Becoming a Philanthropist & Non-Profit Board Member with Meera Pillai

As a philanthropist, how can you do more than just "give back" to a charitable cause? How do you make a real impact with your time, skills, passion, and money? Should you become a board member for a non-profit? Let's dive into it.

In this Off the Wall chat, hosts David B. Armstrong and Jessica Gibbs welcome Meera Pillai, a retired IT professional turned philanthropist, to talk about the ways you can make an impact through philanthropy and board membership. Jessica also picks Dave's brain about his own philanthropic endeavors, as he has many of them!

Meera shares her thoughts on what it takes to serve as a member on a non-profit board, the benefits and challenges of board membership, and how to make the most of your philanthropic efforts.

Plus, they discuss other (lower commitment) ways to volunteer your time, skills, and money to make an impact in local non-profits and community foundations.

"All you need is passion. If you have passion and you have an interest in a mission area, that's all you need to serve on a non-profit board, in my opinion." – Meera Pillai

So, which type of philanthropy is right for you? Tune in for ideas from an experienced philanthropist.

Episode Timeline/Key Highlights:

[00:53] Introducing Meera Pillai & the topic of today's episode.

[02:37] Dave's philanthropic background.

[03:11] Meera's & Dave's transitions from philanthropist to board member: Why, when, and how they made the leap.

[08:34] How to choose which charity to support.

[09:41] What are the expectations/roles of a non-profit board member?

[14:08] Signs you should not be a non-profit board member.

[16:58] Surprising benefits and challenges of serving on a board.

[22:01] Important things to understand about your non-profit's culture.

[28:22] Other ways to work with non-profits and get involved in local philanthropy.

[31:35] The key difference between restricted giving and unrestricted giving.

[38:53] What is a community foundation? + Why you should consider supporting one.

Please see important podcast disclosure information at https://monumentwealthmanagement.com/disclosures.

Resources Mentioned:

Giving USA 2023: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the year 2022: https://givingusa.org/

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About Meera Pillai:

Meera is a retired IT professional turned philanthropist. After an 11-year career at Booz Allen Hamilton, she left industry to focus on raising her children and shift her life purpose towards philanthropy and impact. Now with grown children, she is fully focused on local philanthropy supporting the Northern Virginia area through Board membership and outreach.

She currently serves as Board Chair of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of DC whose mission is to ease the hardship of childhood illness on families. She has also served as Chair of their annual fundraising 5K event. During her tenure, she has raised on average $15k annually for the organization.

Meera also serves on the Board of the Community Foundation of Northern Virginia, whose mission is to advance equity through support of local philanthropy and community leadership and outreach. She currently serves on the Nominating Committee and Gala Committee. Meera served as Emcee of the 2022 "Raise the Region" Gala, which raised nearly $650,000 for the organization. She recently helped launch the Scholarship Fund for Northern Virginia, dedicated to supporting local students pursue higher education at a Virginia public college.

Most recently, Meera joined the Board of Educate Fairfax, the charitable foundation supporting Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), whose mission is to engage the community to invest in educational excellence and prepare FCPS students for the future. Meera currently serves as the Lead of the Community Engagement Committee.

Meera was with Booz Allen Hamilton in Mclean, VA for 11 years, serving in roles of IT Project Manager and Business Analyst to develop web-based applications for internal company operations. For 2 years prior to that she worked at OneSoft Corporation in Mclean in the roles of IT Project Manager and Business Analyst to develop e-commerce websites for clients such as WeightWatchers.com.

Meera earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia and her MBA at George Mason University. She lives in Fairfax, VA with her husband, two sons, and one dog.

Connect with Meera Pillai on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meerapillai

Contact directly: [email protected]

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