Charity and Giving: A Dragon’s Tale

Brendon Rothwell

The date was November 4, 2015. I was unceremoniously awakened at 5:15 am by the incessant buzzing of my alarm clock. Ahead of me was a full day of client appointments book-ended by a couple of charitable events: An early morning Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at the Capri Hotel and Conference Centre and then, after work, evening drinks and appetizers at the Bottega Farm Inn and Studio.

The keynote speaker for the breakfast, sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health Association, was W. Brett Wilson of Dragon’s Den fame, a man known as much for his philanthropy as his business prowess. Brett spoke candidly about mental health issues and his daughter’s struggle with eating disorders.

The takeaway from his speech is that we all can benefit, whether personally or professionally, when we identify and help those close to us who have or who exhibit signs of mental health disease.

The evening event at the Bottega was sponsored by the “nonorganization” 100 Men Who Give a Damn (a misleading name because membership is actually over 300 men).

Soon after arriving I bumped into a friend and business contact who introduced me to the man standing beside him—none other than W. Brett Wilson! Brett was once again the keynote speaker, however his message to the large crowd of businessmen was much different than the previous one.

…giving and business go hand in hand.

This time he suggested corporations, big or small, should view “giving and charity” as less of an obligation and more as a business opportunity. By implementing philanthropically motivated corporate strategies, businesses should and could attach growth opportunities to giving, effectively turning “Corporate Social Responsibility into a Corporate Social Opportunity.”1

I heard the Dragon’s message loud and clear—giving and business go hand in hand. I decided that future giving by our firm would be done with purpose and inventiveness.

Implementation of win-win strategies became key; we now look for opportunities to build and enhance relationships when deciding where and to whom to give. We established initiatives involving staff, clients, referral sources, and others. Not only do we raise awareness for causes important to us, we provide an avenue for others to convince us their cause is one we should endorse.

A funny thing happened, though. Upon implementing those strategies, we found that instead of measuring our success on higher Corporate Profits, it became more important to assess the enhanced feeling of Corporate Wellness. For some reason giving without conditions just feels good. And we are just fine with that!

1

W Brett Wilson. How to turn corporate social responsibility into corporate social opportunity. Financialpost.com Dec. 9, 2012. Some Rothwell Notary Corporation Giving and Sponsorship Initiatives In addition to giving a year-end bonus for staff, I ask each employee to provide the name of a charity to which we donate on that employee’s behalf. Beneficiaries to date include SPCA, Kelowna General Hospital Foundation, The Elizabeth Fry Society, Kelowna Women’s Shelter, Central Okanagan Hospice, Central Okanagan Food Bank, and The Salvation Army.

At Christmas we like to thank our referral sources and business contacts for all they have done for us during the year by way of a gift-card program offered through my daughters’ school. A portion of all proceeds from the purchase of the gift cards (for dinner, movies, or stores) goes to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul to feed the homeless.

A portion of our fee for each real estate deal we complete is donated to charities as chosen by our clients—The Elizabeth Fry Society (empowerific. com) or CRIS (Community Recreational Initiatives Society) Adaptive Adventures (adaptiveadventures.ca). Sponsorship of local sports teams and events includes 2018 BC Premier League Baseball Championships, Kelowna Chiefs Hockey Club, the Century 21 Charity Poker Tournament in support of Easter Seals, and West Kelowna Minor Hockey (including 25 pucks donated to each minor hockey team in West Kelowna). s Brendon Rothwell is a BC Notary practising in Kelowna.