Celebrating 60 Years of Generosity
For 60 years, Chattanooga area families have turned to The Generosity Trust to guide them along the path of generosity. Now a donor-directed foundation that empowers Christian generosity, the organization traces its roots back to June 3, 1965, when it was originally established as the Dora Maclellan Brown Charitable Trust. Its founder, fondly referred to as Aunt Dora, was the second local generation of the generous Maclellan family who started Provident Life and Accident Insurance (now UNUM).
A Christian woman with a bold vision – to be extraordinarily generous with the financial resources God had entrusted her – Dora Maclellan Brown served on the board of her family’s foundation and encouraged them in a letter “to always remember the definitely Christian faith.” Using the proceeds she earned through her family business, she started what is known as The Generosity Trust (TGT). Her letter has become a guiding principle for the organization’s outreach.
Aunt Dora’s founding gift on June 7, 1965, was 45,000 shares of Provident Life and Casualty stock. She made various stock gifts to the trust in the years that followed, and when she passed away on February 24, 1974, at the age of 94, she had arranged for much of the remainder of her estate to come to the trust. Almost three years after her death, the trust was valued at over $3.7 million, and the trustees that she had personally appointed – Henry Trotter, Hugh D. Huffaker, and Pemberton Cooley – began making some strategic grantmaking with her assets. The first major grant recipient from the trust was Covenant College – over $400K was given to the college for the building of the Dora Maclellan Brown Chapel, which stands to this day.
In her imminent wisdom, Aunt Dora asked the foundation’s trustees to invest wisely and give generously, always working to maintain and grow the corpus of the assets. Yes, her almost $4 million would have made a tremendous impact on Chattanooga’s charities at the time of her death, but her legacy would have been short lived. Instead, the trustees established an endowment through what is now TGT so that her generosity can be extended to benefit future generations. Her vision lives on, as TGT has empowered Christian generosity through partnership with individuals, granting over $400 million to tens of thousands of charities and churches throughout our country.
2024 grantees of Sharing God’s Goodness, one of four area giving circles hosted by The Generosity Trust.
So, What Is The Generosity Trust About Today?
As TGT remains faithful to its Christian mission and seeks to honor Christ in its various endeavors, its current priority is living out biblically based core values to be diligent, aware, faithful, and strategic as it serves the Christian community in Chattanooga and beyond.
In 2024, TGT distributed 10,614 grants through Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs), totaling $38.1 million to organizations throughout the country, with $19 million staying in the greater Chattanooga area. Notably, the grant payout rate is 43%, compared to the national donor-advised fund payout rate of 23.9% (2023). Its donors are not only deeply generous but also curious about the ever-changing landscape of nonprofits in Chattanooga and beyond.
TGT’s strategic goals are:
- To catalyze multigenerational Christian generosity
- To establish TGT as a support center of connection, education, and community
- To grow TGT as a center of service for the benefit of greater Chattanooga
- To consistently serve its ever-growing pool of over 800 Donor-Advised Fund holders
As the organization continues to grow its services, TGT is committed to a deeper understanding of the hearts of its fund holders, as well as the organizations they support through donor-directed grants. With an eye toward the future, TGT increasingly looks to join other community organizations in collaborative efforts that help Chattanoogans flourish.
To learn more about TGT, visit their website at thegenerositytrust.org or call 423-266-5257.
