The Finish Line Podcast Al Mueller, Founder and President of Excellence in Giving, on Generosity with Discernment (Ep. 77)
Al Mueller is the founder and President of Excellence in Giving, a transformative organization dedicated to guiding High Net Worth families in making impactful philanthropic decisions. Al shares his inspiring journey from a successful Wall Street career to his current impactful role as a philanthropic consultant.
Al’s faith played a pivotal role in shaping his life’s purpose and mission. Through prayer and reflection, he crafted his mission statement: to motivate Christians to give significantly and sacrificially with maximum efficiency to Kingdom activities.
This statement led him to take a leap of faith and establish Excellence in Giving, a transformative consulting organization that now serves over 40 High Net Worth families, guiding them in strategic giving decisions ranging from $1 million to $25 million annually to various causes both domestically and internationally.
Al also helped launch the Kingdom Giving Fund, a pooled grant-making organization that focuses on high impact projects that change the trajectory of well-proven ministries. Throughout his interview, Al emphasizes the importance of stewardship, a deeper approach to generosity, where discernment and wise decision-making play a crucial role in making a meaningful impact.
Major topics covered include:
- Al’s journey from Wall Street to philanthropy
- The need to go beyond simple giving and foster a deeper approach to generosity for a lasting impact
- Al’s approach to highly effective giving
- The importance of celebrating wins in generosity
- Excellence in Giving’s approach to philanthropy
- The Kingdom Giving Fund model and collaborative giving
- “I felt like the Lord had a kingdom purpose for me that wasn’t helping wealthy people become wealthier.”
- “Faith is definitely important. And the crown ministry allowed us to really rethink that.”
- “Giving away money thoughtfully is a challenge.”
- “If you’re not experiencing the joy of generosity, you’re not doing it, right.”
- “Only the Lord has the capacity to deal with all the problems in the world.”
- “Joy is a big part of what God promises in the world of generosity and stewardship.”
- “Your passions have to be a subset of God’s passions.”
- “There is really no substitute for doing your own homework in the area of giving.”
- “When God breaks your heart, then figure out who’s championing that area and join them.”
- “There should be things in our lives that break our heart.”
- “When you have more money, you will just do more of what you’re already doing now.”
- Excellence in Giving
- The Kingdom Giving Fund
- Crown Ministries
- Halftime by Bob Buford
- Jesus Film Project (see our interview with Executive Director Josh Newell)
- Ben Carson Reading Rooms
- Generous Giving (see our interviews with cofounders Todd Harper and David Wills and CEO, April Chapman)
- Rick Warren
- Compassion International
- The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
- The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group
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