Jeff Rutt Hope International 89 percent Keystone Custom Homes Generosity Giving Finanial Finish Line Podcast
Finish Line Podcast Episode 64

Jeff Rutt, Homebuilder and Founder of HOPE International, on Giving Away 89% of His Business

You may believe everything you own belongs to God, yet still wonder what that conviction should actually change about your business, wealth, and future plans.

What happens when you begin holding ownership more loosely and asking how the assets, skills, and opportunities in your hands can create lasting Kingdom impact?


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Meet your guide

Jeff Rutt, founder and CEO of Keystone Custom Homes and founder of HOPE International, has spent decades learning to connect business ownership, generosity, and global ministry. After building a successful homebuilding company in Pennsylvania, Jeff helped launch HOPE International, a Christian microfinance organization that provides savings services, small loans, discipleship, and business support to families around the world.

Jeff explains how his understanding of stewardship eventually shaped one of his largest financial decisions: transferring 89 percent of Keystone Custom Homes to a charitable trust through the National Christian Foundation. Rather than stepping away from the business, the change clarified its purpose and allowed future growth and profits to support charitable work. He also shares why sustainable development should strengthen dignity and initiative rather than create dependency, and how involving his children in international ministry shaped their worldview.

By the end, you may see ownership less as something to protect and more as something you can hold openly for God to use.

What you’ll gain

  • How to hold business ownership more loosely for God
  • Why generosity should begin before you feel financially comfortable
  • How sustainable aid can restore dignity instead of dependency
  • Why giving away ownership can clarify your business purpose
  • How global exposure can shape generosity in your children
  • Why focusing on your unique gifts can multiply impact

Inspired? Take your next step

Try the Game of Life Simulator

Step into a four-minute interactive experience and see what unfolds as you decide how to manage your resources.

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Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot

Inspired? Learn how to partner with ministries well.

A compelling ministry story can inspire you to respond. But wise partnership often begins with better questions.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Focus

What is the ministry really seeking to restore?

Learn to look beyond visible needs toward people, context, relationships, and flourishing.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Fruitfulness

How do you recognize meaningful impact?

Consider how ministries learn, evaluate their work, and pursue lasting change.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Faithfulness

What does genuine ministry partnership look like?

Explore how to foster trust, alignment, and shared mission in your giving.

In our Intervention Series on the Applied Generosity Podcast, we’ll help you become a more thoughtful, discerning, and faithful partner.

Start the Series

Quotes to Remember

  • “Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we want them to be answered but it’s truly the best for us, best for Him and best for the Kingdom.”
  • “Having kids work hard stay humble and understand what you can do for others not just what everybody else can do for them.”
  • “If you don’t help your kids find a mission for their life, then they will find one themselves, and they aren’t always the best at finding that themselves.”
  • “If God can get a hold of our hearts early on, that’s what sets the stage for a life of generosity.”
  • “Hope dies last”

Links from the Show

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Free Guide

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Use Our
Free Guide

Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.
Generosity Profile Image
Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.
Generosity Profile Image

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