Laura Faulders Jordan ’02 never planned to work in planned giving. After falling in love with history at Episcopal, she continued on to major in the subject at the University of Virginia. But when her father Tom accepted a job as the president of UVA’s Alumni Association while she was in college, she began to see the merits of working to advance the mission of beloved institutions.

Jordan’s career path took her from The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, S.C., to Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Ga. Now, she works in the advancement office at Ashley Hall School in Charleston, where she connects with parents, alumni, and friends of the school as they consider long-term estate gifts.

One of the youngest members of The Bell Society, which recognizes those who include EHS in their estate planning, Jordan joined Episcopal’s newly launched Legacy Challenge to practice what she preached. According to Jordan, planned giving is such a unique vehicle because it is a way to increase giving, especially at an expensive time of life while raising two daughters. “I see it as a creative way to up my lifetime giving at an age where I can’t do that with regular liquid cash,” Jordan said. “Gifts from estates can usually be more significant.”

Along her professional journey, Jordan has realized that putting institutions in estate plans means that one considers that place as family. “I see my planned gift as putting Episcopal on the same level as family. I think of all my EHS friends as brothers and sisters,” she said in closing. “And it’s a great way to step up for that family.”