Colleton nonprofits supported secretly for years by a couple who kept their identity hidden – until now

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By HEATHER RUPPE

The identity of a couple who anonymously donated millions of dollars to several local counties has been revealed, but only after that couple has died.

The Coastal Community Foundation has announced that Alan and Joanne Moses, of Dataw Island, are the longtime anonymous couple who created The Beaufort Fund, which is the largest-ever grant fund. The fund is a part of the Coastal Community Foundation and has given more than $11 million to hundreds of grant recipients in Colleton, Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties.

The couple only agreed to have their identity revealed publicly after they had both died: Joanne died recently in December of 2021 and Alan died in 2018.

“ … it’s the first time anyone will learn who was behind it. It’s really an incredible story of generosity,” said Sarah Lamb, marketing and communications specialist for the Coastal Community Foundation. “Alan and Joanne Moses both came from working class families and went to college on scholarships, so they always felt a certain duty to ‘pay it forward.’ They happened to come into wealth late in life after a windfall from some lucky investments, and they essentially believed it was meant to all be given away and invested back into the community.

“They were very unique in many, many ways,” she said.

The couple spent of their lives in the New York area, where Alan worked on Wall Street. They raised two children in New Jersey. After working for 30 years, the couple retired and then moved to the Lowcountry, living in the Beaufort region.

Then, in 1998, they set up The Beaufort Fund within the Coastal Community Foundation. The Beaufort Fund created an annual grantmaking program for non-profit organizations in Colleton, Beaufort, Hampton and Jasper counties. Under the program, non-profits of all sizes could be awarded funds each year for worthy projects.

For the 2021 grant cycle, The Beaufort Fund awarded more than $850,000 to 84 nonprofits in these counties. Among the recipients is Hopeful Horizons in Walterboro, which serves victims of sexual assault and domestic abuse. Hopeful Horizons received a $750,000 grant to open the Walterboro office, which is a satellite office to the Hopeful Horizons’ headquarter office in Beaufort.

“Alan and Joanne Moses could go down in South Carolina history as some of the most generous philanthropists our state has ever seen, and yet, they were the last people who would have sought such a distinction,” said Darrin Goss, president and CEO of the COASTAL Community Foundation. “ … Our region is better because of them, and we are honored that they entrusted Coastal Community Foundation to carry out their vision.”