Celebrating 10 Years—A Message from our Founders, Jeff Johns and Aimee Minnich
By Impact Foundation Co-Founders, Jeff Johns and Aimee Minnich
Happy Tenth Birthday, Impact Foundation!
We have a tradition of celebrating someone on their birthday by sharing a word or verse of affirmation or encouragement. Each person takes a turn telling the birthday boy/girl what they like or admire about them. Although it can feel awkward for the blessee, these birthday blessings have become highlights of the year for everyone. It is such a joy to give and to receive—to acknowledge someone for who God created that person to be, a beloved son or daughter uniquely reflecting His image.
Similarly, as Impact Foundation turns ten years old this year, we celebrate the amazing ways that we have seen God work in and through Impact Foundation and its people–supporters, cheerleaders, team members, donors, investees, and friends.
If we were to tell ALL of the stories of God’s provision and answered prayers, it would take more time than anyone wants to devote to reading a blog. So we will share a few of our favorite stories.
The “No Call Sales List”
In the first year of Impact Foundation, Jeff felt led to write down the names of ten people who would make ideal clients for Impact Foundation. Normal behavior for a sales guy…except Jeff felt like God told him not to reach out to any of them. Within a year, 10 out of 10 had called us to have us help them invest charitable capital. God was clear from the beginning that He wanted us to build Impact Foundation dependent on Him, and free from our own striving. Always keeping in mind that “unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain" from Psalm 127:1.
Building a “Saucer Community”
“Unless the Lord builds a house, the workers labor in vain”—who wants to know their work has been pure vanity?! Instead, we’ve worked hard to keep the imagery and lessons of Pitcher Cup Saucer Plate at the forefront of everything we do, depending on the Lord for His guidance instead of leaning on our own understanding. God has been so faithful to provide the people we need at each inflection point. We’ve not yet had to post a job description or actively recruit for a position. Each time we reach the point of needing to add a new position, God brings the exact right person, usually before we’ve even finished defining the role. A few times, someone presented themselves to us and then wrote their own job description. It sounds like a terrible recruitment strategy, but each person is an A player who comes with invaluable experience. We’ve found that by focusing on abiding in Christ, building a healthy team culture, and working with single-minded focus toward a big goal, we’ve been able to attract and retain amazing talent. Seriously, the team members at Impact Foundation are some of the smartest, hardest-working, and yet humble people you could ever find in one place.
Privilege
That’s the best word to describe what it has been like to build Impact Foundation together for the past ten years. We have experienced such unity as a board and leadership team that it can only be God Himself at work. Working in our unique strengths with like-minded, fun, Christ-centered people to build an engine of transformational investing has made the past ten years truly remarkable. We can’t wait to see where God takes us next!
