Mark A. Eidlin
Managing Director, Eidlin-Kilmer & Associates at Merrill Lynch Wealth Management
Involved with the Community Foundation since 2007
How Mark’s work fuels the power of community:
When Mark Eidlin talks about his roots in philanthropy, he doesn’t begin with tax strategy. He begins with a haunted house.
At seven years old, Mark rallied neighborhood kids on Halloween to charge admission for a basement haunted house, sending the proceeds to the Eddie Meath Telethon benefiting the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He even appeared on television in a monster costume. What started as a childhood idea reflected a value that still guides him today: when your community invests in you, you invest back.
In his late 20s, Mark founded Greater Rochester Young Professionals, a group that brought emerging leaders together for networking events designed to do more than exchange business cards. The mission was simple and ambitious at the same time: grow your circle of influence, sharpen your professional skills, and raise money for local nonprofits. Mark still keeps the original corporate binder from 1995, a reminder that leadership and philanthropy are habits formed early.
“Be faithful to the people and community who helped you become who you are,” Mark reflects. Growing up in a Rochester family business that funded his education and shaped his career in wealth management, Mark learned early that success and responsibility go hand in hand.
This sense of reciprocity shapes both his professional practice and his family life. Each fall, the Eidlin family reviews charitable solicitations together. With a set giving budget and matching funds from Mark and his wife, Salley, their children research organizations, evaluate fiscal stewardship and mission impact, and decide where to give. Now adults, his children continue to support those organizations and Mark’s clients and friends have adopted similar traditions, embedding philanthropy into their own family cultures.
Advice for Advisors: Legacy Is Not a Late-Life Conversation
In his advisory practice, Mark believes two of the most powerful questions an advisor can ask are: “What do you care about?” and “How would you like to be remembered?”
For many clients, the first answer centers on family security. With thoughtful listening, a second layer often emerges: a desire to improve a community issue, strengthen a place, or leave a meaningful mark. “You do not have to be 90 to talk about legacy,” Mark says. “You can start in your 50s or 60s. The earlier you plan, the more options you have.”
For advisors guiding clients who are cresting in their careers, selling a business, or experiencing new liquidity, Mark sees philanthropy as a natural next conversation. “These are the moments when you move from simply managing wealth, to helping clients define impact,” he says.
In Mark’s experience, whether a client wants to establish a named legacy or prefers broad, flexible community impact, partnering with Rochester Area Community Foundation makes sense. He values the Community Foundation’s ability to offer a range of fund options, disciplined stewardship, and deep knowledge of regional needs across Rochester, the Finger Lakes, and surrounding communities. For clients with multiple residences or interests beyond New York, he also points to the Foundation’s ability to facilitate grantmaking nationally.
Mark’s message to fellow advisors is clear: philanthropy is not an add-on. It is integral to holistic planning. “If you are not paying attention to it,” he says, “someone else will.”
Charitable involvement in Rochester:Mark has chaired the Highland Hospital and Highland Foundation boards and continues to serve on both boards. He is a past board president and certified ski instructor at Hunt Hollow. He also serves on the board of the Italian-American Heritage Foundation, is a trustee for the NYS Police Signal 30 Benefit Fund, and has been a board member of Rochester Area Community Foundation since 2021, where he serves on both the public policy and investment committees.
Published February 2026