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I made a few additional visits to see Howard over the next couple of years.When we started our planned giving society he agreed to sign a statement confirming that he had provided a bequest for the Educational Foundation in his estate. But he declined to list the amount. All he wrote was: “Depends on the value of stock.” The last time I saw him he took me to dinner at the Elks Club where they had the fish dinner special that night. I think my meal cost about $7.00. He was a frugal guy who lived on a thoroughbred horse farm. I had no idea how much he had in mind for the Educational Foundation in his will, but I thought maybe six figures -- a lot of money. I was out of town when the phone call came. When I phoned in for messages, I was told that an attorney had called and that Mr. Kleinoeder had passed away. I returned the call to the attorney and he told me he estimated that the Educational Foundation would receive about $6.4 million once all of the stock and property was sold. Wow. That gift was six times our annual budget. Is that a dream come true or what? This was a very generous gift, to say the least. And it turns out that Howard Kleinoeder gave his entire fortune of $20+ million to three different philanthropic organizations

make some dreams come true. Even as the environment changes, the vision is your true north and you can continue to point in the direction of your dreams. This is what rallies everyone – staff, volunteers, Board members, and donors – to do everything in their power to maximize your Mission Impact . Another important role that vision plays is setting the context for establishing an organization’s goals. Goals are what help bring a grand vision into reality.To learn more about using the Aspirational Mindset in goal setting,checkout the article I wrote, The Power of Goals : www.sheehannonprofitconsulting. com/PowerOfGoals. Good luck in achieving all of your visions and goals! Dr. Rob Sheehan isAcademic Director of Executive MBA Programs at the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland – College Park and Affiliate Professor at the University’s Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership. He is also Principal of Sheehan Nonprofit Consulting. Rob has more than 30 years of executive management experience including 18 years as the CEO of two nonprofits. His book, Mission Impact: Breakthrough Strategies for Nonprofits , provides a cutting-edge, innovation-based approach on strategic planning for nonprofits. RSheehan@rhsmith.umd.edu

when he died. Now, who knows what he had in mind when he asked to speak to someone about making a bequest to the Educational Foundation? Maybe he was thinking about giving us the entire $20+ million, but he was so unimpressed with me that he cut it in one-third. Who knows? But here is what I wonder. I wonder about when he asked how much money “we fellas” really needed. I wonder what he would have done if I had said “You’re right, Howard. We are finally in decent shape financially. But we are hoping to keep increasing our annual fundraising results by five to ten percent a year.” I wonder that if I had said something like that whether he would have given anything at all to the Educational Foundation from his estate. The lesson: Create Aspirational Visions that can attract people with the resources to

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