We’ve been at this for nearly 10 years as a formalized grant-making family. Honestly, it isn’t for ninnies. Under the leadership of our President, our son Tom, we continue to evolve our approach. We ramped up our efforts to get to know the agencies we fund and we fund fewer of them in meaningful ways. We also fund the agencies the employees of Briljent put forward for consideration. We continue our Briljent “Dollars for Doers” program. Through this program we are making financial investments in not-for-profits that our employees donate their time to. Few companies do this so we are learning as we go. This is in addition to a donation match program that we put in place a few years ago. In short, if our employees support not-for-profits, so do we.
We continue to retool what we do and how we do it. We own a consulting firm (Briljent) so it make sense that we continue to implement philanthropy best practices. This fall two of our family members will again attend the Forum held by the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP). This organization keeps us sharp. Each conference we’ve attended results in new ideas thoughtful changes. We welcome out-of-the-box discussions. How does a family work together in a unified way, when family members have different values? How can we continue to be transparent and open in what we do and how we do it?
We are a donor advised fund, partnering with the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne (CFGFW). They have done a phenomenal job with the administration of our grants. More importantly, we utilize the efficient CFGFW system for our grant submission process. Thank you to CFGFW for walking alongside us.
So what matters to our family? To serve others with our time, our talent and our wealth. We wake up each day and are aware this is the role that we choose, each day, every day. As parents we continue to push the rope so we know that when we die our children and grandchildren are prepared for our wealth and for the role of service to others. We’ve “lifted the veil” so there are no mysteries in our family about wealth. We’ve already established donor advised funds for our children, so their philanthropy interests move forward at their pace. Dave and I are proud of our four children, their spouses/significant others and our grandchildren. They are alert to what is happening around them, they are defining their values and they stand by them even in the face of conflict. They are thoughtful, caring, compassionate people who look out for others and they are hard workers.
Here’s a salute to our family and to the responsibility of serving others,
Kathy Carrier, Secretary of The Luminous Fund, alongside the Carrier, Odum, McLean and Baumgartner Families
To whom much is given, much is required.
Our family has invested well over $1 million in gifts and grants for charitable initiatives that our family and employees are focused on. Our work with this donor advised fund is one of our family’s approaches to philanthropy. It sets the stage for the wealth transfer to the next generations of our family. What is your family doing? It puzzles us to see other entrepreneurs focus on building their wealth, and then shrug off the complicated question of what do to with it.
Never, never, never, give up.
The Luminous Fund
Briljent
c/o Kathy Carrier
7615 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46804
Kathy Carrier, Secretary
kcarrier@briljent.com
Tom Carrier, President
tmcarrier94@gmail.com