Offering the gift of your talents

Tom Monaghan encourages Legates to use their business talents for the Church . . .

Thomas Monaghan

From my experience and conversations with other Legatus members around the country, most of us are regularly approached (i.e., solicited) to contribute financially to many causes. I assume that most members are generous — especially toward Catholic and pro-life causes.

As good and important as it is to support such causes with your financial resources, have you ever thought that something even more valuable than your money might be your talents? Why not put all of that training and those many years of management experience to good use by serving Catholic and pro-life causes?

This might mean joining the board of a local or national organization — or perhaps volunteering to serve as the board chair and really getting involved by helping to cast a long-term vision and using your corporate experience to serve the organization. It also might mean helping the leadership (president/executive director) by becoming a sort of mentor or sounding board for them. Simply by virtue of meeting with them regularly and encouraging them, you may be an invaluable resource.

You might have a particular gift for marketing, fundraising or you name it. In addition — and maybe most importantly — Legates are CEOs, so you know how to help access needs, create action plans, and get things done. These are greatly needed talents and not to be taken for granted.

Some of the big questions are: What should I do? How do I choose an organization that might need my talents? How do I identify what their needs are? Start by asking your chapter’s chaplain if he knows of a need for your talents; you could also speak with your bishop or your parish pastor. And once you get involved, your business instincts will kick in. Most importantly, pray for God’s will as to how He wants to use the talents He gave you; He will always answer that prayer.

This is one of the things that I thought would come out of Legatus when I founded it. And certainly many Legates are already making things happen!

THOMAS MONAGHAN is Legatus’ founder and chairman. He is a member of Legatus’ Naples Chapter.