Voices from the Field

Even with Complex Histories, Families Have an Opportunity to Advance Equity

Posted on May 3, 2016 by David Neal

Racial diversity and inclusion have been central to the grant making strategy at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation for decades. In more recent years, the Foundation has deepened its engagement with racial equity. For David L. Neal, a family member and trustee at the Winston-Salem, N.C., family foundation, this focus on equity has been a high priority. Not long ago, however, as he was researching his family’s — and the foundation’s — history, he discovered that its legacy is more complicated than he had once thought… Read More
Voices from the Field

Why We Must Stand Up for Overhead

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Katherine Lorenz

It is critical that donors invest in the long-term health and sustainability of the institutions we are asking to tackle the world’s most entrenched social problems. Starving organizations of strong strategic plans or essential technology—often viewed as overhead and therefore superfluous—actually prevents their ability to use the limited resources they do have most effectively… Read More
Voices from the Field

Can General Operating Support Become the New Normal?

Posted on January 26, 2016 by Jen Teunon

If every funder only pays for a specific program or a specific line item, an organization becomes fragmented and unstable. Without general operating support, an organization doesn’t have the money for staffing, rent, technology, training, or even the phone bill. And, without a strong infrastructure, programs that improve our communities can’t happen. … Read More
Voices from the Field

Family-ness: A clunky word that says it all

Posted on March 25, 2015 by Phillip Henderson

At our most recent board meeting, we continued our examination of potential changes to the way we invest our endowment, we discussed some important modifications to the role of the board in our grantmaking process, and we breathed new life into a conversation between Surdna and the Andrus Family Fund, a grantmaking fund we created just over 15 years ago. … Read More