CASE STUDY
How a world-leading grant maker uses TrustBridge Global Foundation
“I can’t think of anything I need that TrustBridge isn’t providing.”
– Lee Behar, Director of Finance, Maclellan Foundation
ABOUT THE MACLELLAN FOUNDATION
The Maclellan Foundation, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, is one of the world’s largest, most prominent impact grantmakers.
In 1857, Thomas Maclellan was a young man, living in Blairgowrie, Scotland. On his twentieth birthday, he wrote a covenant, committing to be generous and give “all that I am and all that I have, the faculties of my mind, the members of my body, my worldly possessions, my time, and my influence over others.”
Years later, in 1892, Thomas had immigrated to America. He invested in Provident Insurance Company, which provided disability insurance to at-risk coal miners and sawmill laborers. By 1900, Thomas had become its sole owner. Under his leadership, Provident grew and went public. By 1916, it served workers in 15 states. By 1997, Provident was America’s largest disability insurance provider.
The fifth and sixth generations of Maclellans are now engaged with the foundation. As its assets have grown, so has its global vision. More than 70 percent of Maclellan’s giving flows overseas. The foundation continues to fulfill Thomas’s personal mission of giving people around the world the chance to be free, and the joy of living generous lives.
“Maclellan often funds groups
that do not have access to
traditional Western funding. They
are hard to find and hard to fund.
TrustBridge makes that possible.”
David Denmark
Executive Director, Maclellan Foundation
MACLELLAN’S SITUATION
Some of Maclellan’s projects are in closed countries that Maclellan couldn’t reach.
Some grants cost unreasonable amounts in fees.
Some providers offered less personal touch and set a lower bar for customer service.
When making some technically challenging grants, Maclellan wanted another set of eyes to provide legal assurance but didn’t know where to turn.
In one instance, the best way to serve a grantee in Europe was through a loan rather than a direct grant. Maclellan knew that was the right answer but did not know how to execute.
TrustBridge has helped solve all these issues for Maclellan.
HOW TRUSTBRIDGE HELPS
1. Unrivaled Global Expertise
“I can’t think of anything I need that TrustBridge is not providing”
Lee Behar
Director Finance, Maclellan Foundation
“TrustBridge provides the path to get funds to impactful partners in hard to-find and hard-to-fund corners of the world,” says Denmark. “They’re able to go to places that no one else will do. If I need a grant to get into the Congo, they can do that.”
Maclellan’s Director of Operations, Cathy Cates, says, “We value that extra research that often our grants team does not have time or expertise to do for complicated grants.”
“I have always been confident in their technical abilities,” says Behar.
2. Flawless Execution
Cates admits to having reservations when she first met TrustBridge. “I wondered, ‘Are they really doing what they say they’re doing?’ It’s my job to ask those questions. I like them, but it takes more than liking them; I need to know that they’re good.”
Cates pressed TrustBridge with a barrage of questions about each step of their process. “I’ve sat with them, face to face, and asked how they do things, exactly what their processes are. I’ve asked all the questions and they answer effectively. I understand exactly what they’re doing and that gives us confidence and security.”
“Now I prefer them to any other service,” says Cates. “If I want to have the utmost confidence in a complicated grant, I send it their way.”
“They’ve had great software and great reports.” But Behar was pleased to see TrustBridge go beyond that.
3. Demonstrated Integrity
“Their attention to detail is excellent,” says Cates. Even when it’s not in TrustBridge’s immediate self-interest, Maclellan has found that TrustBridge takes the high road and does things right. “During early discussions, TrustBridge has raised questions and we have mutually decided not to move forward with projects due to issues they have found.” says Cates.
4. Unbeatable Price
“We now pay TrustBridge one percent for something that we used to pay others seven percent,” says Behar. “When our funds sit with TrustBridge, the maintenance fees are pretty low.”
Cates adds, “TrustBridge offers lower costs than other groups that provide services like equivalency determinations or fiscal sponsorships.”
“I’m happy to pay a fiscal sponsor more if they’re providing value,” says Behar, “but most don’t. Before TrustBridge, we were using higher-priced fiscal sponsors.”
5. We-never-thought-of-that Creativity
“They think creatively and they’ll introduce you to people who are thinking creatively as well,” says Behar. (See “Inventing Reinvestment Loans for European Grantees.”)
“TrustBridge is going to have ways of doing things that you didn’t even know you wanted to do,” says Behar. “Get together with the people from TrustBridge.”
6. Personal Service
“Now I prefer them to any other service.”
Cathy Cates
Director of Operations, Maclellan Foundation
“Some services don’t provide a contact person,” says Cates, “but with TrustBridge, we have a personal relationship; I have their email addresses and phone numbers. They follow up quickly. It’s a real relationship and I’m not just an account number. That builds our trust.”
“Sometimes there are nice people who can’t get it done,” says Behar, “and other times there are technical people who aren’t responsive. But within 30 minutes, TrustBridge is responding to me and copying people. That crosses from hard skills to soft skills. They serve me well.”
INVENTING REINVESTMANT LOANS FOR EUROPEAN GRANTEES
Maclellan wanted to make loans to global impact focused businesses using US charitable dollars. Despite the peculiarity of the request, TrustBridge found a way to get it done seamlessly, creatively, and inexpensively. Here’s how:
Maclellan is connected with impact focused businesses in Eastern Europe whose lenders charge exorbitant fees. Those outrageous fees mean that these cash strapped businesses have to use their precious resources paying banks rather than giving to local needs. Lee Behar, Maclellan’s Strategy Director for Europe, knew there had to be a better way.
“I wanted to make a loan at a reasonable interest rate,” Lee explains. The proceeds of that loan repayment and lower interest frees up cash to allow European impact business owners to give more and allows Maclellan to do even more granting in Europe. He envisioned a win-win-win in which grantees get more funding from local donors and Maclellan gets to grow its grantmaking reach.
Behar says, “TrustBridge figured out a way to do that loan that I didn’t know existed, because I didn’t realize the intricacies of Swiss charities.”
“I can give to a US public charity, which can then give to the donor-advised fund in Switzerland, which then makes a loan to a missional private company in Europe. The proceeds of that loan come back to the donor-advised fund in Switzerland to be granted or reinvested.”
“They have single-handedly given us the ability to do these reinvestment loans,” says Cathy Cates, Maclellan’s Director of Operations. “We do not have the staff or resources to properly administer these, so we are grateful for TrustBridge’s expertise and ability.”
“I was aware of the pieces, but TrustBridge figured it out.”
RESULTS
TrustBridge has delivered more than $3.5 million through 34 of Maclellan’s grants. These grants have flowed through TrustBridge to all four continents - Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
These grants have spread across the globe and touched all kinds of people including:
• Marginalized women in Nepal
• Entrepreneurs in Romania
• Unreached tribes in Indonesia
• The homeless in the UK
• Sustainable sea cucumber farm in Asia
• Small business owners in Zimbabwe
• Students in Poland
• Business leaders in Ukraine
• Leaders in the Netherlands
• A mentoring program in Chattanooga, Tennessee, closer to Maclellan’s home
“At this point, I don’t even feel the need to investigate other options,” says Behar, “Because I can’t think of anything that I need that TrustBridge isn’t providing at this stage.”