Allan Bridgford Blends Lifetime and Legacy Gifts to Create Scholarship Endowment for Business Students

Long before he served in leadership of Bridgford Foods of Illinois, Allan Bridgford, BS BA ’82, graduated from the University of Missouri summa cum laude with an emphasis in economics. And he credits his MU degree with much of his success.

In gratitude, Allan has created an endowment that provides substantial scholarship support to students at the Trulaske College of Business. “There is nothing quite like receiving thank you notes from your scholarship recipients or actually meeting those students when you return to campus,” he says. “I wanted to make an investment that would last forever. An endowment does just that.”

Allan blended several types of gifts to accomplish his philanthropic goals and establish the Allan L. Bridgford, Jr. Scholarship Endowment in the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business. “I wanted students to receive scholarships as soon as possible, so I started with a cash gift to fund the endowment.”

To ensure that his support continues far beyond his lifetime, Allan has also included the endowment in his estate plan. “Later, I decided to increase the amount in the endowment to allow for greater scholarship awards to more students,” he says. “I transferred appreciated securities and was able to save on the capital-gain tax.”

Allan encourages others to consider the legacy gifts they could leave to support future students. “MU provided me with the skills necessary to operate a successful business. There is nothing better than touching the lives of others by providing support to a place that helped me develop the skills to succeed,” he concludes. “Quite simply, it is the greatest investment that I have ever made!”