One of the BNI Foundation’s founders has been recognized by the Austin Child Guidance Center for her dedication to children in the Austin Community. On August 18, at the 7th Annual Austin Originals Benefit Concert, Beth Misner was awarded the Community Activist Phyllis Richards Austin Icon for Children Award. The award is presented each year to recognize an individual for their contributions to, and engagement with, the community, which have resulted in positive changes for Austin’s children.
Beth Misner and her husband, BNI founder, Ivan Misner founded the BNI Foundation 20 years ago to support students, schools and educational organizations around the world. We extend a proud congratulation to Mrs. Misner on this prestigious award given in recognition of her volunteerism and philanthropic spirit.
Opened in 1951, the Austin Child Guidance Center works to improve the mental health of children and their families by providing early intervention, diagnosis and treatment. In the decades since it’s establishment, The Austin Child Guidance Center has provided treatment to more than 140,000 children and families.
The BNI Foundation is your foundation. Visit the BNI Foundation website to learn about getting involved.
There is a section on our One-to-One forms that the first time I read it, I thought why is this important? And that is, ?Something you didn?t know about_____________?.? Over the years, several of the ?Something I didn?t know about ______? have been funny and surprising!? Recently, I heard a ?Something you didn?t know about me? that truly inspired me and challenged me to give more of myself!
David Simpson is a member of my chapter ? Success Partners, NE Florida region, holding the supplement health seat, offering a wonderful product ZEAL. ?It was during his Showcase Presentation that I learned that he and his wife are foster parents and have been for years.? Then the next week, he and his family were featured on the front page of our local newspaper ? The St. Augustine Record ? ?Foster Care families share why they do what they do?.? I know it is very important to understand your ?WHY?, but I have come to realize the ?WHO?, is just as important.? Getting to know the ?Who?, Dave Simpson has now caused me to be his champion and his referral partner.? His ?Givers Gain?? lifestyle is more than just words.? Below please find excerpts from the frontpage article.? His ?Givers Gain? core value has sowed many a seed of blessings.? His garden is full.
St. Augustine Record ? August 20, 2018 By Coleen Michele Jones
No matter what else happened, Katie and David Simpson wanted to provide a stable environment ? if a temporary one ? for Cathan, who they took into their home as an unsure 6-year old almost a decade ago.
The rest of the pieces would fall into place somehow, they told themselves.? How Cathan might take to them, whether he?d eventually be reunited with his natural family – Or if he even wanted to make this his permanent home.
The Simpson?s – if they had anything to do with it, this would be Cathan?s last stop in what for many other children in the foster care system is a revolving door of placements and removals.
Over the last eight years, the Simpsons have fostered five children and adopted all five: Cathan, Erica, Logan, Brandon and Taliah ? four of whom are still living in their home ? something the couple said has been the plan all along.
Has it been tough? ?Sure?, responded David, ?but I figure if it?s tough for us, it?s got to be twice as hard on them.??
Nine-year-old Logan said he doesn?t miss his ?old life?.? ?If I make a mistake, people don?t abuse me?, he said as he lay in his father?s arms.? ?So, I feel safe?.
Nothing compares in life to that of a child feeling safe.
This November you and your business could be featured at the BNI 2018 Global Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as your story being featured on BNI?s website and social media channels.
Tell us how BNI has impacted your life or your business and you could be one of the lucky people to share your story on the stage of the Global Convention.
In order to participate, you will need to send us:
A :45 second video describing your personal success story with BNI
Please film in landscape
Please end the film by saying ?BNI is a new World of Opportunity?
If you film in your native language, please transcribe in English
A brief description of your role with BNI, length of time with the organization, and profession
*In order to present your story at Global Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, you must be a registered attendee. If you do not plan on attending, your video submission still may be selected to be?shown during Convention.
As an introduction, below is our first submission from Morgan Stephenson. Be sure to check out his video as well.
Morgan Stephenson, of Tyne Bridge Chapter in BNI UK, joined BNI in order to pursue and advance his career as a filmmaker. Now his dream is starting to come true.
When commissioned by a Government funded national enforcement agency, the Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT), to create a short film, Morgan was able to gain incredible support from BNI members to help with production. IMLT is the only organization in the UK to focus solely on tracking, arresting and prosecuting loan sharks. To date, they?ve helped over 27,000 victims, they?ve written off more than ?78m of debt and taken over 380 loan sharks off the streets.?
With a limited budget, Morgan?s BNI network, in particular Jonathan Sharp (Sky Drone) and Alan Helm (ANH Digital), were able to assist with production needs such as aerial shots and audio recording. Morgan was even able to shoot 50% of the film in their BNI venue, free of charge.? Over three days, they transformed the 100-year-old, Grade II listed Town Hall into a police station and a general hospital.??
Once completed, the BNI community pulled together and premiered the film to 260 individuals at Newcastle?s iconic Tyneside Cinema. Fellow BNI member Keith Newman (Highlights PR) was able to position the film on the front page of every local entertainment paper, on BBC Radio, and ensure an exceptional social media presence.
With an incredibly grateful client and outright success, this event reverberated across Northeast England. On the back of the film Premiere, several local organizations have gone on to secure their own funding with IMLT.
Keith Newman was granted enough funding to support his community radio station for an entire year.? And Blowin’ a Hooley Theatre Company was granted funding to create a Panto to educate some of the most financially vulnerable families in the Northeast on the dangers of loan sharks.?
Morgan commented: ?For myself, this film, made possible by the power of BNI, led me to fulfill a lifelong goal of starting a credible film business, Tri-Hard films with BBC Scriptwriter Debbie Owen and Director Daymon Britton. Because of this, I now have a solid foundation from which I can build a reputation and cinematic portfolio around work that I truly adore. Fellow BNI members are even supporting us to secure funding towards the production of a feature film in 2020. And the best thing about it is that it relies on, and is giving back to, the community that helped build it in the first place.?
Have you ever tried to leverage the I of BNI? Is your business globally connected? Have you considered traveling to another country to meet other BNI members and conduct cross-border business?
The members of BNI’s first international chapter – BNI Global Power Team (GPT) – are here to tell you there’s an easy, fun and productive way to connect with BNI members worldwide. For more than 8 years, they’ve held online, international chapter meetings, connecting BNI members from all over the globe.
GPT was launched in 2010 by BNI members R. Mark Field (USA) and Michael Schwendemann (Germany). Mark and Claus D. Hagenhoff (GPT member since 2015 and now GPT President) recently spoke about the creation of GPT:
Claus: Mark, what was your motivation to create the Global Power Team?
Mark: The idea for a “global power team” arose in Winter 2009. Having joined BNI in 2008, I was reflecting on my experience in doing business internationally, and the scarcity of referrals that I had received from lawyers to whom I had referred business over the years. Assuming that their referral patterns were similar to mine in frequency and geographic dispersion, I reasoned that my relationships were growing stale before they had a need to refer clients to U.S. counsel. I also figured that they likely lacked sufficient information regarding the skills that I could bring to bear in comparison to international business attorneys in larger cities. This led me to wonder whether the BNI system would work internationally. Ultimately, I decided to find out.
Claus: And how did you find interested people abroad before GPT was launched?
Mark: I identified the first prospective member through the SuccessNet publication. That individual was Michael Schwendemann, a German contractor who handled international construction projects. I emailed Michael and he was interested in the idea, so he assigned his English-speaking assistant to work with me. Armed with Michael’s support I refined my concept, discussed it with the BNI Global Support Team and was introduced to BNI members in Europe who might be able to help develop the group. After a little networking, I established a working group and held an initial meeting with 8 participants on May 10, 2010. It was very important to me to establish a team that could function independent of my leadership. It didn’t take us long to decide that the BNI chapter structure was well suited for this purpose and for providing structure to our meetings that worked well in a videoconference setting.
Claus: Can you briefly describe the first members and how you took the lead?
Mark: By June 2010 we had our initial slate of officers. They were Mark Field – President; Samantha Rathling – Vice President; Alison Boardman – Education Coordinator; and Edward Prentice – Secretary. We officially launched our power team and opened up the membership in August 2010 with 6 members [Mark Field (USA); Alison Boardman (Ireland); Ashraf Rahman (Dubai); Christiane Binder / Michael Schwendemann (Germany); Edward Prentice (UK); and Samantha Rathling (UK)]. We were greatly assisted in our task by distance learning expert Phillip Sparks (friend of Ashraf Rahman) who lent us the use of his videoconferencing subscription.
Moshe Minin from Israel was one of our first recruits, joining sometime in August or September of 2010. Aside from myself, two of our current members were early adopters of the BNI Global Power Team concept. Ramu Vedaraman first visited in December 2010 and Mikhal Heffer in May 2011. Martin Overbeck found us in 2012. All went on to serve as president of our team and in various other capacities. They are among the many to help shape the GPT over the years.
Claus: Thank you very much, Mark. We are so happy to have you still on the team.
Another early member of the GPT is Mikhal Heffer, BNI member from Israel, CEO of Lichi Translations.
Claus: Mikhal, tell us about your experience with the BNI Global Power Team:
Mikhal: I have been a member since May 2011. What I love about BNI is the ability to connect with BNI members from all over the world and get referrals to companies I would not be able to reach otherwise. Whenever I travel, I try to meet as many of the GPT members as I can, so over the years I got to meet quite a few from Italy, UK, France, Germany, India, etc.
One of my biggest GPT success stories is through Andrea Ferrero and his guest, BNI Executive Director Dario Castagna. While in Milan, Dario invited me to be an international guest speaker at the launch of the Saluzzo BNI Chapter. In that meeting I was approached by Antonio Brunetti, a local lawyer, a descendant of a Jewish family, who had a dream: to bring a delegation of BNI members to Israel.
As you can see, the BNI Global Power Team, which meets online every other Monday (biweekly, at 1 pm GMT) is really working and creating results! At present there are 28 members from 9 countries, exchanging referrals, conducting One-to-Ones and establishing trust and confidence and good relations among each other. As a highlight in 2018, there is now an initiative to have an in-person GPT meeting with current and former members from all over the globe. This GPT meeting will take place in Tel Aviv from Oct 3-5, and already 15 people have registered. As BNI Global works to enable cross-country referrals later this year, our chapter and international use of BNI will continue to flourish and help even more BNI members continue to grow their businesses together.
You can visit us next time on August 13 or after that on August 27. For registration, please send your request to Claus ch@itm-online.de and Jutta (visitor host) jutta@v-assist.co.za.
BNI is a community of passionate leaders; of that, there is no doubt. That said, there are certain stories that truly show how connected our members are, and how much they internalize a positive and helpful attitude.
Recently, we had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Nash of BNI Victory in Kent, UK. The story he shared is astounding.
Last November, Steve decided to undertake a massive physical challenge for his charity, Stacey?s Smiles. First, compete in the London Marathon; followed, 3 days later, by a 925 mile walk from John O Groats to Lands End, the northernmost and southernmost points of the UK mainland, respectively. Completed over a 31-day period, that equals 1,953,600 steps, 310 hours, 18,600 minutes, 1,116,000 seconds of walking.??
And while the physical toll is daunting in and of itself, not to mention courageous, his unconventional strategy for completing this challenge is what caught our attention. Steve decided to utilize his BNI support network throughout the UK in order to help him along the way. Through conversations with the Co-National Director for Ireland and the UK, Tim Cook, Steve was introduced to numerous Directors, Director Consultants and Chapter Presidents who helped him compile a plan.
Subsequently, over the 31-day trek, Steve was supported so thoroughly it exceeded all preconceived expectations. During the 31-day trek, Steve was assisted in the following ways:
Over ?11,500 was raised for Stacey?s Smiles – Over 2/3 raised by BNI Members through their own fundraising, sharing, individual donations.
BNI Chapters shared Steve?s posts on their social media pages.
Members helped transport equipment from location to location.
Members would walk with Steve for long distances.
A BNI member sponsored over 30 T-shirts for Steve, with the BNI logo prominently shown.
A member introduced Steve to a Property Developer who paid for all of his accommodations.
A member, who is a baker, gave Steve 6 boxes of fudge and had cupcakes waiting at one of his accommodations.?
One BNI member in Inverness met Steve at a hotel and presented him with a cheque for ?250.
Six members provided Steve with professional massages at different destinations.
Members would often meet him and offer to buy lunch and/or dinner.
To support Steve, 10 BNI Chapters recorded a personalized video of the song by the Proclaimers ?500 miles? and posted on social media. Fantastic promotion for BNI!
BNI Photographers met Steve along the route so that he had professional photos that could be used on social media.?
Executive Directors in Inverness, Glasgow, Carlisle, Shropshire, Avonmouth, Cornwall, Devon ? from one end of the country to the other, drove alongside Steve, rallied the chapters, and ensured he was looked after at-all-times.
Throughout this trek, Steve and all members involved in his journey, demonstrated each of BNI?s Core Values, from Givers Gain to Building Relationships. Not to mention, the entire journey was in support of charitable initiatives.??
Steve even advised ED?s on how they can position charities successfully in chapters. Which is vital because charitable participation is a 2-way-street. Charities are very well connected, have a massive support base, and can be a great stepping stone and conduit between Business and Communities.? ??
Causes such as Steve?s set the benchmark on just how advantageous and powerful it is to have a strong support network. BNI UK rose to the challenge and should be commended for showing how positive an impact BNI can have across not just a country, but the entire organization.
There is no question about it, philanthropy helps build stronger relationships with customers. Consumers today want to give their business to companies that work toward something more than the bottom line, and try to make the world a better place. Furthermore, the younger the consumer, the stronger the conviction. A 2016 study by online survey and market research company Morning Consult revealed that two-thirds of Millennials think it matters if a company gives back to its community. That is compared to less than half of Gen X’ers and Baby Boomers.
Furthermore, business philanthropy promotes employee engagement. Another study of 357,000 people early this year – this one by consulting firm Great Places to Work and published by Fortune magazine – found that employees who experience a positive charitable experience through their work are more likely to view their teams as willing to give extra effort at work, more likely to develop as brand ambassadors and want to stay at their companies longer. The boost to morale is unequaled.
So what are you waiting for? The BNI Foundation affords BNI members and directors an excellent opportunity to mobilize their employees to do good in their own communities. Helping schools, educational organizations and the students that attend them will unite your team in a common purpose and foster chapter and company loyalty. It is easy to get started. Everything you need is in the Business Voices toolkit. Learn how to start a team, pick an organization and begin helping them through supply drives, career fairs, mentoring and more. The toolkit also includes plenty of charitable project ideas.
There is no better time to start making a difference in your community! Back to school time is right around the corner and the Business Voices toolkit includes ideas to organize back to school supply drives. Get your Business Voices team started now and organize a supply drive before the start of school
Philanthropy is good for the world and your business. For more information on the BNI Foundation and the Business Voices initiative, please visit http://bnifoundation.org.
How do you create an organizational culture in a company? I’ve been asked this question a lot over the years. I’ve written about organizational culture but I’ve never written about how you “create” organizational culture. That’s what this piece is about – creating culture. In this piece, I’m going to give you my perspective based on my personal experience and observation. Although these aren’t your experiences – I recommend you consider them and take from this perspective those things that resonate with you and will help you create your own organizational culture. If you are not the “boss,” consider how these themes may apply in your department of the company. The concepts can apply on a micro level as well as a macro level.
In all my reading about organizational culture, I’ve never seen it explained the way I experienced the process. I believe that organizational culture is created through three primary phases: Organizational “traditions” lead to organizational “core values” which lead to organizational “culture.”
The traditions of a company (or department) are where things begin. Although you can have healthy traditions or unhealthy traditions, I’m going to refer to the healthy traditions of an organization. Traditions tell us who we are as a tribe. They tell us what is important to us and how we implement them within the organization. For me, in the establishment of BNI, those traditions included things like a focus on relationship building, education, accountability, recognition, and of course – Givers Gain® (to name a few). Each of these items (and more) were the traditions that were inculcated throughout the program in the beginning. By making them such an important part of the company – they ended up becoming some of our organizational core values.
Core Values of an organization are the fundamental beliefs and guiding principles that dictate behavior and help people better understand expectations within the organizational context. For BNI, those core values included the five items above (education being changed to life-long learning) as well as positive attitude and traditions + innovation. Yes, I included traditions in our core values as I realized that traditions are critical to the ongoing success of an organization because they anchor us in the things that create great experiences. At the same time, I understood that innovation was key. Traditions tell you where you come from and innovation tells you where you want to go. I felt both were important for the success of the company.
Traditions lead to core values and core values lead to an organizational culture. Consequently, the core values that are acted upon within an organization (or local unit… in BNI, a chapter), directly impact and create the culture.
To me, the creation of culture is pretty straight forward. Understand the healthy traditions of an organization. Then practice and implement the organizational core values like a zealot. Be a fanatic about sharing them, discussing them, implementing them and writing about them. When you do these first two things well, you create an amazing culture.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. If you are part of an organization with a great strategy and a marginal culture, you’ll struggle. If you are part of an organization with a marginal strategy but a great culture, you can do well. However, if you are part of an organization with a great strategy and a great culture you will be an industry leader. Culture is the secret sauce for organizational success.
If you want that kind of success for your organization pull out the material that talks about your organizational core values (if you don’t have them, think about your traditions and start to establish core values from them) and put them into practice as though your business depended on it (and by the way – it does).
Whether you are an independent business owner, or work for a larger global firm, being a leader can be challenging. And while leadership does come naturally to some, others may have to work on it. The following easy-to-implement tips can help you become a more effective, and respected leader:
Lead by example: Even when no one is watching – act like everyone is watching.
Communicate early and often: Your employees are your most important stakeholders. Be as transparent and clear as possible. Share your vision and lessons you’ve learned. Celebrate successes. And remember, communication is a two-way process. Seek feedback and encourage conversation whenever you can.
Choose your team carefully: Invest in people who have varying skillsets. Recognize and utilize each of their strengths. The team of people you surround yourself with will be the ones who determine your success.
Encourage productivity: Start meetings on time. State your goals, and stick to an agenda, when possible. Encourage everyone to contribute – not only the ‘loud’ voices in the room. Trust your team to be productive, and work hard, throughout the day.
Have fun: While business is certainly serious, the best leaders know how to build excitement and have fun with their teams. Creating a positive and fun culture is important!
While there are several leadership styles, one of the most important qualities of a good leader is to lead by example. Work hard. Make smart choices. Hold yourself accountable. Be humble, and approachable. Show compassion. These are traits that employees and peers will admire.
I travel often, speaking to business professionals about networking. When traveling, especially internationally, I try very hard not to forget important items I need for meetings or speaking to groups of people . . . but I admit it’s hard to remember everything.
An international magazine interviewed me recently on this topic. The reporter asked me, “What should business people think about taking with them on business trips that they might not normally think about?” This list would benefit anyone, so I’m sharing it here.
First, a few somewhat obvious things that can certainly come in handy:
1. Plenty of business cards. It is never a good idea to run out of business cards while traveling. Tuck extras in your suit pockets, wallet/purse, briefcase and luggage.
2. A name badge. If you do any networking while traveling on business, have your own professional name badge. Don’t rely on the hosting organization to do your name badge.
3. Extra pens. Make sure you have a pen with you. I always find that I need to write some reminders down while I’m talking to people. It’s troublesome to track down a pen while you are busy networking.
Somewhat less obvious things:
1. The contact information (or business cards) of all your referral partners. I sometimes find that having that information at my fingertips allows me to give referrals to people while I’m out networking.
2. Hand sanitizer. I know this may sound a little bit like “Mr. Monk,” the germaphobe title character of a television series. However, since I’ve started using hand sanitizer after shaking many, many hands, I’ve gotten far less colds than I used to get. Just be tactful about the way you use it. Don’t desperately and obviously spray your hands every time you shake someone’s hand.
3. Breath mints. As obvious as it may sound, I can assure you from experience that many people have no idea they need them.
4. A memory stick. Many times I have either needed to get a copy of something or give a copy of a file to someone. Having a memory stick handy has been very helpful on several occasions.
5. Tools for your business. For me, that includes many copies of my bio for introductions whenever I speak. Despite that my team sends the bio in advance, there are many times when I arrive and they don’t have it handy. Another tool for me is a PowerPoint remote clicker. This is important because I don’t want to rely on someone else to move the slides forward as a I present. Also, you know that memory stick I mentioned earlier? I have copies of my talks on there just in case it’s needed.
When I asked some colleagues and other business travelers what they would add to the list, they added some that I hadn’t thought of:
1. A phone charger. I agree heartily, especially seeing how much these items cost in an airport, or in another country. And you certainly won’t want to forget your laptop power cord – besides being expensive it’s often impossible to be able to get the right one easily, if at all.
2. Power adapter/converter. Though it’s usually easy to pick up a “universal” adapter at airports or stores in heavily populated areas, in this electronic age you would hate to need one and not be able to find one, so it’s best to have one (or two) packed and ready when you need it!
3. The right clothes. Most of you have experienced differences in temperature or weather from one town to another, so you can imagine how different the conditions could be across the country or around the world. It’s never been easier to plan what clothes to bring, thanks to online weather forecasts for every region of the earth. Of course, there are no guarantees where weather is concerned.
4. A good book. Hear, hear! Those airport layovers, delays and long flights can seem even longer without something interesting to read.
There are certainly more items to include, but the above can certainly make or break an important business trip. So you definitely do not want to forget them.
Our first One-to-One was over lunch. It was there, over 10 years ago, where we both committed to finding each other “Specific Referrals.”
After building trust and passing a few referrals to each other, we became each other’s customers. At the time, BNI Member Amber Payne, worked for a national magazine where their tagline was – “Mint Magazine…..Saving Families Money and Helping Businesses Grow.” I purchased monthly advertisements and she hired my cleaning company for her home, business office and vacation rentals. This rooted our referral partnership deeper.
This certainty about our business relationship has created a bond that far exceeds the 90-minute meeting agenda. Amber shared, “Barbara is not only a friend, but a sister that I could not imagine my life without.” Through many life changes, each of us have found solace in our alliance. Our years together has seen trials and victories. In fact, I was there when she experienced the ultimate joy of accepting her marriage proposal from the man of her dreams…and guess what….he was a member in BNI.
Fast forward to today. Amber is now Vice President of Marketing for Rytech INC, which is a water restoration and mold specialist company. I now work for Griffin Service, a HVAC company as their Marketing and Community Liaison. These industries align so well naturally, yet our alliance continues to advance us through many new doors of opportunities.
One thing that drives us through these “doors of opportunity” is our passion to connect and recruit for others. This has led us to a number of speaking engagements, a home service radio show, called “WSOS, St. Augustine – The Ambie and Barbie Home Show”, and training videos. Even further, and so close to my heart, Amber has helped me personally fundraise over $12, 000 for Act 4 The Nations, an organization I am involved with that helps support women and children both locally and around the world.
Some would say me joining my local BNI Chapter and meeting Amber was a coincidence. But I know it is something far greater than that. It has afforded me a world of blessings and endless possibilities…needless to say, BNI has changed my life (in the most profound, positive way)!
In our quickly evolving world, where rules can differ greatly from industry to industry, and from country to country, staying on top of your industry’s regulations is more important than ever.
As you know, BNI was founded on a set of founding principles, our Core Values, which guide us all within the organization. With our Core Value of Lifelong Learning, we encourage every BNI member to know what regulations in their industry may impact them, and to ensure they’re in compliance with those regulations.
As a global business organization, BNI believes that business leaders everywhere should set high standards of conduct, starting of course with compliance with rules and regulations that may be applicable to their specific industry. In fact, it is written specifically into BNI’s Code of Ethics Statement that any industry’s specific professional standards supersede ours. So, for example, if you’re a lawyer, compliance with your respective Bar Association’s guidelines is imperative. Likewise, if you’re in the residential real estate field in the United States, you should understand and adhere to the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).
From our perspective, knowledge of, and compliance with, applicable regulations is good business practice. It may make sense to spend some time each year reviewing applicable regulations within your industry and reflecting if your current operations are in compliance with those regulations. And while getting expert advice can sometimes entail some cost, over time this can be one of the most important investments you make.
At BNI, our goal is to help make you more successful than you ever thought possible, and to do so using a set of Core Values that are as applicable today as they were when BNI first started 33 years ago. We wish you much success and fulfillment along the way!
We are celebrating our 20th year as a foundation – what a fantastic milestone! In this time, we have donated over three (3) million dollars to our local communities – around the globe – in support of children and the teachers who educate them. But with your help we can do so much more!
We are often asked, where does the money go?
Thanks to the support of BNI’s Headquarters, known as the Global Support Team, we are able to use 100% of all money donated to help in your local communities. Not many foundations can say that!
Grant recipients have used the money in a variety of ways:
One teacher bought Leveled Readers to help advance her students’ reading skills.
Another school purchased College & Career Ready Material to help their students be better prepared after graduation.
One program used the grant to buy and fill backpacks with school supplies for the elementary students in their shelters.
A camp bought science equipment, microscopes and binoculars.
These are just a few of the many examples of how your BNI Foundation donations have helped. Another common question we receive is: what do our Business Voices teams do?
Career Days and Fairs
School Supply Drives
Student Mentoring
Student Recognition
School Projects
Events
This month we’d like to highlight some of the tremendous work that BNI’s Global Support Team in Charlotte, NC has done supporting a local elementary school. This is just to show you how easy getting involved can be!
In September, the team collected school supplies and book bags
In December, they donated pajamas for the students
In February, March and April they collected belts, pants and polo shirts – all part of the students’ uniforms
In May they sponsored a class trip for the 5th grade, who also came by BNI’s office for a talk with CEO Graham Weihmiller about what they each wanted to be when they grew up.
And last but certainly not least, the team sponsored coffee and breakfast for the teachers, to recognize and celebrate a tremendous school year!
Are you interested instarting a Business Voices team?
It’s easy. This infographic outlines the entire process, and our website has everything you need to start a team, including a toolkit with information, resources and project ideas. We look forward to bringing the BNI Foundation to your community.
Drink Great Coffee – Help the BNI Foundation
RX Coffee makes fresh roasted, single origin, small batch specialty coffee. They have generously agreed to donate one dollar of every coffee bag sold to the BNI Foundation. Head over to our website store to order your coffee today! Use promo code “BNI” to receive an automatic 10% discount on all online orders. A big thank you to RX Coffee for their generous contribution!
We have some great news to share: BNI has recently launched in Guatemala. We are thrilled to welcome a handful of excellent Directors, Estuardo Cruz, Mónica Cruz and Julio Lemus, into the BNI family and look forward to supporting a growing number of entrepreneurs and business leaders across Central America.
Over the past few months, we’ve seen tremendous momentum building around the world. As you may know, we’ve also recently welcomed new Directors in Estonia, Morocco, Uganda, Mainland China, Taiwan, China, Sri Lanka and Russia.
New Members seeking business growth, training and professional development opportunities are joining BNI every day in countries around the world. Are you looking to make new connections with business leaders in another region, country or even continent? If so, there are over 235,000 other Members like yourself, who meet weekly to change the trajectory of their business and of their community. That’s inspiring.
As we continue to grow our Membership, and expand in new countries, our goal is to help create more and more opportunities for you – and to make regional and global collaboration easier than ever before.
On January 17, 1994, at 4:31 a.m., Southern California experienced one of the largest earthquakes ever felt in the region – the Northridge Earthquake.
I lived in Southern California at the time and I experienced this earthquake firsthand. It startled me from my sleep like it did millions of others throughout the state. It lasted almost 20 seconds and produced a ground acceleration that was the highest ever recorded in an urban area in North America at that time.
What followed after the primary quake were two huge aftershocks measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale. This was the first earthquake to strike directly under an urban area of the United States since the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake. Damage was wide-spread: sections of major freeways collapsed, parking structures and office buildings collapsed, and numerous apartment buildings suffered irreparable damage.
One day later, on January 18, I showed up for a BNI meeting very near Northridge, only to discover that the restaurant the chapter was meeting at had been condemned the night before because of severe earthquake damage.
I got there early. The president was there. We assumed that very few other people would show up; however, one by one – every single one of the 30 BNI members drove into the lot. Since they couldn’t meet inside, they all stood in a big circle in the parking lot and held their meeting. Except, this meeting was different. The President went around the ad-hoc circle and asked everyone to share how they were doing and what they were grateful for after the big quake.
It was an incredible experience to watch so many people support each other in a way that had nothing to do with business but everything to do with our core values in BNI.
They wrapped up the meeting by sharing their referrals and requests for assistance after the quake. Those more fortunate willingly volunteered to help those who were more greatly affected by the earthquake.
But the most touching part of the meeting was when everyone met in the center of that circle to comfort each other and give each other hugs in the parking lot of that small, condemned coffee shop.
The outpouring of support and love was incredible. I could only watch in awe as I witnessed the true power of the relationships created in BNI. It was Givers Gain in action.
My experience that morning is indelibly etched into my memory, and it will be for the rest of my life. BNI is so much more than referrals, and if I ever doubted this before that day, I have never doubted it since. BNI is about relationships. It’s about being there for one another. It’s about the things that happen when people truly get to know each other and trust each other.
I feel honored to be a part of this organization. Because I believe that BNI is more than a meeting – it’s a way of life.
I stated at the conference the BNI Foundation
is YOUR foundation! We need all of you to get involved. I would like to thank
our donors who helped make this year’s US National Conference the most
successful in our history! We exceeded our goals and had tremendous fun in the
process! This
conference was truly a celebration of 20 Years of giving! There is an overwhelming need to increase our
Business Voices Teams. These teams support local schools through career days,
school supply drives, mentoring, and many other projects. They have a direct
impact on your local children. For more information on how you can help please
contact us at info@bnifoundation.org – David
Kauffman BNI Foundation
BNI Foundation
Surpasses US National Conference Fundraising Goal
The 2018 BNI National
Conference was a huge success for the BNI Foundation. We raised $26,000,
surpassing our $20,000 goal. We also signed up five new Heroes and six new
Super Heroes! Heroes and Super Heroes are supporters who commit to donate $50 a
month and $100 a month respectively.
In an exciting chance
encounter, actor Keifer Sutherland, who was visiting the Red Rock Casino where
the Conference took place, was kind enough to offer his support
for an impromptu fundraiser at the hotel lounge. Before the night was
over, Mr. Sutherland had helped us raise $1,000.
A big thank you to
everyone who contributed. With your help the BNI Foundation will do more to
help students and teachers this year than ever before.
Summer Givers Gain
Grant Cycle is Here
The Givers Gain Grants,
educational grants awarded by the BNI Foundation twice yearly, are designed to
help educators fund special projects. This summer we will award five $1,000
grants. This grant cycle will begin on June 1. Schools and educational
organizations can find more information and a link to the application here.
The funds raised during
this year’s BNI National Conference have allowed us to double the number of
grants awarded this year to twenty. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters,
additional grant cycle will be announced.
Beth Misner Recognized
by Austin Child Guidance Center
BNI Foundation
co-founder Beth Misner has been selected as a finalist for the prestigious
Community Activist Phyllis Richards Austin Icon for Children Award. The award
is presented each year by the Austin Child Guidance Center to recognize
outstanding contributions to positive change for children by exemplifying
excellence through community engagement. Mrs. Misner is a finalist in the
Community Activist category, awarded to an individual who demonstrates
excellence in improving outcomes for children.
Established in 1951,
the Austin Child Guidance Center works to improve the
mental health of children and their families by providing early intervention,
diagnosis and treatment. Congratulations to Mrs. Misner and all the finalists
for this recognition of their work with children.
