The Snyder Family: Pursuing Passions Together
After meeting on a blind date in 1981, Lee and Carol Snyder never saw a business sale in their future. That all changed when Lee was fired from his job at 32 years old and started his own venture in the construction materials industry.
While Lee was working as cofounder of VaproShield, he and Carol developed a passion for supporting villages in Honduras with clean water. Lee and Carol also never forgot about their roots with Young Life as students, finding the Lord and serving through youth camps. When they gave a portion of their closely held business to a donor advised fund at ϳԹ this last year, they were able to make a major impact into the nonprofits they love. Through the sale of their business, Lee and Carol became early investors in a fund that would grow millions for youth camps so more kids could hear the Gospel. Lee claims his finding of ϳԹ at the exit of his business was a divine intervention that has led to minimized taxes, increased giving power, and a community of believers growing in gratitude through generosity.
Read The Snyder Story Transcript ⬇️
Lee: You gave how much to a race car?
Carol: He informed me that he had gave a halfa million dollars as seed money for themto get a race car for Young Life, and Ikind of thought, man, that could have provided a lot of wells in Honduras.
Lee: I was fired. Carol and the kids were two and four at that time you go, manthis is tough. But you look at it, that’sthe best thing that ever happened to me, is that the Lord put us in that situation.
And eventually we created this business seeing a need for permeable, breathable membranes for buildings. This is my partner, Phil Johnson, and he and I createdVaproShieldin 2001. And we saw a niche that we could exploit competing withbillion-dollarcompanies. So it was, itwas two cowboys that had an idea. Carol and I were overwhelmed about how much wealth we were creating or being given through the process of this business and wanted to give it away.
Carol: By putting money from the sale of the business into a DAF. We saved money that wedidn’t have topay taxes on, and it increased the amount thatwe could give away.
Lee: Through the sale of the business and the fact that we could go through a DAF in the process, save a significant amount of taxes, give through our process of a Christian organization that has a bigger vision and sometimes than we do.
Carol: Idon’tthink God puts a cap on how muchyou’regoing to give. He puts it on your heart, and when he puts something on your heart, you give andyou’llnever come up short.
We had a remarkable experience we were able to provide money for a well in Honduras, andsowe traveled to the village and met the people who, werebenefitingfrom having clean water and not having to travel, you know, an hour and a half, twice a day to get water. And meeting the community and seeing how their lives had changed wasoverwhelming.
Lee: I met the Lord through Young Life in high school, and then I was on work crew up at Camp Malibu in British Columbia. Well, Steve and Signatry call me “Hey wehave this idea about a race car. How would you like to give some money in this race car?” And they put it out there, and it wasa big chunkof change.
And I prayed about it, and I thought about it, and it was like the Lord putting out the lambswool. Right. And, I said,yeah,let’sdo it.
Carol: When Lee got back from meeting with the Joe Gibbs Racing team, along with Signatry for them to get a race car for Young Life. And my heart has always been with Honduras and water, and I am thinking that would be a lot of wells that could be provided for people who are having to go to the river and carry water back three times a day.
But since then, Young Life has raised $80 million. So, I kind of get that, okay, souls might be saved for Christ through a race car.
Lee: With the ability to grow this fund for millions and millions and millions of dollars. It willself-fundcamps sokids can have the ability to go to camp if, if, in fact, theycan’tafford it.
Carol: So,I think God always knows the big picture. And sometimes we get a little glimpse of it. And I got to see the big picture of how thatimpactedYoung Life’s donations overall.
Lee: It’sbeen a joyous thing andit’sbeen a miracle. I look at ϳԹ as an organization that justreally,it’s almost divine intervention that we became part of this organization.
Carol: Just doing the work that Christ would do if he was here, hewould take care of people. We’recalled to take care of people, especially going to Honduras in athird worldcountry. I was so afraid that I’mjust going to see all this need. But what I discovered is that what we gave was like giving a loaf or a fish in a basket, and by other people contributing to that ourmoney went a lot further.
Lee: In your prayer process if you come to the Lord every morning with gratitude, thankHim for everything you got… It does change your life. That mindset and Signatry is… The people in that whole organization exudegratitude. I mean, and they give you opportunities, creategratitude and giving.
Carol: You know,we’vealways had a passion to give and love to give, but now that we from Lee selling his business,it’s goingto be really fun to give it away.
Lee: Wedon’tneed more money in our pocket and when everybody has that same feeling or joy of generosity, I thinkit’s I thinkit’sthe Holy Spirit andhe’stalking to us. He’s bringingus together. We have a common goal and we all love Jesus.
Carol: I thinkit’skind of apeek into heaven.
Lee: It is. Very well said, you know.
Carol: We start getting the community down here andwe’rejust goingto continue.
Dive Deeper: More Snyder Lessons:
The Power of Nonliquid Assets and Maximizing Generosity
Lee Snyder explains how donating a portion of his closely held business into a donor advised fund before the sale of the company led to maximized generosity.
Lee Snyder Appeals for Entrepreneurs to Start Alternative Investing
Lee explains what alternative investing is and how he has used his donor advised fund at ϳԹ to participate in alternatives that insulate and diversify his charitable investing beyond the public markets.
A Tool for Every Family: How the Snyders Use a DAF
The Snyder family uses a donor advised fund (DAF) at ϳԹ to align their values with an organization who they say “sees the world not through man’s but through God’s eyes.”
Incorporating Family Generosity with Intentional Impact: Cause Champion Stories
Want to see a story of how families at ϳԹ are using these generosity strategies in conjunction with solving a specific problem in a cause area dear to their heart? Check out our cause champion series for a lesson on becoming a cause champion.
Explore Cause Champion Families at ϳԹ