Eric Most, VP for NCF Rocky Mountains, on How to Avoid His Biggest Giving Mistake (Ep. 33)

The Finish Line Podcast

Eric Most is the VP of the Rocky Mountains region for the National Christian Foundation, a donor advised fund platform that happens to be the 6th largest nonprofit and the largest Christian grant maker in the U.S.

Eric began his career at his family’s insurance business, Most Insurance, which he later went on to run. He later went on to sell the business for a significant profit which he used to start a real estate firm and fuel his passion for generosity. However, it wasn’t until after selling his business that he realized that he could have given far more from the proceeds if he had orchestrated the transaction differently.

That mistake left a large enough impact on him that he later took a position with the National Christian Foundation to help others avoid the same mistake.

NCF was founded over 40 years ago by Larry Burkett, Ron Blue, and Terry Parker as a platform to mobilize resources for the sake of the gospel and inspire generosity. Over this time, NCF has served over 24,000 givers to receive almost 19 billion dollars and deploy 15 billion dollars to charitable impact.

Eric had a wealth of advice and experiences to share, particularly about asset-based giving. Over 90% of our wealth as a nation is wrapped up in the things that we own. And by giving out of those assets, like stocks, real estate, and even our own businesses, instead of giving cash, we are able to add several multipliers to the impact of our giving. Eric also had some fantastic advice for financial planners wanting to help their clients through some of these processes. Listen now to hear all he had to share!

QUOTES TO REMEMBER

• “I didn’t know about asset-based giving. I didn’t know about the power of giving before a sale.”
• “Don’t make my mistakes! There is a better way.”
• “91% of our wealth as a nation is wrapped up in the things that we own. And we do most of our giving out of that remaining 9%.”
• “This just became an engine of generosity.”
• “We are called to greater things than we think.”
• “There are zealous goers, zealous senders, and the disobedient.”
• “NCF mobilizes resources and inspired generosity.”
• “We look as stewarding everything that God has entrusted to us, our business, our assets – these can all be vehicles of greater generosity for the sake of the gospel. And that excites me to no end.”

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
• John Piper's sermon entitled "Boast Only in the Cross" at the Passion OneDay Conference in 2000 (also featured in our very own SPRINT program for financial finish lines!)
• John Piper's sermon entitled "Doing Missions When Dying is Gain"
• Look at the Book by John Piper at DesiringGod.org
• YouVersion Bible app
• John Piper's sermon entitled "A Passion for the Supremacy of Christ—Where He Is Not Named" discussing zealous goers, zealous senders, and the disobedient
• Kingdom Advisors (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
• Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounders Todd Harper and David Wills and CEO, April Chapman)
• Pete Ochs
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

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