A roomful of planned giving advisors, attorneys, bankers, CPAs and nonprofit fund development representatives gathered at the Quail Valley River Club last Tuesday morning to applaud Richard H. Johnson, VNA & Hospice Foundation Gift Planning Counselor, as the recipient of the 2016 Pinnacle Award.
The Pinnacle Award, which Johnson helped to establish nine years ago, is presented by the Indian River Estate Planning Council and the Planned Giving Council of Indian River to recognize excellence in charitable planning, honoring professional advisors for outstanding voluntary service to local nonprofit organizations in promoting charitable giving through estate and gift planning.
In his opening remarks, event chairman David Osgood thanked Fidelity Investments, Gould Cooksey Fennell, P.A., Indian River Community Foundation, Offutt Barton Schlitt, LLC and Vero Insurance, the sponsors who had underwritten the cost of the ninth annual Pinnacle Award Breakfast.
VNA & Hospice Foundation board member Carol Kanarek nominated him for the award and said that Johnson, an attorney by training, had joined the VNA in December 2006. Over the course of his careers in Florida and Massachusetts he has helped raise more than $112 million in charitable gifts, $74 million in the form of planned gifts. Johnson is a founder of the Leave a Legacy program and the Planned Giving Council of Indian River, and serves on that board and that of the Indian River Estate Planning Council.
“But here are a few things that you may not know,” said Kanarek, sharing that Johnson is “a HUGE UConn fan,” loves to sail and snow ski, and was a member of the New Hampshire-based National Ski Patrol in the 1970s. He was also an original cast member of “Up with People” in the 1960s, traveling around America, Canada, Japan and South Korea with a cast of 135 college students from 52 countries. “And one of his traveling mates was the actress Glenn Close.”
Dee Giannotti, portfolio manager at Cypress Trust Company, paid tribute to Johnson for his encouragement of others in the profession, saying he appreciates their fundraising efforts and understands the value of other nonprofit organizations.
“He brings to the table his wealth of knowledge and years of experience so that all may benefit from that. He is selfless and holds nothing back,” said Giannotti. “He has a unique talent for bringing people together to combine energies for the greater good of all. He is an inspiration to all who are fortunate enough to know and to serve alongside of him.”
Congratulating Johnson, she added, “You inspire each of us to a higher level of excellence.”
Attorney John Moore, 2010 Pinnacle Award recipient, said that while Richard Susskind, author of “The Future of the Professions,” opines that professions will one day be replaced by machines, that theory overlooks the necessity of a fundamentally human interface.
“I think that we are going to be called to become more and more trustworthy,” said Moore. “Dick Johnson has already figured this out. He already brings such remarkable humanity and the wonderful positive values to his work that he’s already well ahead of the game.”
Offering thanks on behalf everyone, he said to Johnson, “You’re doing it the right way. You’re inspiring us and showing us the right way to be the people we’re called to be.
“Dick, we do appreciate all you do. We are all truly blessed as professionals here in Vero Beach to have you here and to reap the benefits of your good works,” said 2015 recipient William Kirk, partner at Gould Cooksey Fennell, presenting the 2016 Pinnacle Award to Johnson.
“I appreciate the professional community here and what we do,” said Johnson. “As a charitable fundraiser, I think some of us are the happiest people in the world. I think the reason is we get to work with a lot of very generous, caring people. I’ve been in this field for 37 years as a professional and it’s the best job in life. I’m forever blessed beyond measure.”
