Stan Reiff, Nonprofit Consultant at CapinCrouse, on God’s Provision in the Life of Faith (Ep. 145)

Stan Reiff, CPA and nonprofit consultant at CapinCrouse, has seen the faithfulness of God in difficult circumstances firsthand. Stan was born on the mission field, and in his early twenties, he and his wife felt called to missions like the generations before him. But Stan soon realized that the life of ministry that he was called to would look nothing like the life he had imagined. After many years of traumatic and costly circumstances, Stan was led on a journey that would take him from missionary to teacher to CPA and from Alaska to Atlanta where God would use his missions experience and accounting background to serve many nonprofits.   

At CapinCrouse, Stan helps faith-based nonprofits strengthen their governance, strategy, and operations, and his mission-field experience provides a deep personal understanding of ministry challenges to his consulting work. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer at Crown Financial Ministries and now draws on over 35 years of experience to help organizations thrive with integrity and purpose.   

Stan is also passionate about leading his family in a legacy of generosity, Kingdom work, and entrepreneurship, and he is full of practical wisdom to guide people into doing the same in their own families.  

Major topics include:

• Stan’s remarkable backstory of faith and missions work in Alaska
• Navigating traumatic events and a crisis of faith
• Pivoting into bivocational ministry 
• Becoming CPA through Alaska Game and Fish
• Volunteering as budget coaches and seminar instructors with Crown
• Became chief financial officer at Crown Financial after 20 years volunteering
• Establishing rhythms and protocols for executive sabbaticals 
• Helping CFM transition from radio to sharing principle world wide
• Story of coming to work for CapinCrouse 
• Personal takeaways from leaders in the generosity space
• Their family’s journey to a financial finish line
• Equipping kids and grandkids for generosity 
• Developing family core values
• Their “family legacy experiment”
• What to look for in an organization as a donor

QUOTES TO REMEMBER

• “If I can’t be on the front lines of ministry in a remote setting, then I will be part of the supply chain, and I will do the best I possibly can to help those who can go and are willing to go to have the best administrative support possible.”
• “In many ways, I had to give up my passion to be a full time missionary and that was really difficult spiritually. But I came to understand that God had chosen to give us a child with disabilities, and that became my primary ministry.” 
• “I love that I get to continue to marry my passion for missions, for ministry, along with the accounting experiences that God’s given me, and I get to live the dream in an ongoing fashion.”
• “For me, the real learning came when I understood that God owns it all, not just the ten percent.”
• “Money really isn’t a big deal. You can lose all your money in a day, and you can get it all back in a day.”
• “Money is never the issue, it’s just an indicator of where the heart is.”
• “It’s one thing to have a legacy of faith that’s generations long, but it’s also exciting to be in that first or second generation. It comes back to our first guiding principle, that faith has to be personal and it has to be yours, not some family member’s that’s preceded you.”
• “Kingdom expands when you have more followers of Jesus who are committed to following Him in business, ministry or a combination. But it takes all of us working together to make sure the next generation is equally as passionate, committed, and engaged in Kingdom work.”

LINKS FROM THE SHOW

• CapinCrouse
• Injoy Stewardship Solutions
• Crown Financial Ministries
• National Christian Foundation (see our interview with President Emeritus, David Wills)
• Ronald Blue and Co., CPA (see our interview with founder, Ron Blue)
• The Finish Line Community Facebook Group
• The Finish Line Community LinkedIn Group

BIBLE REFERENCES FROM THE SHOW

Philippians 4:12-13 | The Secret of Being Content

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who g