Graduates in the News – Lorne Jackson on Philanthropy

Lorne Jackson, Knowledge Bureau Undergraduate, CFP, CEA, CKA, and President of the Canadian National Christian Foundation (CNCF), Financial Discipleship Canada works with over 40 Canadian registered charities. After 25 years in the financial services industry, Lorne sold his company and left the "for profit" world in 2002 to create the CNCF, and recently decided to take the Introduction to Strategic Philanthropy certificate course with Knowledge Bureau.

When asked about why he was taking a course with Knowledge Bureau, he said: “As a licensed agent, I am well aware of Knowledge Bureau and the quality of education provided by them. I also felt it good to take this course (Introduction to Strategic Philanthropy) as I work closely with donors to many Canadian charities in helping them think about estate giving and this course is a real benefit to that work.”

Lorne shared further insight into the process of pursuing his education at Knowledge Bureau by answering the following questions:

How would you tell your Knowledge Bureau story to a friend?

“I am taking a course on philanthropy with the Knowledge Bureau because I found that it is very helpful in my interaction with donors as the president of a public foundation in Canada. It is a very in-depth study in the area of estate planning/planned giving helping donors understand the soft issues of family, what charitable intent and how giving affects their tax issues.”

What did you find difficult?

“Some sections are heavy tax oriented, and that is more of the difficult parts, but I am thankful for the access to many different calculators programmed for charitable giving.”

Did anything surprise you in the courses?

“I was pleasantly surprised by how pro charitable giving the program is in trying to encourage financial advisors to be helping their clients be more generous. This is something I have been trying to encourage for the last 15 years. I find that many advisors think they talk about philanthropy with their clients, but when I interact with donors, I find they want to discuss tax and family issues with an advisor but do not know where to turn.”

Were you happy with the outcomes?

“I am quite pleased with the first semester, but have two more to go.”

What is the glimpse of wisdom you can share with our readers?

“I am pleased to be doing continuing education with something that is helpful to the role I serve in every day. As a foundation that provides estate planning services to hundreds of donors across Canada, I have learned that 39 out of 40 donors have no gift to charity in their will when we first meet with them. However, they all do when we are finished. Many times, the reason is they either haven’t thought about giving from their estate or, if they had, they didn’t know which assets would be best to give. I have learned that most Canadians don’t know what they don’t know. That’s my way of saying they didn’t understand any of the tax issues in their estate.”

Additional educational resources: Interested in pursuing or evolving your career in the charitable sector? Enrol in Knowledge Bureau’s newest designation program. MFA™-P (Philanthropy). Or, get a feel for the curriculum by taking a free trial.

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