Five situations, or "gift triggers," typically open up the most fruitful opportunities for Smart Christian Giving^sm.  Frank Brown has experienced all five.

"I began tithing in 1971," says Frank, "when at age 38 I truly committed my life to the Lord Jesus.  But I didn't start looking at stewardship strategically until 1999.  I had retired after twenty-five years as a commercial pilot and was running a successful bank courier business that I had started as a hobby while I was with the airlines.  We were in the right place at the right time, because of the bank merger trend.  God truly prospered us.  We eventually had 250 drivers covering a 200-mile radius."

In 1999, as Frank figured his income tax, he was confronted with his first of the five gift triggers.  He realized that he had more than enough income to live on.

"I had a substantial retirement income from the airline, a very profitable courier business, and social security income," recalls Frank.  "I owned my house, my four children were grown, and my lovely wife of forty-five years had died two years before after a long bout with cancer.  I had been giving 10 percent to God, and I thought I was doing what I should.  But the other 90 percent was accumulating, and I had more than I needed.  Consequently, some large income tax obligations were staring at me.  I realized that paying so much in taxes was not only stupid, it was sinful."

Someone at Frank's church told him about The National Christian Foundation (NCF), so he, Frank Mall, and Mark Bainbridge flew to Atlanta to meet with some of the principals. They set up an NCF Giving Fund that allowed Frank to not only save income taxes, but also to take advantage of another of the gift trigger opportunities: the sale of a business.

Frank transferred to his Giving Fund some of his stock in the courier business, which had an appraised value of $100,000.  The tax basis of the stock was zero, because he had acquired it when he founded the company.  At the time, Federal and state capital gains tax rates added up to 26 percent, so this contribution allowed Frank to avoid paying $26,000 in capital gains taxes. 

"I also saved $30,000 in income taxes from the $100,000 donation," adds Frank.  "And to top it off, my Giving Fund now owned stock that upon liquidation would provide $100,000 for Christian charities.  I said, 'Man, I like this!'"

Those transactions alone were worth the trip, but the NCF executives presented Frank and his colleagues with another interesting challenge: to start a local foundation in their hometown, Kansas City, as the first local NCF affiliate.
 
"None of us knew a foundation from a credit union," continues Frank.  "But at the suggestion of NCF leadership, after returning home we continued to meet and pray."

Bill High, a local Kansas City attorney, heard about the project and started participating in the discussions.  Not long after, God led Pat Lloyd Land, Emmitt Mitchell, and Jim Fowler, who were involved with Bill in inner city work, to begin meeting with them.  Another community leader, Monte Clark, also joined the group.

With regular visits, guidance, and encouragement over several months from NCF leadership, the group decided to call themselves a board of directors and launch the Servant Christian Community Foundation (SCCF).  Bill High resigned from a promising career as a partner in a large law firm to become SCCF's president.

Since its founding in October 2000, SCCF has accepted more than $150 million, in contributions and made $91 million in grants to Kingdom work, locally and around the world.  Through approximately 500 Giving Funds, donors have recommended grants to more than 2,000 different ministries.  "It's been an amazing ride," exclaims Frank, who has served as chairman of the board since the foundation's inception. "Truly a God thing!"

Between 2001 and 2005 Frank transferred the remainder of his ownership in his courier company to his SCCF Giving Fund.  Each year Frank's son purchased the stock at the appraised value.  By the end of 2005, Frank's son owned 100% of the courier company's stock, with the proceeds from the purchases going into Frank's Giving Fund.  SCCF distributes the dollars in the Fund to the charities recommended by Frank. 

In 1999, the third and fourth gift triggers – passing on a taxable estate to family, and giving money to charities at death – presented Frank with another Kingdom opportunity.  As he planned his estate, he realized that he had a potential tax problem.  Much of his estate consisted of savings he had accumulated in IRAs when he retired from the airline and from his courier company.

"IRAs are the worst thing to leave in an estate," explains Frank, "because the heirs have to pay income tax on them.  They also can be subject to estate tax.  The government would have taken 60 to 70 percent of the value of my IRAs.  My estate was facing a potential tax liability of more than $500,000!"

Instead, Frank made his Giving Fund the beneficiary for his IRAs.  When he dies, the money in the IRAs will go to the Fund, bypassing his estate and all estate taxes.  By practicing strategic Christian stewardship, Frank will be able to give another half million dollars for the Lord's work.  His children, who are all Christians, will serve as the Fund's successor advisors and oversee the distribution of the assets for Kingdom purposes.

In 2005, Frank began to take advantage of his fifth gift trigger: the sale of real estate.  He owned a farm that he had purchased in the early 1970s.  Highway frontage had significantly increased its value, and he felt it was time to sell.  The appraised value of the raw land was $200,000, which created a capital gain of $180,000 over its $20,000 cost. 

If Frank had sold the land personally, he would have incurred a capital gains tax liability of about 21percent of $180,000, or $37,800.  Instead, he donated the land to his Giving Fund, avoiding all capital gains tax.  He also received an income tax deduction for the $200,000 donation.

Next, Frank formed a limited liability corporation (LLC), which bought the land back from the Giving Fund.  He paid slightly more than the appraised value, in order to ensure it would be viewed as an arm's length transaction.  In payment, the LLC gave the Fund a note, secured by the land.

Frank then donated 100% ownership in the LLC to the Giving Fund, so that none of the profit from the sale of lots would be taxable to him personally.  He functions only as manager of the LLC, making all decisions about the development of the land.

Next, Frank divided the land into twelve plats and personally loaned the LLC $200,000 to develop roads and utilities. The LLC used the proceeds from the sale of the first four subdivided lots to repay Frank for the $200,000 he spent on development costs.  The next $225,000 in proceeds will go to the Giving Fund to pay off its secured note.

In total, the sales of the developed lots are expected to generate about $700,000.  After subtracting development costs of $200,000, this will produce about $500,000 more for the Christian ministry work in Kansas City and beyond.

"I feel strongly this is the way to fund the Great Commission," says Frank.  "Instead of simply writing checks, businessmen and women should do what they do best.  I'd encourage them to use their skills and financial entrepreneurship – coupled with the tools and options of SCCF, NCF, and its other affiliates – to leverage their giving.

"I'm seeing it happen.  Business owners are giving part of their companies to Giving Funds, so they have less taxable income and more available to advance God's Kingdom.  SCCF is helping donors give all kinds of assets – stock, businesses, real estate…even vehicles, airplanes, and business inventory.  Along with NCF, they have the expertise and the infrastructure – lawyers, CPAs, administrative systems – to tackle all types of complex, non-cash gifts.

"I've had three distinct time periods in my career," continues Frank. "For the first 'halftime,' I was a pilot.  In the second 'halftime,' I owned a courier business.  Now I'm in 'overtime,' as a volunteer promoter of SCCF in its mission to inspire, educate, and facilitate Biblical generosity.  God is obviously blessing this work, and it's really exciting.

"A whole new world has opened up to me.  I've been exposed to so many powerful ministries worldwide, and they're all limited by funding.  That drives me to be part of what we believe is the greatest charitable revolution in the history of the world.  We believe the Great Commission can be completed in our lifetime.