Serving, and Giving, Together

Some people love numbers. Take Forsyth residents Scott and Deana Jordan for example. They appreciate data – which is a good thing because they are both bankers. But they also realize that numbers tell a story. And when they started hearing the Community Foundation’s story told through numbers, both Scott and Deana knew they wanted to get involved. 

“We put a lot of value on data and statistics,” Scott Jordan said. “The Community Foundation does an incredible job of aggregating data from various sources to articulate the challenges that our community faces along with measuring the outcomes of our philanthropic leaders/community organizations in these areas. Our eyes have truly been opened to the severity of some of our community’s challenges.”

The Jordans and their two children were already committed to giving and had been supporting various nonprofits for years, but they weren’t giving intentionally.

“We knew that the Community Foundation had a highly visible and leading role in addressing such challenges as homelessness, food insecurity, etc. in Gwinnett County for years (where Scott works) and was expanding its reach into Forsyth County (where we reside),” said Deana Jordan.  “Supporting the communities in which we live and work was at the forefront of our decision to establish our donor advised fund with the Community Foundation. I can’t think of many organizations that bring individuals and organizations together for the shared purpose of serving one another and making our community a better place in which to live.”

The Jordans used their donor advised fund to create their own family foundation, the Jordan Family Charitable Giving Fund, through the Community Foundation. 

“We thought that a donor advised fund/family foundation would allow us the opportunity to design a more tax-efficient and purposeful giving strategy in life and beyond,” Scott said. “Additionally, we wanted to establish a foundation (no pun intended) for our children to build upon in supporting our neighbors.”

Both Scott and Deana were raised by parents who taught them to love their neighbors and that has influenced how they live, serve and parent.

“They also taught us that our role in this world was greater than ourselves. However, as our eyes were opened to the significant challenges faced by our community, we knew that we needed to take a more active role in solving these challenges. Quite frankly, the birth of our children had a profound impact on our desire to make the world a better place. We couldn’t imagine our children nor their peers suffering with homelessness, food insecurity, or the various challenges many of our neighbors face.  Over the past few years, we’ve spent a great deal of time alongside our children volunteering and raising awareness/funds in tandem with key organizations like the Community Foundation. We’re sometimes overwhelmed by the challenges our neighbors face in our community, and our family just wants to lend a hand.”

From becoming fundholders to Scott joining the Community Foundation’s board and Professional Advisors Network to helping host in-home events, the Jordan’s are all-in when it comes to the Community Foundation.

“We want to encourage others to learn more about the Community Foundation and its great work,” Deana said. “ Even as financial professionals, we were admittedly ignorant that a Donor Advised Fund could start out relatively small and build in its impact over time. For years, we thought that Foundations, DAFs, etc. weren’t approachable for families of our age, income level, etc.  Without the education and encouragement of the Community Foundation’s incredible team led by Randy Redner and the board, we may not have taken this life-changing step. 

“We are blessed to be a part of an organization like the Community Foundation that is tirelessly dedicated to resolving the challenges facing our communities.” 

Want to know more about becoming a fundholder at the Community Foundation? Contact Randy Redner at 770-813-3384 or rredner@cfneg.org.