October 1994
VOLUME 2, ISSUE 2 / $5.00
PhilantbroDvJoumal
Plowing new ground
Reynolds Foundation targets root causes and grassroots
In the first of a two-part series, the
Philanthropy Journal looks at
the growth of progressive grant-
making by the Z. Smith Rey
nolds Foundation in Winston-
Salem. Beginning with a model
program to increase awareness
of sexually-transmitted dis
eases, the foundation has fo
cused on problems that other
funders might ignore. Among its
Tar Heel grantees is the Journal,
which has received grants total
ing $20,000 from the foundation
to fund fellowships to heip young
reporters learn about covering
philanthropy.
By David E. Brown
Winston-Salem
"^he offer was hard to resist:
I $1 million to try to unravel
/ the welfare mess by helping
families solve their own problems.
In impoverished Rutherford
County, folks jumped at the offer and
submitted a grant request to the Z.
Smith Reynolds Foundation.
But when the process was over —
after 20 counties got planning grants
from Reynolds and each of the five
that made the final cut got the million
dollars — Rutherford didn’t get a
dime.
The applicants went through a
“grief period.” All they had to show
for their hard work was the ideas
they’d cooked up to try to win one of
the grants.
That was five years ago. Now,
Rutherford County is cooking with
gas.
Building Community Inc., a non
profit organization, sprang from the
grant proposal process. It is a coali
tion of social workers, educators,
business people, and the poor people
they’re all trying to help in Ruther
ford.
The organization runs grassroots
task forces on teen pregnancy.
Hope springs eternal
I want North Carolina to reclaim the courage of its past, to pull
itself together and stand for something again. To do so, its
leaders must he pi'ejmred to alieruite some large and powerful
groups: an education bureaucracy mired in mediocrity, the
pr-ofession having long since given up the fight for excellence,
for academic standards; banks and coiporations and indus
tries - Big Business - whose wealth comes from the exploitation
of the poor, and at the expense of rural areas; and individuals
all across the State, at every income and education level, who,
if they really said what they felt, would have to admit they
hated the poor. Is this likely to occur? Do I erpect it to happen?
Hope springs eternal.
This excerpt item art essay by Linde flowers, chair of the English Deportment ot North Corolino Wesleyon College in
Rocky Mount, wesfenturedotrthecovetofthe 19V2 Annuol Report oi the Z. Smith Reytrolds Foundofion.
The full essay was commissioned by the foundation end appeored in the report.
dropout prevention, child care, cultur
al diversity and family self-sufficiency.
Now, the Winston-Salem-based
Reynolds Foundation has poverty
fighting partners not Just among the
five groups it funded, but in
Rutherford, too.
“Our county took that miUion-dol-
Reyrtolds Foundatioii lunds progmm for families. Page 21
lar carrot very seriously,” says Betty
Hutchins, director of federal pro
grams for the Rutherford schools.
“We’re changing the whole culture of
Rutherford County.
“Wdiat we’ve done is too important
not to keep doing. Are we interested
in helping families or getting a million
dollars?”
It’s a tale that won’t surprise
many who have been involved with
the wealthy foundation, which has
operated for much of its 58 years on
the premise that money isn’t every
thing.
With assets of $260 million and
annual g-ants totaling $9 miilion, the
Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation is the
largest general-purpose U.S. founda
tion serving a single state. It is equally
well known as a rallying point for pro
gressive ideas.
TAR HEEL BENEFACTORS
Katherine Reynolds was ahead ot
her time. As her husband, R.J.
Look for REYNOLDS, page 22
Sharpening the
focus
Babcock
Foundation
to build
conununity
The Mary Reynolds Babcock
Foundation will resume its
grantmaking next year with a
new emphasis on supporting
individuals and organizations
working together to tackle
major social issues in their com
munities.
By Todd Cohen
Winston-Salem
A fter eight months of scruti-
/\ nizing itself and the needs
/ \ of the South, the Mary
Reynolds Babcock Foundation has
decided to redirect its grantmaking to
more effectively assist people in
building their communities.
The $61 million-asset foundation,
which will resume grantmaking in the
spring, is shifting its funding focus
away from single-subject program
Look for BABCOCK, page 19
Strengthening the foundation
Duke rolls up
its sleeves
As Duke University looks to the 21 st century, strengthening development
operations and assets are top priorities.
File photo
With a new president and major
changes in its development
operations, Duke University is
preparing itself for a huge coi
tal campaign. Duke’s goal is
nothing short of ensuring its
long-term competitiveness
among the nation’s top colleges
and universities.
By Susan Gray
Durham
I— rom its soaring Gothic archi-
j— lecture and extensive library
/ collections to its world-class
medical center and nationally ranked
basketball team, Duke University
rivals the best that U.S. hi^er educa
tion has to offer.
But the trappings of excellence
obscure a financial foundation that
needs some shoring up.
Compared to other major univer
sities, Duke has a relatively modest
endowment - presenting a critical
challenge for an institution like Duke
with ambitious long-term plans for
building on an alresdy excellent pro
gram.
The problem in part is a function
of time. Two years ago, Duke cele
brated its 100th birthday. While a
century is impressive, Duke is but a
young adult among elders such as
Harvard and Yale Universities,
which have been around since 1636
and 1701, respectively.
While Harvard and Yale have had
generations upon generations of
alumni to cultivate and nurture into a
perennial source of dollars, Duke has
enjoyed a far shorter season.
“It’s only been in the last 20 years
that Duke alumni have been asked to
give,” says John Bumess, the senior
vice president for public affairs at
Duke. “Now compare that to other
leading institutions. ”
Harvard, Yale and Princeton each
has an endowment of more than $1
billion. Duke’s is $669 million.
An endowment is a university’s
lifeline. When other financial sources
falter, the interest earned from a
large endowment can provide reliable
revenue.
“It provides that margin between
mediocrity and strength,” says Duke
Look for DUIS, page 13
Connections 3
Corporate Giving 12
Grants and Gifts 17
In October 16
Job Opportunities 20
Opinion 10
People 17
R.S.VR 16
Professional Services...!8
NONPROFITS
Meeting children's
needs
In their earliest years, chil
dren rely most on parents
and teachers tor help.
Project Enlightenment trains
adults in effective child
care.
• Page 4
FloUNDATbNS^
Imagining a
difference
Tar Heel author Allan
Gurganus is helping a foun
dation initiative to fund gay
and lesbian organizations in
the South.
• Page 6
- VOLUNTEERS
Good neighbors
Members of Bethany
United Methodist Church
in Durham pitched in after
a tornado devastated a
community in Alabama.
• Page 8
L
FUNDRAISING
J
Investing in the future
The Food Bonk of North
Carolina is moving ahead
with a major capital cam
paign for 0 new building
and has hired Raleigh-
based Capitol Consortium
Inc. os fundraising coun
sel.
Page 14