Sitting on a mound of cash waiting for the next financial crash is a fun place to be. Gains are forgone during the regular cycle in anticipation for the chance to pounce when everyone else is selling. The returns from this strategy reap significant dividends. The same approach applies to philanthropy. In fact, it is biblical.
The “Weeping Prophet” Jeremiah spends 30-plus chapters calling down Israel and foretelling its demise. Jeremiah winds up in custody and the war zone is taking shape. The fall is imminent. Yet in chapter 34, the prophet purchases a piece of land. Everything is falling apart. Jeremiah, nevertheless, after all his doomsdaying, buys a piece of land in the war zone. Who buys land in a war zone?
Likewise, when Jesus was awaiting execution in Matthew 26, “a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head.” As this woman anoints him – a story recounted in all four Gospels – Jesus’ disciples rebuke her saying that the perfume, worth a year’s salary, could’ve been sold and given to the poor. Jesus rebukes his disciples and commands that her story be shared wherever the gospel is shared. It is not.
Jeremiah and Jesus are essential to the Judeo-Christian ethic. In these stories we find a man buying property in a war zone and a woman rolling out the red carpet for a dead man walking. These people were buying low. They invested when everyone else was cashing out.
The same goes for philanthropy. At Buckhead Christian Ministry we invest in people during evictions and crises. Our experienced staff vets each circumstance and determines whether our hard-earned donor dollars can in fact produce a return. If you check our record, you’ll find that we return to the community families restored at a rate you won’t find anywhere else in the market – I’m being bullish, I know.
Finding childcare for a working mother with an advanced degree experiencing homelessness because of circumstantial realities beyond her control leads to time on task to gain certifications that lead to a vocational career that break the generational cycle of poverty – that’s a Tuesday at BCM.
Because of experienced professional case management, investing in value stocks when everyone else is clinching their purses is smart philanthropy and wise Christian charity. The returns, from a community perspective, beat the market every time.
It's All Fired Up 