Case Study

Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation

The Z. Smith Reynolds (ZSR) Foundation strives to support the efforts of North Carolinians to make the state a better place for everyone. For decades, the foundation has provided support to strengthen voting rights and fairness and equity in democracy.

Type of foundation :
  • Private Foundation
Type of approach :
  • Grantmaking

Foundation Background and Mission 

The Z. Smith Reynolds (ZSR) Foundation strives to support the efforts of North Carolinians to make the state a better place for everyone. For decades, the foundation has provided support to strengthen voting rights and fairness and equity in democracy. The foundation’s primary vehicle to support this work is through substantive multiyear general operating grants to a full ecosystem of organizations across the state. The foundation roots its grantmaking in trust-based philanthropy, valuing the knowledge and expertise of the grantees doing the work and being in a place of learning from those organizations. Through its sustained and trust-based approach, the foundation aims to support organizations in their long-term goals to improve access to the polls, protect voting access, and achieve fairness in elections. The foundation’s work to support organizations and ecosystems is evident through a couple of prime examples: 

  • General operating support bolsters organizations during uncertain times: The pandemic hit during an election year, creating an unprecedented voting environment. The general operating support provided by Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation enabled grantees to quickly pivot and inform new solutions during a challenging voting period. Grantees used their existing expertise and knowledge of the challenges within the voting system to work with the board of elections to build strategies that improved vote by mail options. In addition, having stable, committed funding enabled grantees positioned to scale up their operations, providing essential PPE, offering new training to the community on expanded voting options, and hiring new staff to ensure safe, secure, and accessible elections. 
  • Seed funding for new voter collaboratives: Z Smith Reynolds was a key early funder of Blueprint North Carolina, progressive ecosystem that has grown to nearly 60 committed to building independent power for an anti-racist, inclusive democracy. The initial goal of the collaborative was to create a combined meeting space for organizations that work on an array of issues yet all engage voters to provide access and training to voter data tools, databases, and technology. Over the last decade, the ecosystem reports collecting 600,000 voter registration applications, mobilizing millions of voters to cast a ballot, and building a base of leaders across the state.