Philanthropy
Charitable Giving: A Family Affair
Getting things done is in donor Bob Taylor’s blood. This grandson of the venerable Taylor’s Do-It Centers founder headed the Virginia Beach-based company for 15 years. As a volunteer he led the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, United Way of South Hampton Roads and regional Better Business Bureau.
In 2001 Bob and his wife Marion, a former banker, moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana where he headed Do It Best Corp., a 3,800-store cooperative. He immediately jumped in as an Indiana civic leader involved in downtown planning, nonprofits and state boards.
Before retiring to Virginia Beach in 2016, Bob and Marion started a Hampton Roads Community Foundation donor-advised fund. “We want to continue to give back to our community and plan for its future,” he says. “But what happens when we are gone? We are proponents of community foundations” and their ability to keep pace with changing needs in specific geographic regions.
While serving as board president of a private Indiana funder, Bob started thinking about how foundations “give you a window into all the agencies and needs plus all the accountability" needed to successfully award grants.
Rather than starting their own foundation the Taylors created the permanent Bob and Marion Taylor Family Fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.
“If you want to connect with the most effective and efficient nonprofits, a community foundation will help you do that," Taylor explains.
For the Taylors starting a donor-advised fund lets them involve their children while "marshaling resources for the community.”
