“What if the organization dissolves after I pass?”
“What if leadership changes and my money is mismanaged?”
“What if all of my donations are used and none is left over for a big need in the future?”

These are questions donors ponder as they consider how their wealth will be distributed after they pass. Many have a specific organization or cause in mind, but they’re not sure how to protect their investment and their legacy.

Lilian Margene Moulder was asking herself questions just like this as she considered her own legacy. She was a faithful member of Mount Zion Baptist Church, where she met and taught a young Adam Wilson in Sunday school.

“She lived right across the street from her church and was very active there,” Adam recalls. “She was in choir and taught Sunday school.”

She’d built a relationship with the Wilsons through attending the same church, and Adam’s father consistently helped with home repairs and maintenance she couldn’t do on her own.

Margene had never married or had children of her own, and she knew she wanted to pour this money back into Mount Zion Baptist Church and people she loved there. 

But she also worried that the church could cease to exist or that money could be mismanaged in the future. 

How then could her money actually support the congregation she loved when she was gone?

She needed guidance from a trusted partner, and she turned to Adam for help. As a financial advisor, Adam was the perfect person to help Margene evaluate her investment options in the present and future.

Adam had also built a relationship with the Community Foundation for Northeast Georgia. One of Adam’s colleagues was the board president of the Community Foundation and had invited Adam to get involved with the foundation’s Professional Advisors Network. 

He found that the Community Foundation had the resources and options Margene needed to meet her giving goals. He suggested Margene consider a legacy fund through the foundation.

“[Funds] would still go to the church, but it has some protection mechanisms in place if the church ceases to exist or if money is mismanaged. [She could] give them money each year, and the church could request money,” he explained.

“The fund could also grow because it was going to be invested.”

Opening a fund through the foundation eased Margene’s concerns — and lifted administration burdens she would have carried if she started a private foundation — while also allowing her to ensure her church’s needs could be met after her passing.

While Margene did pass away in 2020, her legacy is living on in meaningful ways in her home church today.

Over the years, Margene’s fund has provided the church with funds to cover music equipment, building improvements, maintenance and needed repairs that would have fallen to the congregation to cover. And Adam believes giving through this fund has enhanced Margene’s legacy.

“When you give straight to an organization, it’s a one-time gift. It’s kind of one and done. But when you spread out the giving, I think it just multiplies and compounds the legacy,” Adam said.

“It also protects the funds if the church were to say, ‘We’re going to sell our building and be done.’ The legacy she’s worked hard for could continue at another church or organization.”

Through Margene’s fund, she’s still making a difference, and she’s still remembered. 

“People at her church still know her name. She was an integral part of that church for years, and she’s still making a difference. If you went in there today, the church is going to acknowledge things they were able to do because of the Margene Moulder Legacy Fund.”

Now Adam is a Community Foundation fundholder himself, and he serves on the board and as chair of the foundation’s investment committee. He’s seen how the Foundation serves the community and helps people who care, like Margene, give to the causes that matter most to them.

“They’re a great partner. They facilitate, educate and enhance. They know the community and the needs of the community,” he said. 

“If somebody wants to leave a legacy, the Community Foundation can step in and make sure those dollars are getting stretched as far as they can go into really good, useful organizations.”

To learn more about opening your own fund and leaving a legacy in your community, click here!