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I 25
was a super decision because the leaders have
taken Make-A-Wish Foundation to one of
the top children’s charities in the world.
Ballou: You may say you were a dictator. I
would say you were committed to the vision
and the principles behind that, and you were
not yielding on those principles. That is a
strong leadership position, to be grounded
in principles that are so important. Because
you did that, that vision is still in place today.
That is astounding. Were there times along
the way when you wanted to give up?
Shankwitz: Yes, of course. I can’t tell you how
many times. I was working full-time as a
police officer, and because of the money we
needed initially - fortunately police officers
can get a lot of off-duty work in security
and as bodyguards - I took all of the jobs
that I could, to put my personal money into
the foundation. I was working 70-80 hours
a week, and I would say, “I can’t do this
anymore.” One of our board members would
say, “Frank, we have just identified another
child. We need to give this wish to them.”
That would give me the energy to keep it
going.
Ballou: You payed attention. You demon-
strated that you were alert. You surrounded
yourself with competent people, maybe even
people who are better than you, so this thing
went where you wanted it to go.
Shankwitz: Definitely. We hired the experts,
people who knew the nonprofit industry,
people who had the training and the
background, and they also had multiple
contacts. That is something we look for
in establishing not only our
following presidents and CEOs,
but also our board members:
that Rolodex they could contact.
Ballou: That is a key point:
surround yourself with
competent people who have the
contacts. Be very clear on what
your ask is. You have generated
the profit for this nonprofit, the
profit that runs this motorcycle
which is the engine that provides
for these children.This has been
a very inspiring story.
Do you have a parting thought for people
who have an idea, who have downloaded a
vision from somewhere, who have been given
a calling to do something? Is there a tip or a
challenge or an ending wish that you would
give these people who have an idea?
Shankwitz: Never give up on it. Stick with
what you want. Keep researching. Don’t give
up. I don’t know how many people have a
dream, but just don’t follow through. Follow
through takes time.There is no such thing as
failure.
There are 1.2 million nonprofits in the
United States, and I encourage anybody
who wants to get involved in a nonprofit to
research are
the watchdog for all nonprofits.They will tell
you where the money is actually going, to the
mission or some CEO’s pocket.
Anybody can be a hero. Being a hero
means you can somehow give back to the
community. It doesn’t have to be in dollars.
It can be in time or any kind of donations or
just in support. Everyone can be a hero.
Frank Shankwitz was a co-founder of the Make-A-
Wish Foundation in 1980. A wish is now being granted
somewhere in the world on average every 38 minutes.
Frank continues to work with Make-A-Wish as a Wish
Ambassador and keynote speaker at fundraising events
for chapters throughout the United States. Frank is the
recipient of multiple awards, has been featured in many
publications, and is the co-author of two books.