John and Nancy Lindahl

Imagine being asked to spearhead a brand-new effort to recruit some of the area’s most influential community leaders and philanthropists in becoming part of a new giving society at United Way? For John and Nancy Lindahl, 2005 Tocqueville Society Co-chairs, the answer was easy—yes!

"My mother was a block volunteer for the Community Chest," said Nancy. "I remember going out with her. That’s my first memory of United Way." Nancy has been actively involved with United Way Success By 6™ and is a founding member of United Way Women’s Leadership Council.

Over the years, the Lindahls have served the greater community as board members and key contributors on behalf of the arts, education and social services. They also co-chaired the stadium effort for the University of Minnesota in 2005.

"I think we are at a crucial point in this community," said Nancy. "The needs are greater and the funding streams have been reduced. Tocqueville Society is an opportunity to get involved now to sustain the strong history of giving to this community."

"It’s really an opportunity to bring significant contributors together, to recognize them and gain insight in terms of how we can incrementally increase giving within Tocqueville, but more important, to add additional donors at the $10,000 level," said John.

John, managing general partner of Norwest Equity Partners, and Nancy, an active volunteer who has also worked as a teacher, television producer and community affairs director for KARE 11 television, traditionally contributed to United Way through payroll deduction. "We always felt it was our responsibility to contribute to the community," said Nancy. "Philanthropy isn’t necessarily a part of all corporate cultures today and that’s one reason why we got involved with the society."

As Tocqueville co-chairs, John and Nancy learned a lot about the community and themselves. Until 2005 (the year of their society tenure), the Lindahls had never served together on any committees during their 37-year marriage. John says it’s a case of his for-profit world meeting her nonprofit world. "I’m the heart and soul, while John’s the financial piece," is how Nancy put it.

"This is a wonderful community to be a part of, and I want that quality to continue," said Nancy.  John agreed. "This community has been extremely good to us," he said. "We’re very blessed, and we want to give back our time and our capital."