Marc Seriff says future bright for Legacy Fund

By Daniel Clifton • Daily Tribune Staff

MARBLE FALLS - When Marc Seriff unveiled the Legacy Fund three years ago, he cautioned the Marble Falls Independent School District Board of Trustees that the endowment would be a long-term project and not to expect any big returns right away.

He admitted Monday that early estimate was a bit off. Almost since its inception, Seriff said the Legacy Fund has begun making returns to the community.

Today it has $3.2 million in assets.

Seriff returned to the board Monday to give his final review of the Legacy Fund as the Seriff Foundation prepares to close its doors Oct. 31. But he promised the Legacy Fund will continue to have a long and healthy future.

“I think it’s the most lasting thing we’ve done (as part of the Seriff Foundation),” he said.

Even though the Seriff Foundation is closing its doors, the Legacy Fund will continue through the Austin Community Foundation.

MFISD and the Seriff Foundation joined forces on the Legacy Fund project several years ago as a way to create a long-term endowment fund for the community and the district. At the time, Seriff and Superintendent Ryder Warren were considering ways to create such an endowment, but they were on separate paths.

When they found out about each other’s plans, the Seriff Foundation and the school district began working together. The end result was the Legacy Fund.

The creation of the fund has allowed many of the local scholarship organizations to pool their financial resources into a bigger pot. Marc and wife Carolyn Seriff also contributed financially to the creation of the fund.

The results of the fund have already begun appearing throughout the community and district. The school district hosted its second annual Legacy Banquet in May to honor the top 10 percent of Marble Falls High School graduates. Each graduate also received a scholarship toward the purchase of a laptop computer.

But that is only a part of the fund’s role.

“The Legacy Fund has 48 different funds rolled inside it, 22 of which directly effect the school district, the teachers and the graduates,” Seriff said.

Through the Legacy Fund, Marble Falls students received $112,000 in scholarships last year, Seriff said.

“That represents a 33 percent increase over the previous year,” he said. “The total amount provided to the community, teachers and students last year was approximately $350,000. And I remind you, we’re in the early process. This is a long-term project.”

When the Seriffs announced Sept. 28 the closing of their foundation, it still had $500,000 in assets. Seriff said that remaining amount will be rolled into the fund to establish three more endowments.

The Seriff Foundation assets are only a part of the long-term equation. During the past year, Seriff said he and the foundation staff began working diligently to get more people involved in the Legacy Fund.

“One of the things I wanted to find was the hidden money in the community,” he said. “There are plenty of people who don’t have lots of money but still want to help.”

Another aspect of donations he looked at was estate planning and wills. Seriff said he began approaching people about donating parts of their estate to the Legacy Fund.

“We have already received our first bequest,” he said. “Now I hope we don’t see this money for many years, but this endowment will endow a series of scholarships.”

The amount is $1.2 million, Seriff said.

“It will be enough to produce scholarships to Marble Falls students around $60,000 annually,” he said. “That’s about 50 percent more than the amount we gave this year.”

The Austin Community Foundation will take the reigns of the fund Nov. 1, Seriff said, but to maintain continuity and a local connection, Seriff Foundation co-director Midge Dockery will take a position at the ACF to assist with the fund.

Seriff said the Legacy Fund wouldn’t have been possible without the partnership between the Seriff Foundation and the school district.

“The support we’ve received from the administration has been incredible,” he said. “Ernest Seitz (the former assistant superintendent) was a major producer on this. And we moved with Cathy Gabro (current assistant superintendent) seamlessly. But none of this could have been done without the help and support of Ryder Warren. We’re incredibly lucky to have a man like Ryder Warren as part of this school district and community.”

School board President Martin McLean said the Legacy Fund and the Seriffs have provided some opportunities for the district that otherwise might not have been realized.

“You’ve allowed us to have some things here we could otherwise only dream about,” he said.

daniel@thepicayune.com

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Marc Seriff says
future bright for Legacy Fund