Message from Jay Francis, LHM Philanthropies EVP, Corporate Affairs & Miller Family Philanthropy
Building Communities and
Relationships Through Giving Back
I
n July of 2008, I was visiting with Larry
Miller at his hospital bed. He said to me,
“Jay, let me share something with you that
I shared with the family last night.” That is
when I heard for the first time the slogan he
coined, “Go about doing good until there’s
too much good in the world.”
He then said, “Jay, I need your help to
make sure the company and family rally
around this as our theme.” I said, “Okay,” not
exactly sure how I could help. Little did I
know then, that five years later I would be
asked to oversee all the philanthropy for the
company and the Miller family.
I was familiar with Larry H. Miller
Charities, which Larry started in 1995 so
we could have a focused and unified giving
effort in the company. But I have learned so
much more about giving and how important
it is for us as individuals, as employees, and
as business entities to give back. Let me
share a few things I have learned: 3. Relationships are important, and the
right relationships will make your donations
and giving go further. Many times, good
relationships help you make the right
decisions, and joining together is where
1+1=3. It really works!
1. Giving back and sharing needs to be part
of a company’s business plan, not because
of the return or what we get out of it, but
because it is the right thing to do. As employees of the Larry H. Miller Group,
we all have opportunities to give back. We
can do it in daily service, we can participate
in the Give Us 5 program with Larry H.
Miller Charities, and as individuals and
families, we can serve in our community.
When we do give back, everyone wins.
When someone benefits from our donation
or service, we are better people, and the
community is a better place. ◆
2. Philanthropy is hard work. It’s easy to
give away money, but to do it the right way
is difficult—meetings, visits, interviews, and
then presentations. Philanthropy is more
than just giving a check; it’s about learning
where the needs are and learning how you
can help, and then when possible, making
a contribution to assist the work move
forward.
4. Partnerships also matter. In the early
years at the Utah Jazz, I learned that good
partnerships with radio and TV stations
could help me sell a lot of tickets, and that
having a partnership with season ticket
holders could create more community
ownership than me trying to do it alone.
The same is true with philanthropy. To do
something right, there are times when you
need to bring others to the table and make
more from less.
5. A planned, coordinated effort of all
entities will help more people with the same
amount of money.
“Philanthropy is
more than just giving
a check; it’s about
learning where the
needs are and learning
how you can help.”
Jay Francis
Miller Family Message
LHM CHARITIES
TOUCHING HEARTS, CHANGING LIVES
RELATED ARTICLES
IN THIS ISSUE
Give Us 5
Most employees are familiar with the Give Us 5 program, which allows employees to donate
a small (or large) amount from their paycheck that is then matched by Gail Miller and
used for donations in the community the donor works in. Give Us 5 began in 1995 and has
expanded since then, with committees consisting of employees in various regions helping
to designate where funds are donated. Those check photos seen in every issue of Winning
Spirit Magazine are all donations made using Give Us 5 money, revealing just how much
giving we are all engaged in on an ongoing basis.
To get involved in Give Us 5, please contact your HR or People and Culture representative.
You can donate as much or as little as you want (or nothing at all). The amount it up to you.
“It is our hope
that you can
feel the reward
of knowing you
make a difference
in someone’s life
every day.”
Gail Miller
Our Business Is a Means to an End
LARRY H. MILLE R GRoup oF CoM pAnIE s
oFFICIAL s T Y LE GuIDE Fo R:
Page 4 A World of Giving
Page 6
Miller
Giving Back Is a Lifelong Endeavor for the Miller Family and the Company
Family Message
Page 10 Your “Give Us 5” Dollars at Work
W
e all know that the Larry H. Miller Group
of Companies and the Miller family engage
in an extensive amount of charity work.
That includes the many LHM employees who
donate to the Give Us 5 program with a small
portion of their paychecks. From big donations
to scholarships to arranging the annual Day of
Service, there’s probably some form of charity
work going on within the company at any given
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LHM Winning Spirit July/August 2019
time. And yet, some people may find it hard to
understand how all of that giving fits together and
how entities like Larry H. Miller Charities, the
Larry and Gail Miller Family Foundation, and
more all relate to each other.
LHM Philanthropies is a term used by the
media and within the Group from time to time,
and some people often confuse it with LHM
Charities. In reality, no official entity within the
Larry H. Miller Group of Companies is named
LHM Philanthropies.
A few job titles within the Miller Family
Office use the name, but in general, LHM
Philanthropies is a catch-all term people use
when talking about all LHM-Group related
giving.
Understanding the scope and nature of the
Group’s charitable efforts is much easier when
Larry H. Miller Charities
Founded in 1995, Larry H. Miller Charities is the
primary force for charitable giving within the Group.
Its primary focus is toward groups that provide
health and education resources for women and
children. The majority of donations made to charity
groups are made through LHM Charities. Employee
donations make up a big part of the money used by
LHM Charities through the Give Us 5 program.
However, funds are also raised from big events like
the annual LHM Dealerships Golf Classic and An
Evening With the Utah Jazz (formerly known as
Leapin’ Leaners and Low Tops). Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation
Although the Miller family does contribute to
funds used by LHM Charities, they also engage
in their own charitable giving to a number of
good causes independent of LHM Charities.
The Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation
was created in 2007 as a way for the Miller family
to continue their legacy of giving and include
future generations of the family. Unlike the
directive of LHM charities, the Family Foundation
donates to religious, charitable, scientific, literary,
and educational purposes.
Other Charitable Efforts
There are other donations and smaller programs
that do not fit within any of the larger entities.
An example is Driven 2 Teach, which provides
history teachers with a trip to see important
historic sites within the United States. This
and other independent efforts usually involve
donations from Gail Miller or the Miller family.
For example, Gail Miller recently announced a matching donation of $10 million to help fund
several homeless shelters in Salt Lake City. This
donation reflects something close to Gail’s heart
and is a donation made with her own funds.
For many employees, it is hugely gratifying
to be a part of so much giving and to see that by
doing our jobs, we make it possible for the Group
to do so much good. It might be surprising to
see how much charity work is going on, but the
Larry H. Miller Education Foundation
Supporting higher education was always important
to Larry and Gail Miller. In 1996, they created the
Larry H. Miller Education Foundation to provide
scholarships to children of their employees.
Additional scholarships, like the University of Utah
Diversity Scholarship, would later become part of the
program. Unlike many of the other charitable efforts
listed here, funds for the Education Foundation come
entirely from Gail Miller.
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T
fact that it happens shouldn’t be a surprise at all.
The Group’s mission to enrich the lives of those
around us has been a part of our culture since the
very beginning. ◆
LHMWSM.com
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he Miller Family believes in
giving back. This is a basic
fundamental belief that for
us almost feels like a requirement
of our lives. As parents, Larry
and I always taught our children,
“Where much is given, much is
required.” We believe those words
with even more conviction today.
For the first part of our
career, as we were building our
business, there were many ups
and downs in the economy and in
the challenges of managing and
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growing a strong company. For
us, it meant putting every spare
dollar back into the business
to make sure we had enough
working capital to be financially
stable. I took care of the home
finances, and Larry took care
of the business finances. Each
paycheck, he would ask me
how much money I needed for
the current month’s bills. After
paying all the bills, what was
left over was given back to him
to use for building the business.
We followed that scenario each
payday for about thirty years.
One day he brought his
paycheck home and said,
“Because we have been so careful
with our money and secured
the business financially all these
years, we can now start to do
some philanthropic things on a
much bigger scale.” In 2007, we
created the Larry H. and Gail
Miller Family Foundation. It
was an exciting time in our lives.
One of the reasons we had grown
from a small “one dealership”
enterprise to a collection of many
businesses was to create quality
jobs for our employees. Now,
by establishing this foundation,
we were creating another way to
enrich lives by “giving back.”
“With your help,
our philanthropy
will be a lifelong
and very rewarding
endeavor.”
Gail Miller
According to Merriam
Webster, “a philanthropist
is someone who donates his
or her time, money, and/or
reputation to charitable causes.
A philanthropist is also someone
who cares for someone else’s
needs instead of their own.”
We started out to create
quality jobs for our employees,
and in return, our employees
created quality opportunities
for us and countless others. It is
because of what you do so well
every day that we are able to
use the resources you create to
help save lives, educate students,
support medical research,
contribute to Boys & Girls Clubs,
help injured veterans rehabilitate,
give the homeless a place to
access resources to change their
lives, support the arts for all to
enjoy, and help many, many other
worthwhile endeavors.
We know there are many more
problems to solve and much more
work to be done. With your help,
our philanthropy will be a lifelong
and very rewarding endeavor.
Being a philanthropist comes
from the heart. It is truly a lifestyle
where it becomes a part of you and
everything you do. It is our hope
that you can feel the reward of
knowing you make a difference in
someone’s life every day.
Thank you for your support,
your strength, and your goodness.
You are changing lives for the
better. ◆
LHM Winning Spirit July/August 2019
LHMWSM.com
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