Sustaining a legacy of service and philanthropy
Joanne Sprouse first gave to Interlochen in memory of her son, Stephen. Now, upon her passing, a gift from the remainder of her Donor Advised Fund is continuing her mission of doing as much good as possible.
Joanne Sprouse (right) with a recipient of the Stephen Sprouse Memorial Endowed Scholarship at an event in the Dow Center for Visual Arts Gordon Brunner Family Gallery.
Throughout her life, Joanne Sprouse lived by the words of one of her favorite sayings: “Do as much good as you can, for as many people as you can, for as long as you can.”
After permanently relocating to her family’s summer cottage on Glen Lake in 1987, Joanne brought that spirit of service to her new community in northern Michigan. She volunteered for several local organizations, including the Glen Lake School Library, Empire Community Library, and Central United Methodist Church soup kitchen.
Beyond her volunteerism, Joanne was also a generous philanthropist. In 2012, Joanne decided to honor her late son by establishing the Stephen Sprouse Memorial Endowed Scholarship at Interlochen Center for the Arts.
A noted fashion designer, Stephen Sprouse spent many summers in northern Michigan and had a deep passion for the visual arts. Although he never attended Interlochen himself, his remarkable creative journey inspired his family to support other talented young visual artists. For more than a decade, the scholarship created in Stephen’s memory has enabled visual arts students with great potential and significant financial need to study at Interlochen Arts Academy.
In November 2024, Joanne passed away at age 94. Her final gift to Interlochen was a portion of the remainder of her Donor Advised Fund (DAF).
As an easy and tax-advantageous way to give to donors’ favorite charitable organizations, the use of DAFs is rapidly growing in popularity in the United States. To establish a DAF, donors make an irrevocable gift to a community foundation or financial institution. Donors can contribute many types of assets to a DAF—including cash, stocks, securities, cryptocurrency, and in some cases, real estate—and receive an immediate tax deduction. These gifts are then disbursed from the DAF to qualifying charitable organizations, like Interlochen. While the initial gift to the DAF is irrevocable (donors cannot withdraw the funds), the donors retain advisory privileges over how DAF funds are invested and dispersed, allowing them to support their favorite causes over time.
While donors can choose to name a successor to continue managing their DAF, many—like Joanne—opt to terminate the account upon their passing and distribute the remaining funds to the charity or charities of their choice. By choosing this option, donors can ensure that their gifts are dispersed in a manner that aligns with their personal philanthropic goals.
With her final gift to Interlochen, Joanne not only empowered other young artists like Stephen to find their purpose at Interlochen: She also continued her own mission of serving others.
