Bob Morris reflects on philanthropy, banking and the value of a liberal arts education
Robert “Bob” Morris, 53, has been president of the Community Foundation of Greenville for 13 years. Born and raised in Burlington, N.C., he attended college at Wake Forest University, graduated in 1982, and went on to attend graduate and law school there.
After working in banking for 10 years, Morris went on to become vice president for development of the Community Foundation of the Carolinas in Charlotte before joining CFG – a group devoted to enhancing quality of life in Greenville through grants, collaborations and resource development – in 1999. His biggest project while at CFG was a $1 million gift to the Kroc Center.
What did you do after graduation at Wake Forest?
I stayed at Wake. If you’ll remember, 1982 wasn’t the best time for a liberal arts major in the job market, so I stayed in school to get some extra training. Stayed and got a law degree and a business degree. When I got out, I went into the trust business. There are a lot of lawyers who are in the trust business.
Tell us about your banking career.
When I went into banking, it was a great time to be in banking. You could get out of school as a liberal arts major or an art major and they would train you. It would be about a year before you saw a customer. I think that’s very different from banking today.
How did you become involved with the Foundation for the Carolinas?
For some reason, when I was at Wake Forest, I got the idea I’d like to work for a foundation. That was in my early 20s. Winston-Salem has several large foundations that are a legacy of the Reynolds family. I tried very hard to get an internship with one, hopefully leading to a job, but it didn’t work out.
When I was in banking, they had specialty groups that worked with foundations. So I worked my way into a group like that and eventually called on the Foundation of the Carolinas.
When I met the president, I asked him what I needed to do foundation work. He told me I needed to be able to work with wealthy families to create charitable gifts. I told him “that sounds cool” and to keep me in mind if they had an opening. About a year later, he called me.
I was there about three and a half years. I wanted to run my own foundation, and Greenville needed a president, so I moved down here. It’s been a good match.
What was the first thing you noticed about Greenville when you moved here?
I think the power base is much more diffuse in Greenville. I think, when you look at Spartanburg, you have eight to 10 people who are really involved. When you look at Greenville, we’ve got 60 to 80 people. So we’ve got really healthy enterprises. You’ve got the United Way, the Chamber of Commerce and you’ve got the foundation. We’ve got Upstate Forever, the Nature Conservancy and the Arts Council. You’ve really got a broad base of people who are devoted to community improvement.
What’s the first thing you’d tell someone who wanted to get into foundation work?
The way I got into it is the way a lot of people get into it, by coming in through the planned giving side. Coming into it by the ability to raise money. If you can raise money, you can get in. Every nonprofit needs people who can raise money.
Do you get involved much with nature preservation?
We made a $500,000 grant to the Conestee Foundation. As you know, that’s an environmentally challenged area. And there were a group of individuals and the Conservation Land Bank who made donations to help purchase the land. It’s been a real success story. It has made quite an impressive park within about 10 minutes of downtown Greenville.
What’s the one question I haven’t asked that you wish I had?
That would be my mentor. I’ve had the privilege of working with some very strong people as board chairs during my time as president. But C. Dan Joyner really stands out. He had the ability to see the opportunity in every challenge and … he gave me the confidence to run the foundation. Whenever something came up, he was always able to say some things and provide some insight that made you see things differently. He was an outstanding man.
