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For over 50 years, the Community Foundation has helped people give with purpose, strengthening Memphis and the Mid-South.

We make giving easier and more impactful by matching your generosity with the causes and community you care about most.

We offer solutions and resources to donors and the professionals who advise them to help you give smarter and do more good.

We offer funding opportunities that helps nonprofits and students create positive change and build futures.

When you get involved with the Community Foundation, you join a group of people committed to Memphis’s future.

Learn more about the philanthropic hub that connects capital with the solutions that make our community thrive.

Giving With Purpose: How Faith Can Shape Your Charitable Legacy

A bequest can do more than transfer wealth — it can pass on what you believed in. Here’s how your generosity can echo for generations.

Philanthropy & Giving

Published: June 25, 2026

Giving With Purpose: How Faith Can Shape Your Charitable Legacy

Charitable giving is a cornerstone of virtually every major religious tradition—but have you thought about how that value carries forward in your estate plan?

A recent seminar co-hosted by the Community Foundation explored how planned giving can do more than transfer wealth. It can transmit values. A bequest to a meaningful organization, for example, can be written not just as a dollar amount, but as a message—a declaration to your children of what you believed in and why.

Some families use the biblical concept of tithing as a guide, setting aside ten percent for charitable purposes. Others treat charity as an additional beneficiary, dividing their estate as if charitable causes were another child at the table.

And if disability or incapacitation is ever a concern, a durable power of attorney can ensure your charitable wishes continue—even when you can no longer act on them yourself.

Your generosity doesn’t have to end with your lifetime. With a little planning, it can echo for generations.

Explore the benefits of a fund

Partner with the Community Foundation to give more intentionally, grow your impact, and support the causes you care about—today and for generations to come.

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