A Priceless Day

Let me ask you a question: if a person told you he would give you any amount of money you want-how much would you ask for?

But-hold on. If that person also said there’s a catch: he’ll give you however much money you ask for, but you will only live 24 hours once you get the money.

Would you agree? How much would you ask for?

Well… most people would probably turn down that deal without too much hesitation (maybe a little). Therefore, aren’t they saying the next 24 hours of their life are priceless?

And if the next 24 hours of their life are priceless, what about the last 24 hours of their life?

Was that time priceless too?

More importantly, did they live the last 24 hours of their life as if it was priceless?

I bring up this conundrum because I recently experienced what was, for me, a priceless day.

We sponsored a program at our office for nonprofit clients and potential clients. One speaker was a black woman in her mid-70s. In a conversation during a break, I half-jokingly asked her if she would ski during her visit with us. She laughed and said no. In fact, she was an LA girl-and this was her first visit to the mountains.

But she let it slip that skiing was on her bucket list.

That’s all I had to hear.

The next day, me and a buddy took her to the slopes. Got her set up with her equipment and had her take a lesson. We then spent the day skiing with her.

Of course, we didn’t go too far up the slopes. It was not a challenging day for me (I’ve skied my whole life and am a black diamond skier).

Nevertheless, to see the absolute joy this woman experienced in checking off an item on her bucket list was… priceless for me.

I still look back at that day, and I would not change a thing about it.

I get a similar sense of joy and achievement when we can help our nonprofit clients refinance their debt and/or successfully enroll in our donor loan program. Their happiness in freeing up capital or getting new capital to expand their engagement in the community is contagious.

I am as excited for them as they are for themselves that they are going to carry on their mission.

Todd Tarbert is the Founder and CEO of Semble in Bellevue, WA. Todd, in his former life, was a practicing attorney who spent much of his time raising funds for startups (he helped Jeff Bezos raise money for Amazon before it went public). Semble arranges low-cost loans for nonprofits, including churches, private schools, animal shelters and youth-focused groups. Semble has developed a loan platform that lets nonprofits generate funds for expansion and improvement while giving investors the opportunity to invest in nonprofits via interest-paying loans.

If interested, you can call Todd at 206 412 3092. You can also email him or get on his calendar.