Company Lays Out Steps to Inspire Philanthropy

The Ultimate Gift Experience — a new financial-planning company in Hingham, Mass. — plans to promote philanthropy using the approaches laid out in Jim Stovall’s novel, The Ultimate Gift. The company describes its process in the following steps:

1. Understand. It advises people to read The Ultimate Gift — “it

takes just an hour or two” — as the best way to “gain a clear picture of the impact of Jim Stovall’s powerful message.”

2. Reflect. The theme of the book, the company says, “inspires and motivates individuals to reflect on their own lives, and the many people, events, experiences, and lessons that have shaped it. The experience is very similar to opening a family heirloom chest filled with photos, letters and souvenirs, and memories.”

3. Interact. Financial advisers who sign up with the company are given tools, such as a DVD featuring Jim Stovall and a deck of cards that carry questions and instructions, to help guide their clients “through their journey of discovery.”

4. Discover. After clients have responded to the questions on the cards, financial advisers can “review what they have discovered” and then “begin to synergize their unique life experiences into a storyboard of their life.”

5. Capture. Financial advisers can help clients “organize and prioritize the cards and the notes they’ve made” by meeting with them and helping them “discern which experiences capture their greatest life lessons.” The company suggests that advisers “record the meeting and provide clients with an audio CD and full transcription.”

6. Document. Using the company’s materials, advisers can put together a personalized book that tells a client’s story — “The Johnson Family’s Ultimate Gift,” for example.

7. Share. Clients should then share the “gifts” outlined in their book “with those they cherish most.” The company encourages people to be creative in their approaches: “This phase of the experience can take on any form imaginable.”

8. Bring it to life. The company tells advisers to find ways to make the experience real and lasting. “One feasible option is to capture the story in front of the camera at our film studio in Charlotte, N.C.,” it advises. “Once your clients have captured their gifts, they may be surprised at the momentum and energy they feel around sharing them.”