The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation was a private grantmaking foundation that existed from the 1950s until it began to wind down its operations and spend down its endowment in the 2010s, officially closing in 2021.

The foundation was founded in 1954 by Donald W. Reynolds, the founder of Donrey Media which owned multiple news outlets including notably the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The foundation peaked in assets at over $1.2 billion in assets in 2005, and focused on providing grants to community organizations and schools in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Nevada. National recipients of the organization included the Smithsonian Institution, the Reagan Presidential Library, and George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation home. ^{1 2} The foundation was also a major funder of the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Journalism, which was the alma mater of Donald Reynolds. ³

Background

The Donald W Reynolds Foundation was founded in 1954 by Donald W. Reynolds. Reynolds was the founder of Donrey Media Group, which at the time of Reynolds’s death was a large media conglomerate that owned 53 daily newspapers, 11 outdoor advertising companies, five cable television companies, and one TV station. During Reynold’s lifetime, the foundation created a scholarship program that gave $100,000 in scholarships annually to journalism students at 10 universities, gave the University of Missouri at Columbia $9 million to build an alumni center, and gave a $2.5 million grant to the University of Nevada, Reno, to build the Reynolds School of Journalism. ⁴

The foundation was chaired by former Donrey Media Group executive Fred W. Smith. The Reynolds Foundation’s board approved many grants that led to buildings and institutions being named after Smith himself, including the Fred W. Smith Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, the Smith-Pendergraft Student Center at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, the Fred W. Smith Conference Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and the Fred W. Smith Football Center at the University of Arkansas. ⁵

Giving

Donald Reynolds died in 1993 at age 86 in 1993 while on a cruise ship off the coast of Italy, and the Donrey Media Group was sold to the Stephens Media Group, with most of the proceeds going to the foundation. ^{6 7} The foundation was among the largest private foundations in the United States following the sale of Donrey Media Group and peaked at over $1.2 billion in assets in 2005. The foundation’s giving focused on providing grants to community organizations and schools in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Nevada. The group also gave to some national organizations, museums, and journalism-related organizations and universities. ⁸

Examples of organizations funded by the foundation included the Allied Arts Foundation, the Assistance League of Las Vegas, the Associated Press Managing Editors Foundation, the American Society of Newspaper Editors Foundation, the Philanthropy Roundtable, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. ⁹

Closure

In 1994, the foundation decided to sunset itself on or before 2022. In 2009, the foundation closed its capital grants program in preparation of its plan to spend down its assets and wind down operations. By 2015, the foundation had announced plans to close its doors by the end of 2017 while its remaining grants were paid out. The foundation filed tax documents until 2021, when it noted its final payment was made in 2020 as part of the foundation’s terminal grant to the University of Missouri at Columbia’s School of Journalism. ^{10 11}

1. Bowden, Bill. “Donald W. Reynolds Foundation winding up years of giving.” KSL. April 11, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://www.ksl.com/article/34183934/donald-w-reynolds-foundation-winding-up-years-of-giving
2. “IRS Form 990.” Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. 2017. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/716053383/07_2018_prefixes_65-76%2F716053383_201712_990PF_2018071015502689
3. “IRS Form 990.” Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. 2017. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/716053383/07_2018_prefixes_65-76%2F716053383_201712_990PF_2018071015502689
4. “Donald W. Reynolds, Founder of Donrey Media Group, Dead at 86.” Associated Press. April 4, 1993. Accessed June 12, 2023.  https://apnews.com/article/63285e1ca31d4acf61b16356be8ec202
5. “Longtime Foundation Chairman Fred W. Smith Passes Away.” Arkansas Razorbacks. Accessed June 12, 2023.  https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/longtime-foundation-chairman-fred-w-smith-passes-away/
6. “Donald W. Reynolds, Founder of Donrey Media Group, Dead at 86.” Associated Press. April 4, 1993. Accessed June 12, 2023.  https://apnews.com/article/63285e1ca31d4acf61b16356be8ec202
7. “Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Prepares to Close Its Doors.” Philanthropy News Digest. April 14, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/donald-w.-reynolds-foundation-prepares-to-close-its-doors
8. Bowden, Bill. “Donald W. Reynolds Foundation winding up years of giving.” KSL. April 11, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://www.ksl.com/article/34183934/donald-w-reynolds-foundation-winding-up-years-of-giving
9. “IRS Form 990.” Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. 2009. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/716053383/2009_05_PF%2F71-6053383_990PF_200812
10. “Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Prepares to Close Its Doors.” Philanthropy News Digest. April 14, 2015. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/donald-w.-reynolds-foundation-prepares-to-close-its-doors
11. “IRS Form 990.” Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. 2022. Accessed June 12, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/716053383/download990pdf_04_2022_prefixes_59-75%2F716053383_202106_990PF_2022042019910094