By Floyd Keene, The Triple EEE Foundation

It was bitter cold on December 3, 1997. I was driving to a monastery in Mundelein, Illinois, an unusual place to be driving at any time of the year.

I was headed to a conference sponsored by a new group called the Association of Small Foundations (now Exponent Philanthropy). I was attending the conference for two reasons: the group sounded interesting, and the conference was dirt cheap, a little over $200. Since I was local to the area, I would not have to pay for room and board. That was fortunate, since monasteries are not known for their luxurious accommodations.

I arrived at the conference five minutes early. There were about 25 people in the room, and the conference started right on time. We were about 10 minutes into the conference when a crazy thought hit me: WOW, these people are just like me. They are trying to run a foundation without really knowing how best to do it. My second thought: These people are not about putting on a show. After all, we are meeting in a monastery in Mundelein. Rather, they are about addressing real issues and helping me figure out how to deal with them.

This coming September, Exponent Philanthropy will hold a similar meeting in Chicago. No, not at a monastery, but I have full confidence that the substance of the 2016 National Conference will be the same as in 1997: knowledgeable staff, guests, and peers trying to help me solve my problems. You see, this is what Exponent Philanthropy has been doing for its entire lifetime.

Exponent Philanthropy’s previous National Conference was held in 2014 in Washington, DC, and one story tells it all. I was in the exhibit area and ran across a colleague who I had met through Exponent Philanthropy. She is far younger than I, but I always find her close to brilliant in seeing issues and suggesting solutions. As we talked, I related a current problem facing our foundation: One of our grantees—which does amazingly good work—was having problems with its administration. My colleague suggested we consider a grant earmarked solely to pay for back office help.

My young colleague did not tell me anything I had not already thought of. But hearing it from her helped me focus, and consider doing it in a rather unique way. In the end, we wound up giving the largest single grant we have ever given—and it was for administration. Today, we are absolutely elated with the results.

The above story is Exponent Philanthropy in its essence, an association that provides great resources, great conferences, and, most important, access to great, helpful people—staff and peers alike.

Happy 20th anniversary, Exponent Philanthropy. Thank you for 20 years of helping me run my foundation more wisely, shrewdly, and efficiently than I ever could have done without you.

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Floyd Keene is president and founder of The Triple EEE Foundation in Deerfield, IL. He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin and, before leaving the business world, was a senior executive at Ameritech, a Fortune 500 company. He is a strong advocate of impact investing, and his foundation’s assets are currently 100% impact invested. Follow Floyd on Twitter @EEEFoundation.