Dorrie and Scott Larison

Dorrie and Scott Larison give to their favorite charities on an annual basis. Dorrie attributes her charitable giving to the model provided by her grandmother and mother. They taught her that life is better if you share and help others.

Dorrie and Scott recently established a fund at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation to receive assets from their estate when they die. Still relatively young, they describe their assets as modest, but expect that they will grow. They completed their estate plans now because, even though they have no children, they didn’t want family members to be burdened with the task of distributing their assets should they meet an untimely death.

Their approach to developing the Dorrie and Scott Larison Fund was thoughtful and somewhat unusual. Instead of identifying their favorite charities to receive grants from the fund, they designated areas of interest—hunger and basic needs, education, and performing arts. They think that this approach is an effective solution to meeting future needs because organizations and community issues may change over time.

They will trust the grantmaking decisions to the volunteers and staff at the Community Foundation, who will use Dorrie and Scott’s wishes and directives to make choices on their behalf. Dorrie and Scott said that giving their estate assets through the assistance and oversight of the Community Foundation was an easy and liberating decision.