All across the country, every day, givers are making the most of the opportunities they have to be generous. Sometimes, those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities get missed and never come back around. This is a story about an NCF team member who missed a big opportunity and why he has dedicated his life to making sure that you don’t miss yours.
A wedding with giving instead of gifts
When Eric Most got engaged to his wife, Jacqie, they did what most couples do – they headed to a department store to register for wedding gifts. At first, Eric was thrilled as they picked out items for their new home, but then his mood shifted. “I walked into the store excited and walked out feeling demoralized,” Eric says. “My heart knew we didn’t need all this stuff.”
A short time later, Eric shared his feelings with Andrew Prilliman, a friend from church who also happened to be a part of the NCF team in Tampa, FL. Andrew explained that instead of requesting gifts, Eric and Jacqie could open a Giving Fund at NCF to provide their wedding guests with the opportunity to make donations to charity. “I had never heard of this idea, or NCF,” says Eric. “But it fit our hearts much better than any three-pot slow cooker ever could.” To their delight, Eric and Jacqie also received more than $2,000 which they used to fund a mission trip to Indonesia.
A huge missed opportunity
While Eric and Jacqie loved the way their fund simplified giving and made them more intentional, they were unaware of other ways that NCF could help them be wise stewards of all their resources. So, when they received a buy-out offer for their company, they accepted it, sold the business, and then donated part of the money to their Giving Fund after the sale.
Shortly after, Eric also helped liquidate an office building that he and his family owned. He anticipated making a significant gift from his portion of the sale but things did not go as planned. “What I didn’t understand were that the tax implications of that commercial real estate sale would wipe away any profit that I hoped to be able to give from,” Eric says.
As time went by, Eric’s relationship with the NCF Tampa team grew, and he came to realize the opportunities he had missed when he sold his business and his property without gifting a portion of it before the sale.
“Giving appreciated assets before a major liquidity event is one of the biggest opportunities to make a significant gift for kingdom work.”
A change of events
But then he received a chance for redemption. David Parsley, Vice President of NCF Tampa, suggested that Eric take a job with NCF. “I remember David telling me, you and Jacqie have a passion for generosity, missions, and ministry. Go tell people not to make the same mistakes you did.”
Eric jumped at the chance. He and Jacqie left behind high-earning careers in Tampa to follow God’s call to Colorado, where he joined the NCF Rocky Mountains team as vice president and generosity catalyst.
“I tell people my story all the time,” Eric says. “I make sure they know there’s a better way. I want everyone I meet to know that giving appreciated assets before a major liquidity event is one of the biggest opportunities they will ever have to save taxes and make a significant gift for kingdom work.”
Since then, Eric has helped dozens of givers avoid the costly error of giving after the sale. And as God would have it, Eric’s mistake has become his mission. “I have the joy of working with some of the most generous believers in the world,” Eric says. “And while my life may not look like those I know living on the mission field, I hope and pray that God is using me daily to inspire biblical generosity.”
Discover the power of non-cash giving today.
