county court in the courthouse when, you know, it seemed a 30-year nothing. Yeah. Um Yeah, that's gonna be nice. It's gonna anchor that whole thing. I think it's gonna be great, but you're right. We've Tyler's generally tight. And that means um the city likes low taxes. The city is heavy with people who have property tax uh tax exemptions, homestead. We're seeing that now. There's this uh preliminary discussion at the county commissioner's court. You've seen that? That tax increase? Legal tax increase, but uh, you know, nonetheless, I mean, there's a $3.6 million shortfall just from people who are aging out and their property taxes are capped, even though the values of the properties go up, right? I mean, so that's going to be a challenge for us, which is where I think Martinez has done a good job. He's navigated with, you know, almost charitable dollars from business leaders. Yes. Because the money's not accounted for for his organization within the city. Yeah. Right? I mean, we don't fund the Yeah, no, it's it's a private private donations, private companies.
SPEAKER_00He's out there doing the city's thinking on a private dime. It it's very much an economic advantage to have that organization working in conjunction with the other leadership.
SPEAKER_01Take him out? Who's doing that thinking? No one. Yeah. About, hey, let me see if I can parlay a relationship in the county for a road for a corporation that wants to land out in Smith County and you know build a 80,000 square foot facility. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Well, and we've the the great thing right now is where we are with the city leadership, the county leadership under Judge Franklin.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell They get along.
SPEAKER_00They get along. And it's it's a very wonderful symbiotic relationship that they have now. And it has for several years. And I think Stewart's movement will I mean, as mayor, we'll continue to move that forward along with Judge Franklin. And uh I mean they they face some challenges, obviously, as as well.
SPEAKER_01What do you think are some of the biggest challenges that the city and county government will face in the next two years?
SPEAKER_00Well, I I think uh the just the infrastructure of the community if we have these people coming in.
SPEAKER_01Okay. When you say infrastructure, for those that are listening, what you mean is that we don't have the road space um for the traffic of the increasing numbers. Right? Because we uh are not in development of other roads at this time other than maintenance and repair.
SPEAKER_00Well, I I believe and I I don't know. I believe there, you know, old Jacksonville will have an expansion. They're working on it. Yeah, right. I mean that's TechSot money. Yeah, and there's some other things that I think they're going to have to address and face, and that that's above my pay grade when it when it comes to come to that. But I mean it is a difficult problem.
SPEAKER_01And it's easy to complain, but that's a that's a winner's problem. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Oh yeah. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Right. I mean, that is that we have grown and been successful, and now, you know, it's hard. Old Jacksonville is now like Broadway.
SPEAKER_00But you know, uh when you complain about the traffic, I I do like when Barbara Bass says, you know, th those are people coming into our town spending money, and so we're going to take their you know, it's revenue for the city that we've got all those folks coming in doing that.
SPEAKER_01Sales tax revenue. Sales tax revenue. Half cent sales tax, right?
SPEAKER_00That was Kevin L Time. Half cents makes sense. Absolutely. But you know, we've got a great thriving medical community. We've got we've got Dr. Mejia leading Tyler Jr. College, we've got, you know, Dr. Philly leading UT Tyler. We've we've got great uh leadership at Christus. Um we we're pretty blessed if you think about what we have here and the numbers of of uh college institutions.
SPEAKER_01I mean those two colleges combined for about 25,000, I think 12 and 12 or something. I think twelve and thirteen.
SPEAKER_00Something about that. Yeah, they've grown uh significantly. Um and you know, again, we've got I mean the UT Tyler and TJC's uh relationship is so wonderful with Dr. Philly and and Dr. Mejia. Uh you know, I loved the fact a few years ago uh the college honored Dr. Philly, uh TJC honored Dr. Philly as one of her former students, right? I mean it's just it's it's neat to see.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean that is an award uh you know, a worthy award to become a president of a university. Yes, it is. Um that's the different thing, I think you've touched on it. Tyler's different from some places, and the difference is people just they they love the city more than they do themselves in a sense, right? They'll put differences aside, like you said, the city and county will work together. The universities, instead of saying, hey, I could look good over here, they're willing to compromise. And that always hadn't been the case that with the relationships.
SPEAKER_00And so it's with both the city and the colleges. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah, exactly. But but it's so nice to see that that can authentically I mean, we can sit here and authentically have this conversation and say that's n that's not today's reality. I mean, today's reality is these these sit the city and the county are in great relationships, the college and the university, our health systems. I mean, we've got good, good partnerships with folks.
SPEAKER_01Um because I think people are starting to appreciate that other people before them worked really hard to get this possible. And then as it came to fruition later now, right? People they know that that's what people have been striving for to make Tyler a a better place. You know, we always want to have a good college, right? We always wanted to have a good downtown instead of just let it go, you know.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, and and I really the medical community and you know, obviously what Dr. Russell and uh Dr. Gordon and those at at uh Spine and Joint, Baylor Scott and White's uh spine and Texas Spine and Joint. Um you look at you look at the entrepreneurial nature of uh I mean, those are physicians that started a hospital. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01That was a trend, you know. Uh they were smart enough to see it because other doctors were uh uh building in other cities boutique hospitals when they did that. I mean, but that was a good move. Aaron Powell Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I mean and it it just again, though it just layers, there's just layers of those things I think that make Tyler great. And what it what it culminates to in this conversation we're having is all of that makes for great opportunities for philanthropy and opportunities in the community.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr. The more successful a community is hopefully the better off the people with the least means are. Yes. Because the giving is bigger, right? Because of the success and the wealth that accumulates in this place.
SPEAKER_00Aaron Ross Powell And and I think what people can realize realize in their life is they can go through I mean, you know, it's it's one of the beauties of a an organization like Path, an organization like Bethesda Health Clinic. I mean, there's a lot of good ones, right? I mean there's there's so many good ones. And that Bethesda in particular, when you go in, I mean, you you talk about high quality health care. Right. I mean, a lot of their physicians are retired specialists in the U.S.
SPEAKER_01Well, yeah, and just like Dr. Nichols, you know, he did all that dental work for them all over the years, you know, and he has a great a great heart the way he is. And yeah, I mean if that's not there, then all of that treatment, all of that health care, all that help, that just doesn't happen.
SPEAKER_00It doesn't it doesn't. And and it takes the people that that really you know, I I would encourage anybody, especially if they're new to Tyler, drive around the campuses of TJC and UT Tyler and look at the medical school and look at at the uh other big institutions in the community where money has been raised. Bethesda, they just got through with their capital campaign. Shannon Dakis. Now you talk about a rock star. I mean Shannon Dakis and Bob Garrett led that campaign to and they're gonna have a new beautiful facility. No, I know I I was thought it was I mean, that's a large building. It's a large building. And they've got a great uh that you talk about great development. Did they do a feasibility study? They knew their donors uh well from my understanding, and I and uh they they did get information that they have. And they you know, Diane Thomason leads their development efforts over there, and she has been there a number of years, and she's a seasoned development professional, and she does a great job. That's a huge remodel. Trevor Burrus, Jr. It's a huge deal. But you know, they are able to raise that significant funding in the community. They have. They've completed their campaign and we're successful in it.
SPEAKER_01So okay, so that's an example of okay, they're gonna redo this, it's gonna be brand new. There's probably gonna be more employees and more bills, and they've done what you've said a feasibility study and says, yes, we know that the annual donations consistently will be at the level we can support this. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yes.
SPEAKER_00The feasibility study is typically done for campaigns to make sure they can build the building. Right. They're they're um What about the operating? Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's also a part of that study is to make sure they know how much they're gonna be able to raise. And a lot of times in campaigns, they'll almost they'll they'll refer to it as a comprehensive campaign and they'll lead Trevor Burrus They'll probably overestimate. Well, and they they put in operating money as well, additional operating money that could go into the Right. So when they raise that, they've kind of got a head start of Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's it's smart you know, came. I don't know exactly how they did all of their things. I was not involved in that particular project just as a uh participant in watching it it happen and a community member, but that I can tell you they have made um I mean that that that's a it's a great it's a great example of something that was done well.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus I mean there's no governmental contribution for a charity like Bethesda's.
SPEAKER_00I don't believe they take I don't know it for hundred percent sure. But I'm like I said I'm not a hundred percent sure on how they do that. But um I think most all of theirs is is uh raised philanthropically through the private donations.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus The capital campaign for the Child Advocacy Center building was the old TCA building, right? And I thought, well, that's a large that's that's a big campaign there. Trevor Burrus Yes. I don't know how they did. I'm assuming they did well.
SPEAKER_00They did well. Deanna uh Sims is their development officer and uh Terry Smith at the CAC. They they also uh are a well they're a great charity and they they do right by their donors.
SPEAKER_01Do they have governmental contribution? Because I know they liaison with obviously law enforcement. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Yes, they probably do get, I would imagine they get um maybe Victims of Crime Act or uh Some kind of grant in general. I know like the Crisis Center does. I know that they receive significant grant funding. And that is not a that is a piece that I have never done, the spovenal grant. You've never been a grant writer? Aaron Ross Powell, no. I have but you have to private foundations I have. So I'm but I'm not written in the grant, but I I've written applications, I've done grant writing for uh organizations.
SPEAKER_01Do you get hired by anyone today since you work for the Buyers Foundation to write grants for foundations? So I don't uh I don't pretend like that. Trevor Burrus, Jr. You would be a good guy if I said, Hey, Patrick, would you write me a grant for not the buyers, I know you're on it, you know, somebody else. I mean because you would know how to do it, what to say. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And and I do help and train organizations on if they need that particular service, I can help them train on how to how to write grants and help them with contacts to foundations and know uh and what's great about the foundation world now that I'm on the other side too, is I'm you know connected to the foundations in a different way. Like we all a lot of the foundations will communicate with each other. You know, we may get a grant application and somebody else may get from the same organization. And there's some communication a lot back and forth between uh staff people in foundations and uh board members.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell I'm assuming all of these family foundations have people like you who have been hired to run them as opposed to family members? Aaron Powell Well, some do.
SPEAKER_00Uh some uh the family members are still involved. Uh some have run them or they'll outsource it to a a person like me or a a company. Uh your philanthropy does a lot of this too. They help uh some foundations as well. So it's a kind of a myriad of of who you know, it's there's not a not a set standard. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Are you in I mean, is this weekly involvement with Buyers Foundation? I mean, are are there questions raised, decisions to be made weekly? Yes. Or is this just every now and then?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell No, it's I have a a set schedule that I work with with the foundation and have uh duties and responsibilities that help. And I uh part of it is not just also it's the donor, it's it's you know, I'm I'm learning about the organizations. I attend functions that the organizations put on.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell You're talking about ones that have uh have sent grants to ours?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that we've we've provided money from the foundation. I'll I'll go and uh represent the family or represent the board, um and oftentimes with family members, you know, or we'll attend, you know, uh donor functions and get updates regularly.
SPEAKER_01Because you always get invited to things when you donate money. Typically. I mean, you know, I don't love going to a lot of stuff really. You know what I mean? It's a grind sometimes.
SPEAKER_00Well i it can be. And I again I think I think it's it's going back to that adage of um w when you um say you have to say no to good things to say yes to great things, and it's the same model with what you attend. Like your time is your precious cot commodity. Commodity. I'm saying that right.
SPEAKER_01Um I think it's um time and money are you know, do you think, you know like sometimes I don't really like all of the recognition, you know, and people say, well, that's funny since your billboard's all over the place. But it feels weird to me. I don't know if some of your clients feel this way, where you know, people are thanking you for giving when you have abundance. And it seems a little strange to be getting thanked for that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Well, I uh I know a lot of people have that same thought process that's how I feel they don't want to be, or it but I'll tell you the the rationale that's used and what is helpful to people is you know when when they're able to publicly recognize you for your contribution.
SPEAKER_01You were recognizing and I really I didn't go and I just you know I d I I didn't really want to be up on a stage and people were clapping and thanking me for what? Yeah, giving giving money?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell Well, part of that is using your presence, right, to be acknowledged inspires other people to want to be a part of it. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I mean that's hopefully the that's my only goal. Aaron Powell That's what is the best use of being able to recognize someone is that you're able to bring together like-minded people that believe in that cause, that want to rally around and support somebody who's who's done above and beyond, right? I'm shaming them. It set the example. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01I'm shaming them, right? Come on, guys.
SPEAKER_00No, there's no shame. You're gonna have to read Brene Brown's uh book on that. No, no shame.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell What kind of board involvement do you have and has it changed since you know getting onto the Buyers Family Foundation? Aaron Ross Powell So as far as my volunteer service No, like you know, when you're appointed or asked to be on boards of other philanthropies, has that changed since you've been elevated to the buyers?
SPEAKER_00I am very careful about what I serve on to avoid conflicts of interest like that. Um but what I have the the organizations that make sense. Uh the East Texas Communities Foundation makes sense. We're a fund holder. We have a scholarship and it's all everybody together. It's not like one it's it's a community deal. I'm I've you know I've for years I've been real active in the Texas Rose Festival. That's something that's very I'm gonna ask you about that.
SPEAKER_01I'm gonna get specific with that towards the end. Gotcha. And we'll kind of set up the show for Liz Ballard coming down the line. Let's do it.
SPEAKER_00We can do that for sure.
SPEAKER_01I've seen you at the Cowan Center a lot. Yes. Okay. Tell me about I mean the Cowan Center has grown dramatically.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Yes. I was very fortunate to be put on the Cowan Center board by the former director, Susan Tomey Morpheus. I know her. Did a wonderful season ticket holder from almost the beginning. She uh did a great, fantastic job with that.
SPEAKER_01What happened to this last guy?
SPEAKER_00I am not 100% sure. I I think it it's I was all pumped up.
SPEAKER_01They were serving drinks. Yeah, well, I was like going, let's go.
SPEAKER_00I'll tell you a lot of that initiate initiatives were uh Jeff Noblet, who's the vice president of marketing at UT Tyler. He has really, along with President Philly, he was really a driving force and has been behind that. So they they were moving uh I think they're m making some structural changes in the the the operations of the organization, but Jeff is it's it's in good hands. It's about to have a refreshery model of the code.
SPEAKER_01I reached out to the guy who left. Uh-huh. Didn't didn't know he had left. Okay. Because my wife's like, you need to have that guy on from the Cowan Center. I mean, that guy's changing it up good. Yeah. And so I reached out and then I got a response from this guy. Yeah. And I thought he's just some kind of guy, you know, he's just some underling who's responding to that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00No, no, no, no, no, no. Jeff Jeff's uh Jeff's very involved and as a uh as the vice president of marketing for the organization has done a done a really good job to help uh shepherd that building along. Trevor Burrus It's a hard place to bring in a guest that satisfies everybody.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it is. Now I'll tell you, I've had the privilege over the years. I had was ho have hosted personally uh Doris Kearns Goodwin, the the wonderful historian. No. Trevor Burrus, Jr. I'm talking music. Oh, it's hard to get one that, you know, well they have good series. I mean, they have they have uh you know, they have Country Western series. I think we've got some good folks come up in the lineup this shoe this uh year. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Scott Lieberman's up there dancing in the front row. Scott Lieberman's great. He's he's he and his wife uh and his late mother have been were very important benefactors. Yeah, I mean he's always been involved in this. And you know that uh Norman Stoffman is somebody that I have uh was The shoe factory. He he was the shoe guy, um one of the strongest mentors. Is his wife still alive? She just passed away just just uh a little while ago. Uh they were two of my very favorite people and and uh almost like family to me. No, Norman uh they did their philanthropy uh individually. Uh uh I bet they got a lot to ask. They uh Norman got a lot of asks. He he uh he was a he was an amazing uh man. And you talk about somebody that could raise money without without a problem. Uh and Norman taught me valuable lessons over the years. I mean, I I really can't tell you how grateful I have been and I've used a lot of names in this. Not for the second Tyler and the names. But those people are all did something very important for me. If I've mentioned their name, they were people that and there's so many people I would love to be able to thank for their engagement. We don't know, you don't have time for that.
SPEAKER_01I mean, Chris, can you start the orchestra music music over there? Let's get this guy off the stage here. I want to thank everybody. Yeah, but uh well it's true what you're saying. I mean, it's not just on the show, because I mean I saw the video where you got the special recognition award for TJC in 2024 and uh Liz, you know, and and it was like Jeopardy Master of Tyler. That's how she referred to you. I know. But I mean, you know, your age and mine intersected with the old and the new in a very unique way. Like I have relationships with people that are 80 something, like you, right? Yes, but you were in a different world from me. But we kind of saw Tyler, because you got here in what? What were you you got here in the early 80s? Yeah, it was around 1979, 1980. Okay. So I was born here in 1967. Okay. So, you know, we've seen a lot between but it you are a a a wealth of resource for who was who, what did they do, where did this come from. And one of the things that people um always ask about that aren't really connected with what they believe is Tyler Society, is the Rose Festival, right? And you are a permanent fixture somehow. Every time they kick this thing off, there you are. What is that job and what are you doing?
SPEAKER_00So I have uh several roles that I've played over the years with the festival and been been grateful. I'm on the Tyler Rose Museum board. Okay. Billy Hartley, who was the former founding president of the uh of the uh Rose Museum, asked me to serve on there. So I've I've been involved in the winter gala for a number of years. That's what I'm talking about. And for the past uh few years, Lonnie Uzel, who's our president of the board, has invited me to um Oh Lonnie. Lonnie just retired, didn't he? No, he just had his forty first day of his forty-fifth uh anniversary of working for the bank. So okay. I I saw that and I think that's a good idea. Yes, okay. So he's still working. He's still working, absolutely. He's doing a great job for the uh business development for the bank chief development business development.
SPEAKER_01And I've known him a long time. I love Lonnie Uzel.
SPEAKER_00He's one of the nicest people. He is he and Kelly. Yeah, great, great. Kelly Uzel, a fun fact, she has attended every winter gala that they're they've had since started. Yes, absolutely. Yes, yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01See, my parents, my dad was in the shrine in the back in the day, the motor core. That's where all those people were. Okay. You know, when there was nothing to do. Sure. They didn't have all these things, you know, and people came up through that, and that's where I met a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00But the festival, you know, I I chair a luncheon that kicks off the festival with Annette Findlay, and uh I'm also the uh for the Order the Rose, I'm the Queen's Usher's chairman, and I've been that for a number of years. So I work with the Usher Committee at the ball. Um What was your initial interest in the Rose Festival? I was an escort.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So was I. But I'm not Patrick Willis at the Rose Festival.
SPEAKER_00So you're you're Ted Parker, and you're not gonna get hurt twice.
SPEAKER_01But I mean, what gets you, you know, because you're volunteering in nonprofits, you're doing all this other stuff, you know, what gets you into the Rose Festival?
SPEAKER_00Well, I you know Involvement with it. I'll tell you Claudia Long, uh, who I escorted her daughter, Lee. Lee Long, yeah. Long Lee uh Holland now, uh, who actually ended up being my uh one of my my youngest child's second grade teacher, which you know, all this stuff is so great and full circle. Tyler. Uh so Tyler. And um then in the next year I ended up escorting former Governor Alan Shiver's granddaughter, uh, who was the Duchess of Texas. Okay, you escorted twice. I did twice. Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01You had a heavy dose of the real stuff.
SPEAKER_00I did, I did. You couldn't leave it. Uh and so it's it's I was been fortunate to be in volunteer. They asked me not to come back after that ball. Well, I wouldn't have your chairman at that point, but uh you know I don't know I don't know who was a little stricter with the with the people now, aren't they? Absolutely. It it's but it it's a great I'll tell you this, it's a great it puts Tyler on the map. You can go all over the country and people, you know, you tell them if you're in another state or whatever, and you can say, you know, I'm I usually start out with where are you from? Well I live near Dallas, and they'll say, Okay, great, where? And I'll say, well, it's a town. And they and they uh they uh they'll say, Oh, the roses, you're you're you know, you're from the city of roses. And and so it it's still an idea. Pearl Campbell. Now it's Patrick. Patrick Mahomes.
SPEAKER_01That's what they ask now. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're hey Patrick Mahomes was from there. Sure. Sure. White House, where's that? You know. But yes. So the Rose Festival has done a lot. People, you know, I don't know that the the person who's not involved doesn't understand, you know, how it gets funded, sure. Where the money goes that it makes, if it makes, you know, is it just a big party? You know, what is it, Patrick? You are the ultimate festival insider. Well, that that's not true. That there's a lot of other people that would title. Okay. There can be more than one ultimate insider.
SPEAKER_00I gotcha.
SPEAKER_01Jennifer Gaston gets on this up.
SPEAKER_00Now, Jennifer Gaston's is somebody we didn't talk about, and she has done a lot for Taler and she's got a lot of people. She was in that job. She was in that job. She has done it. She did a great job when she was in that. I'm glad she's where she is at Tyler today because she sure highlights so many great things talking about nonprofit world. She told her story about that.
SPEAKER_01You don't know that yet. So you're going to have to watch that show. I'm not going to tell you what she said. Okay. But I know what happened to her because she said it. Okay. Okay. I'll let her we mobilized the lynch mob because but we decided to call it all.
SPEAKER_00That's good. You know, I the festival is it's an economic engine, right? I think it's people come to town. And it's a maybe a two million dollar. The last figure I may have heard, I think that's correct, is about a two million dollar economic impact for the city of Tyler.
SPEAKER_01Sales tax of the goods and services that are purchased during that event from all the people that normally would not be here. Is one of the three legs that funds the city of Tyler and partially the county. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I mean it it's it's a it's a great it's a it's a great identity builder. It you know, it's filled with heritage, it's filled with people who, you know, when they started this, I'll I've I tell this story at the luncheon every year. In 1933, when Judge Raimi went to the World's Fair, he he's and this is Judge Raimi senior, right? Right. This is King and King Raimi's grandfather. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Right. I mean, because you you had Judge Tom Raimi who was on the court of appeals. Yes. It wasn't him, it was his dad.
SPEAKER_00His dad, correct. Yes, correct. And uh he went to the World's Fair by training and saw those roses. Saw a uh display of roses, and he asked the attendant uh there, and this is a true story, asked the attendant, where are these from? And he said, You'll never heard of it. It's a little town in Texas, called Tyler. And I mean, just think about how Judge Remy Knott stumbled onto that display. The attendant what if the attendant hadn't known? You know I mean we have a we have a random guy that's you know attending this booth or whatever that had no connection to the city of Tyler.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell But I wonder why he saw the roses there, but it wasn't the primary thing at the Chicago at the Wilson. So what he came back. Springboards that into it. Let's have a festival.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. Yeah, he came back and he got with folks at the Chamber of Commerce. Um I've heard uh Marla Hughes, a reader, talk about you know, her grandfather's involvement as well, or great grandfather. Uh folks that had gotten engaged and that a lady had been to the Holland Tulip Festival and she, you know, she was with the garden club and she came in and started the club. It really started, you know, really making that. People saying, hey, we need to do something. It just caught six weeks. They they put the festival on six weeks. Uh at that time, the only uh this is a fun fact, uh, the only queen that has never been from Tyler was Margaret Copeland in 1933, and it was the queen was chosen during the festival by a secret committee. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Kind of like a beauty passage where you announce the winner. They've since had changed that and the queen is is a Tyler native. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01It was probably modeled after northern larger city coming out, debutante, hot balls, I was sure. I presume.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's I mean that it kind of what it seems like. You know, and uh other cities have you know debutant, just strictly a debutante. Houston, Houston, Dallas, Oklahoma City. There's some great St. Louis has a a wonderful uh festival, I mean a a debutante season. Um and I like the fact that the Roast Festival benefits the city, right? It's not just that. It is, you know, we have a parade, we have the Queen's tea, we have things that are that are no charge, like open to the break. It's just a real it's a sense of camaraderie, it's a sense of pride, it's a sense of of uh togetherness. Trevor Burrus, Jr. You've got to get tickets for some things, like the coin. You know, and the beautiful, beautiful. And and the uh Jake Jacob, the new designer, has done a uh I say new, he's been doing it since twenty uh twenty.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus Is that the person that that uh makes the dress?
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, he's the designer, Jacob Klymer. Uh he took uh Wynn Morton's when Wynn Morton retired in twenty nineteen, and Wynne had done it from like nineteen eighty-two and for a long time, yeah. Right.
SPEAKER_01I mean you know the cost to be the queen is elevated. Well, the cost of everything is elevated. I know. But I can remember like when uh you know Bess Arnold and I was one of the most wonderful people. Yes. I mean, very close. My dad, you know, my dad went to Greenacres and uh he loved uh Jim and Bess Arnold. I mean, you know what I'm saying? Wonderful. Both of their daughters were queens. But I remember back then when one of them was queen, they said it costs like, you know, 200,000 to be a queen, you know, and now that number is, you know.
SPEAKER_00Well, I I uh I'm uh it's a lot more. I I'm not uh hundred percent sure what that fee would be. I don't either because there's so many things involved.
SPEAKER_01You get responsibility to throw this party, do that, or the queen's family provides the tea.
SPEAKER_00They invest significantly in the festival for the benefit of the community. And that's that's what how I think that I would like for the Trevor Burrus, Jr. That's how people look at it from the outside. Yeah. I like wonder who's gonna be the queen. Yeah. Well, it's it's a it's a it's a great it's a great honor, it's a great representation for the city. We've had some beautiful people that have been in this and that still come back and participate. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01It represents, though, really, you know, families who have been a part of it, who have worked, you know, through the years generally, right? I mean, it's not like okay, the richest person we can find, we're gonna make them the queen. That's not how it works. Aaron Powell That is not how it works.
SPEAKER_00And some people might think that but if they watch this and they don't really know, you know, it's a lot of heritage, a lot of volunteerism, a lot of men and women that have spent significant time of their lives giving to the people.
SPEAKER_01To help us every year go. And they've also created kind of this new thing, the princess. Yes. I mean, you know, for first keen observers, uh we've noticed that, you know, I mean, uh the contribution from the volunteerism sometimes can't be rewarded because of the cost of being the queen.
SPEAKER_00It's a significant investment for anybody to be involved in the Trevor Burrus. Right. I mean I had a lady in waiting. Yes. Yes, you do. So you're you're very aware. You're very aware.
SPEAKER_01They must have been scrounging the bottom of the bowl that year.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. I I don't think so. It's a privilege to anybody that participates. You know, I've I've been fortunate, I've had all three of my children have been attendants to the Queen. I had two train bearers. In fact, last night at dinner, uh my son, who is now 18 years old, uh, the his the queen who was of the festival his year that he was the train bearer for passed us by at the restaurant and he stood up and he's six foot two and and you know, she couldn't believe how you know he was a little kid. You know, but time flies. But it it's so neat to see people who have been involved in that come back to the community and re-engage with it and continue to perpetuate our our identity and the fabric of who we are. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, one of the things that makes us different is also that Rose Festival.
SPEAKER_00Right. And we're looked upon by you know, there's several festivals across the state. I mean, Waco has a beautiful festival in the Brazos, uh San Antonio has Fiesta. I think there's several um uh festivals like our that are similar in nature to what we do, but the Texas Rose Festival has a very unique placement uh amongst all of those festivals, and I couldn't be more proud that that our city has that to offer. Is the Rose Festival a 501? It is not a it is not a 501, it's a 501, I believe. So they can't take charitable.
SPEAKER_01I'm pulling out your knowledge. They can't take charity. Most people don't realize that there are that statute 501.
SPEAKER_00There's a 501. Correct. And 50 501 501. There's several areas, but uh this the festivals, if I and I hope I've gotten it correctly, the festival. Liz is going to claim that. Yeah, no, Liz, yeah, she'll she'll uh she'll definitely be able to uh correct me if I'm wrong. But they're able to take contributions. So at you know, because we have sponsors that sponsor the festivals, sponsor floats, sponsoring.
SPEAKER_01Why why is that a different than a contribution to, say, Path or Bethesda or somebody like that? Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00So it it's a I mean I really look at it as an economic investment, right? You're sponsoring the city's largest identity board. Why are they treated or different? Why are they treated differently? Why are they designated differently? It is not it's not so it's not considered a nonprofit, right? It's it's it's a it's a the way it was structured, it's just a the way it was structured. And they're the now the Rose Museum is a 501c3. That's the arm of the Rose Festival that is a charitable contribution because it houses the archives of of the um festival. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And it has a Rose Garden. Trevor Burrus, Jr. And it has a Rose Garden. The Rose Museum is separate from the the Rose Garden Center. It's inside the Rose Garden Center, so when that building was constructed, it was a private public partnership. So Billy Hartley uh was the president again of that. She was the founding president, and she, along with Dub Rider and um several Bill Hart uh Mr. Hartley obviously was involved in it, but several key people uh came together to to make that happen. And that was Bart Fair's vision. He was uh passed away from cancer, but that was his initial vision. Was that like part of the fair family? Part of the fair family. Part of the fair family who had uh uh a couple of three, I think.
SPEAKER_01I mean, most of the most of the things that we have like that in Tyler were probably the accumulation of the same uh you know, cast of characters or wealthy people that were, you know, you know, charitable at heart. Yes. And they and they really built all these things over time, you know, by just having a Tyler Museum of Art. Or whatever, right? I mean, they would donate, they'd get together, and then we have these, you know, we have these nice facilities for our city.
SPEAKER_00We do, and the leadership, you know, the Tyler Museum of Art, Nell Bell, who was Henry Bell, of course, at the Chamber of Commerce, you know, it was his mother and Eleanor Cameron that were the spearheaded that. And you know, there's a great picture, they just celebrated their 55th anniversary and clipped the ribbon. Uh, you know, they had a picture of Nell in 1971 clipping the ribbon. And you know, you look at the it is of so many of the same families and so many of the people that really perpetuated how and and that I believe is what has made this town so special.
SPEAKER_01And people have bought in and, you know, not that I'm anybody, but I mean I have migrated to and wanted to join giving right as a part of just living here, right? Not just living and taking, but appreciating, you know, that the place makes my living. And you know, the old adage to whom much is given, much is required, right? Exactly. I mean that's that's right. And you know, um there's a lot of people that could get engaged that are not yet engaged. Sure. So there's there's there's room for more.
SPEAKER_00Hey, there's we've the the tent is as Jim Perkins says, we can build a bigger tent and put you know, or we're b- have add money to the vault, right?
SPEAKER_01Because, you know, you've you've evolved, you know, on your journey to influence, you know, credible influence, I'd say is a good thing. It's very kind of you. Well, I mean, it's true. I mean, you know, and and it's not like you bought it or you got it yesterday. You know, it's a 30-year, you know, journey to sophistication, know-how, participation. That probably is the reason that the Byers Foundation chose you. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Well, I I I I would like to think that's I appreciate that. I'd like to think that's the truth. Um I I I've been very fortunate, you know, to to know Brent and to know his family and to be trusted with this position. I do consider it a huge honor.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, I think the podcast itself is going to reveal that they made a good choice. Good.
SPEAKER_00Good.
SPEAKER_01That's good for my uh uh evaluation. And they're gonna see it, you know, because um, you know, these podcasts, you know, are longer form that and and it's they're meant to get to know the people that live around here, that make a a big impact, that are interesting, meaningful, all those things. And thank you. Certainly you're one of those per people, you know. Um and anybody who mentions you, you know, never has a bad word to say, always says, you know, uh I like him. He helped me do this, that, or the other. So it's your reward, man. You're elevated to the foundation. And now, uh, I guess do people like you serve on other family foundations, or is it kind of like one of those deals where you're on one, you know, and that's it?
SPEAKER_00It it can be any way that that is structured. I have the opportunity, I would be I would consider because I still am able to operate my own consulting firm as well as as as well as the work I do for the Byers Family Foundation. So I would be in, in essence, a fractional executive director, you know, because I have the uh I have room in my schedule to do others. So as I have worked in this space, you know, I would obviously love to to work with other foundations, to work with other families that are interested in learning about giving experience that very few, if any, have in this geography that we live in.
SPEAKER_01Right. I mean, there's not a whole lot of philanthropy gurus. It's well, it's around.
SPEAKER_00I mean, we've got some in we've got Fred Smith and we have Don Franks, and we've got some some really key people that have played long-term. Nancy Lamar, uh people that have played real stupid. You're too modern now. But but I'll say I'm grateful to have had it's and it is a narrow niche. I mean, there's no question about it.
SPEAKER_01And it takes money in an area to create somebody like you. Right? Well, I mean, that typically is uh a driving factor. Yes. But I mean I'm just calling out with no negative insinuation you know, where philanthropy, skilled people crop up. Right? I mean, you didn't just jump in overnight, like we said, but I mean, you know, Tyler is a blessed place. Yes. East Texas is as well. Yes. It's created this, and thankfully, you know, you got people like you that are helping manage this stuff so that maybe this money lasts longer, it goes to greater help, people learn from you, expand, and and the people below it, charities, learn things that they wouldn't otherwise know. I mean, it's a multiplier as I see it. Am I right? I mean, I I I love what you're saying.
SPEAKER_00I think it's very it's very flattering and I'm not sure. Just say amen. You know, I my therapist says it's I need to learn how to take compliments better. So I'm I'm I'll work on that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Well, um I pride myself on a very neutral personality when it comes to this, especially. Like, you know, just asking questions, learning about people, uh, and trying to ask people to be on the show, you know, that people would be interested to hear from even if they didn't think they would when they first started the interview. Aaron Powell.
SPEAKER_00Right. Trevor Burrus, Jr. Well, I I I I'm again I'm I'm grateful to you for being on the show and and flattered that you'd have me. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01You know, I know you've expanded your work uh outside of Tyler into the Dallas area. Uh do you have work in other places other than Dallas?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Ross Powell I have in the past. I've worked in I've worked in other states uh before, uh but I'm right now in this landscape of what my firm is, it's myself that's you know, I don't I don't have a I would I was a business partner. I mean you are the business. Trevor Burrus Yes, I am the business. I mean I know Laura Zorn has helped you in the past. Yes, and as uh there's there there wouldn't be as good of a Patrick Willis without Laura, I can assure you that.
SPEAKER_01I mean that's true in every endeavor almost. But I know because you know, a good friend of mine, uh financial advisor, Mark Hagen, you know, UBS. Of course, Mark. Um I'm you know, he and I went to first grade. I've known him my whole life. He's one of my best friends. Uh I know he's help, you know, you're helping them, right? Trevor Burrus, Jr. His Emily's place and Emily's place. It's a play, no, excuse me. Trevor Burrus, Jr. You know, it it's a bit ironic, I guess. That's full circle on Crisis Center. Isn't it? Right? Yeah. It's abused women with a place to live.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And they're transforming lives. I mean, the the his program is for women who come out of the emergency shelter and they're in his program for the live there on the campus for an extended period of time and work through the program that they've established. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01You know, Mark as a non-professional, just a big-hearted guy that got involved with this. I mean, he's been doing this for I don't know, over twenty four years. Yes.
SPEAKER_00This is twenty fifth.
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell, Jr. Okay, so this is a guy who's imagine trying to be in a charity and trying to help in any way he can. Now he finally gets to the point they do, they hire Patrick Willis. How do you help improve that organization by hiring a guy like you? Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00So what what he wanted to do was this organization, as you know, as you just described, Mark has been a founder. It's a founder-led organization. And Mark wanted to put more parameters and structure around it so that it was less of necessarily him and more of the governance structure. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01Governance.
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01I was about to say we talked about earlier. Trevor Burrus, Yeah. You know, founder-led any even like family-owned companies don't have the same governance, right? So when those guys cycle out or people leave, you need structures in place. That's what you're saying. Yes. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And he's uh he's not going anywhere any time. By any means, he wants somebody to help. Trevor Burrus, Jr. He he wanted to put structure around it. We're working also on a a diff um engagement with uh major donors strategy and moving some of that forward as well. So we've got several um projects that we're working with them on. Um and I'll it's it's a great organization and I've I enjoy I love Dallas, so I love getting to go up there. It's it's a lot of fun. I do too. Sometimes it may be too much fun to be.
SPEAKER_01No, I mean it's pr I mean I it's fun to go up to Dallas because there's there's more, you know, the restaurants, yeah, you know, the stuff that my wife and I enjoy are in abundance up there. There is a lot. What to do? It sounds like if I had to, you know, prognosticate your future. Okay. I'm guessing that, you know, there's not as much political stuff in the future. Aaron Ross Powell It's very selective. And the public relations stuff is always going to stay at the bottom and be very slim. And just a as a as a offering, but yes. Aaron Ross Powell The nonprofit instruction on fundraising and governance and potentially other foundation positions is probably where you will elevate.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would like to. I also work with another group, a family, Yosemite Roofing, I work with their their family, the Roseberries, and help them with corporate philanthropy. So a lot of structure around where their company is giving and what that looks like as well as I've seen you and them in that.
SPEAKER_01And it looked like to me that you were helping them donate to this one or that one.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Things that we when I worked with their group, we did a values exercise with them and really looked at what they value and what they value as a family, what they value as a company, and how that matches with the nonprofits uh that where they can also be involved. They have a huge heart and they have have made or are making a big difference in Tyler, and I think will continue to make a big difference.
SPEAKER_01I mean, it's not beyond beyond the realm to say, I'm gonna give away X dollars a year. Sure. 100,000, 50,000, 200, whatever. I mean, you do that for people. Yes.
SPEAKER_00You help them strategize on ways that m make a difference to them. It's what they value and how they value it. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_01And you vet by your expertise, the c the philanthropies that it would even have a chance to go to. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. So I've been real fortunate that I because I've been in this space so long, I know so many of the organizations and uh I know the good ones and I know the ones that have struggle and and some that have leadership challenges, and that can be any organization.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus, Jr.: Is that the core of the struggle for the nonprofits? That is the leadership, because if the leadership's not good, the governance is not good, the fundraising's not good, is it all really go to the leaders?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell It really does. And it really does matter who's in charge, right? I mean, if you think about the the people that move the needle, right? Are I mean we've mentioned so many in this fund people that you know if Kevin Eltife called you and asked you for to do something, you're gonna be really inclined to participate, right? Right. Because of his nature and number one, if he called me, I'd be shocked.
SPEAKER_01And I'd say, hey Kevin, what's going on, man? I mean, what's what what's going on? I was like, uh, and if he says, well, Chad, I'd really like you to help me do something. And then you'd say, well, you know what? Um the fact that you called it makes a difference. The fact that, you know, um that you've done so much would definitely have me stronger be stronger in my consideration.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus, Jr. Sure. So when you have leadership in levels, and I know that's a an example of a of a lead of a high level leader, right? Right. We're not all going to get that level of leadership on boards, but when you want people that can that can be thoughtful, that can understand what the content of what we've talked about in this podcast, how boards operate, how they can best be involved, uh th that's what you look for, right? So leadership is a is a big, big challenge.
SPEAKER_01You know, boards, uh Patrick, seem to be a a big function of a lot of these charities, like who's on these boards? How do they get selected? When people are trying to fill a board for a charity, is it worker or is it money person or is it a combination of both?
SPEAKER_00I think there's a combination of people that have the time and the energy to give to help with the volunteer process, but also you really, you know, mem you need members of the community who have influence and affluence, right? Right to serve on your board.
SPEAKER_01Some people that can influence others to give and some people that have the means to give. Correct. Correct.
SPEAKER_00Correct. And and you know I always tell people all the time, every you know this is a tenant I do, if you're serving on a board, you're making a financial contribution to that organization. I've always heard that, but it's it's been one of those things that just never gets said. Trevor Burrus It's absolutely the number one thing the chair of a board should say and they should say it unabashedly with with great confidence that they ask everyone on this board, if you're if you have a director's seat, you're making a contribution. Now what I also like to back that up with is saying things like you're making a contribution with within your ability to do so and a gift that's meaningful to you. Not everybody can give a $100,000 gift or a $5,000 gift, right? But you want to be able to set an expectation and that again goes back to the governance structure if you've got the board responsibility documents in place.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus People communicate that if you've got a good operation, right? Yes. Trevor Burrus You don't ask somebody who would not get the gist of what you're supposed to do in the first place.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus Well no and and but it but clear expectations are important.
SPEAKER_01That way responsibilities are you can operate as efficiently and productively as possible, right? Trevor Burrus Yeah goes back to systems. Right.
SPEAKER_00I mean so if anything I think you can take away from audience if you're gonna if you're interested in being a donor or if you're interested in being on a board, if you're interested in any of that process, you know checking out how their governance structure works is is really you'll you'll learn a lot about an organization and whether or not you want to spend your time or energy in that space.
SPEAKER_01If somebody you know says well you know I'd like to serve on a board of one of these nonprofits and I've got money and I've got time and blah blah blah how would they make themselves available as a potential candidate for maybe one of these charities that they really felt strongly about so any good organization will have a strong I like to have them as a vice chair of governance.
SPEAKER_00So I I put I recommend putting a board stretch together where you have a chair of the board, a vice chair of governance, a vice chair of development, a secretary and a treasurer those people function those And they all have different jobs? Trevor Burrus And they all have different jobs, right? The vice chairman of development helps oversee the fundraising on a board level are these all paid salary positions? No, these are volunteer these are the volunteer structures Okay.
SPEAKER_01That's good that you said that Trevor Burrus people are here are listening and they're going, okay, now how many salaries is that just to get to a plan?
SPEAKER_00Yeah no no and so the development director or the vice president of development for or advancement for instance they are the paid staff person, the vice chair of the board of development or the vice chair of development board is a volunteer so and a lot of that and I'm you know I've I've been in it so long I use this word sometimes and and you're right to ask about the context.
SPEAKER_01I appreciate that because it does help other people to kind of understand the lingo that some of the language in in this world right there's a language in all you know if you're a financial advisor you know and you're talking to people you're using words that most people don't quite understand what all that means. Trevor Burrus Correct you know and it's true when you get in these spaces too. Trevor Burrus Oh yeah absolutely basically what you're saying so I can uh translate it to the common man listening is that uh you've got a you've got a paid CEO essentially or an executive director at a charity and a good one would have multiple vice chairs of the board of the that would be in charge of certain elements governance and development are the the top two.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus Right if you could only have two that would be it and and the rest of the I mean there's then there's a whole board of directors underneath those executive officers of the board of directors. Trevor Burrus Maybe people who had been on the board learned the whole program and elevated to those that's kind of and then the vice chair of development and the vice chair of governance have the most and understanding and knowledge of the organization or should if they're in those positions and either one of those people would be great to go to the chairmanship after that, right? And I don't ever recommend an organization have automatic ascension to the chair.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus Right because like you said the leader matters. Trevor Burrus The leader matters and there may be a great technician executor they're not outgoing they don't know anybody they're not a good fundraiser. I mean that would not be good for the organization. Yeah right? Yeah um you know tell people as we get here towards end what ad what advice you know do you think people need um on philanthropy in general? Like if they want to give you like let's say somebody came into some money or they just decided you know what I've got more money than I can spend. And I think the right thing to do is to try to give money to people in this community and they decided to do that. What advice would you give a person like that?
SPEAKER_00Well I I I think I would go back to what we've the things we've talked about in the interview is is looking at the charity's uh health and vitality and viability, right? You don't want to give money to an organization that's not able to produce the results that it needs to be producing. And I think I would I would do a values vision and mission of my own self I believe and what I value and what does this mean and it helps people make decisions on what matters to them. Because if you it you it's right I may know myself but you you it's one thing when you put it on a flip chart and I've done these exercises with lots of groups it really comes out and they visually see what matters to them.
SPEAKER_01Right, right. Write it down. Write okay what do you care about? What do you want to do? And you write those things down.
SPEAKER_00Trevor Burrus And rank them because again you go back to the it's we can say yes to good things but if we're gonna say yes to great things we really have to be strategic about it. Right.
SPEAKER_01And one you know person's cause that's more important than the other is different than someone else's. And generally that's based on life experiences. Your parents were super poor something bad happened to your sister. Yeah. You know, right? Uh you have a uh a a sibling a family that had autism a parent that died of Alzheimer's I mean or you go or you go to do you go to the Cowan Center and you your child is inspired and grows up and becomes a Broadway star.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right. Or you hear a lecture from somebody you'll you never thought you'd hear a lecture from and that inspires people. I mean I I will never forget being in a concert and there were it was a country music concert and there was a a family in front of me and they were they had their all decked out and the Cowboys they had come from a small rural community around here and then sitting up just a little bit earlier uh in another row was Anita Ray who had had had g given one of the million dollar gifts of the Salvation Army campaign had been honored as the citizen of the year and I thought this is a place for everybody, you know, the Cowan Center. So that that's kind of thing inspires me. It's why I serve on that board. It's why I give my resources to the Cowan Center because I believe arts inspires people, you know the art, the performing arts.
SPEAKER_01Yeah I mean that's a goodology there's a guy from Tyler I forgot he just came back to town a few years ago uh Jones um he was a dancer he he went to Robert E. Lee he went up to New York he was up there a long time I cannot remember his name. He was older than me. I'm not sure that's but anyway the arts is you know I had an artist on on the show uh recently um but yeah that seems more you know like you said mission defines what you want to do because I might say you know what to me those things are a little bit you know more luxury items if you will sure than you know food given twice a month from a food pantry. You know right?
SPEAKER_00I mean it's just kind of people and it's not a right or wrong or a this and like you said the things that you that cause your mission statement usually are in your past. Sure. Sure. It's things that you value, things you believe in. So people do uh tend to want to help things that have impacted them or impacted those that they care about.
SPEAKER_01Well Patrick uh you're doing a great job it seems like you know you're also rewarded with the success which is a reflection of what the community sees and believes in, I'm assuming, right? You wouldn't be successful if you were just some guy going around shaking hands and telling everybody what they wanted to hear. Trevor Burrus Sure. I think that's one of your strongest attributes is you're uh not only you know what you're doing, but you're you're you're up front, you know, and you're straightforward. And I like that. I like that thank you. And I appreciate you uh allowing me to have you on the show and telling everybody else a little bit more about this very detailed philanthropy system that's developed over the last 50 or 60 years.
SPEAKER_00Right? I'll go back to we have a really great place to live and and people like you know who contribute and are passionate about organizations in this community that are doing things for people are are the people we need.
SPEAKER_01Trevor Burrus But you know the guy from out of town he said Parker he said I'll tell you the difference in Tyler and uh other boards in it at Dallas, Houston. He said the people in Tyler they think about how can I help Tyler.
SPEAKER_00People in Dallas and Houston that he's run across on those boards says how can I help myself the relationships right but all right man all right let's call it let's call it a wrap I appreciate this I and I understand the first uh interview in your new space I'm grateful for that too. You are this is the first show in the new studio I'm happy to have that designation so thank you for having me today I sure appreciate you all right now