The Power of Complex Asset Gifting: Increasing Charitable Impact with Pete Gazlay

The Generosity NOW Podcast

On this episode, Eric and Laurie are joined by Pete Gazlay. Pete shares his journey of faith, entrepreneurship, and generosity. He grew up in a middle-class family and came to know Jesus at the age of 17. Pete and his wife Linda started a commercial cleaning business called Total Facility Care, which grew over the years. In 2020, they went through a Journey of Generosity that transformed their perspective on business and stewardship. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, their business thrived and they were able to give bonuses to their employees. Pete Gazlay and his wife Linda share their journey of entrepreneurship, selling their business, and embracing generosity. They experienced financial success but felt a calling to give back and make a greater impact. They learned about complex asset gifting and decided to gift a portion of their business to increase their charitable impact. This decision allowed them to give away more money than they had ever given before. They also involved their family in the giving journey, gifting each of their children and grandchildren a significant amount of money to donate to kingdom-oriented causes. Pete and Linda have also been involved in mission trips to Guatemala and Tanzania, where they witnessed the need for the Gospel and the joy of serving others. They encourage other Christians to embrace generosity and stewardship, emphasizing the importance of giving not just financially but also with their time and resources. Takeaways

• Faith and prayer played a significant role in Pete and Linda's journey of entrepreneurship and generosity.
• The Journey of Generosity experience had a transformative impact on their perspective on business and stewardship.
• Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, their business thrived and they were able to give bonuses to their employees.
• Implementing significant price increases with their clients was a bold move that was well-received. Entrepreneurs can experience financial success but still feel a calling to give back and make a greater impact.
• Complex asset gifting can be a powerful way to increase charitable impact and give away more money than ever before.
• Involving family in the giving journey can be a meaningful and transformative experience.
• Mission trips provide opportunities to witness the need for the Gospel and serve others, leading to personal growth and a deeper understanding of stewardship.

Quotables

"God was working on me over a number of months. And in one day after school, it was it was the day. And so we went down in the basement into a classroom. And, you know, my teacher and Linda and one of our friends prayed for me and I I gave my life to Jesus."

"We got down on our knees and are living in... It's like, okay, God, this company is really yours. Like we, we give it to you."

"We became experts in COVID decontaminations and, um, we did hundreds of them over the next few months."

"We'd seen our revenue was going up, you know, massively. We'd been able to give big increases to our team with a promise for what that looked like over the next couple of years."

"The stress of caring for almost 150 families as employees and as an employer led us to the decision to sell."

"The complex asset gift allowed us to give away more money over the next few years than we had given in our entire adult lives."