May 27, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
How much: $175.5-million bequest
Who gave it: Fred W. Fields, former owner and president of Coe Manufacturing Company, in Tigard, Ore. He sold the company in 2000 and died in December at age 88.
Who got it: Mr. Fields bequeathed his entire estate to charity. Most of the bequest, $150-million, will go to the Oregon Community Foundation. The remainder will be divided among a dozen universities and charities.
The gift’s purpose: Max Williams, chief executive of the Oregon Community Foundation, said Mr. Fields wanted his bequest to create an arts-and-education fund to benefit organizations in Oregon, but left no other requirements as to how the money should be used.
How the gift was discovered: Mr. Fields never made a gift to the fund while he was alive and didn’t disclose his bequest plans to the foundation. Mr. Williams said he received a call in December from Bill Tagmyer, the trustee of Mr. Fields’s estate (who himself was surprised to be named the estate’s trustee), informing him that the foundation would receive a bequest.
What the gift signals: The power of maintaining a good reputation and nurturing relationships with potential donors even if it does not immediately result in big gifts. “As we’ve gone back and talked to people who knew Fred well, what we found is that he was having contact with people who trusted us and he obviously valued their opinions. He knew what we were doing,” Mr. Williams says. “It’s a great reminder that you’re always planting seeds—sometimes you don’t always know when or where the harvest is going to come from.”
