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.