OVERVIEW: Formerly the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Andrew Carnegie Foundation supports education and economic mobility, democracy and civic participation, immigration, libraries, international peace and security, nuclear risk reduction and related research. It also funds scholarly research through the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program and participates in several donor collaboratives and special initiatives.
IP TAKE: The Andrew Carnegie Foundation is one of the oldest charitable organizations in the world, known for its staid support of organizations working in its areas of interest. An organization with gravitas, Carnegie is generally considered to be a nonpartisan outfit that’s committed to a traditional vision of a strong U.S. democracy and a pluralistic society.
In 2023, Carnegie welcomed a new president, Dame Louise Richardson, after the unexpected passing of longtime President Vartan Gregorian. Its overarching philanthropic goal is now explicitly framed as reducing political polarization through education, democracy and peace. Funding has evolved in the past few years and some funding interests have merged.
Carnegie remains proactive, choosing what to fund after conducting its own research. The foundation is explicit that it does not accept or review unsolicited proposals or funding requests. This funder has been in the philanthropy game for over a century, and many of its recipients are established organizations that have seen grants year after year. Carnegie also makes room for new grantees, but without many open calls for grant applications, it is not easy to pitch your work here.
For organizations seeking direct Carnegie support, relationships and field visibility matter. This is a funder that tends to back established nonprofits, universities, research institutions, intermediaries and networks with evidence of impact and the ability to influence policy, practice or systems. Grantseekers are more likely to get on Carnegie’s radar through an existing grantee, philanthropic intermediary, research or policy network, coalition, peer funder or Carnegie-backed initiative than through a general inquiry.
The foundation biennially awards the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy to recognize “outstanding philanthropists who emulate the values of Andrew Carnegie and have embraced his philosophy of giving.”
PROFILE: The Andrew Carnegie Foundation (formerly the Carnegie Corporation of New York) was founded in 1911 by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, considered by some to be the “father of modern philanthropy.” The Carnegie Foundation is known as “America’s oldest grant making foundation.” During his lifetime, Carnegie wrote The Gospel of Wealth, which articulated his view of the rich as “trustees of their wealth who should live without extravagance, provide moderately for their families, and use their riches to promote the welfare and happiness of others.” While the foundation is based in New York, its scope is global, as it gives to major national and international organizations.
Boasting over $4.9 billion in endowments, the foundation pursues a mission “to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for the issues that Carnegie considered most important.” Carnegie’s current overarching goal is to reduce political polarization through grantmaking that supports what it calls “ladders of opportunity” and “a more peaceful world.” Its central interests remain education, democracy and peace.
Carnegie now organizes most of its grantmaking through two broad programs:
- The National Program, or Ladders of Opportunity, works through Education and Democracy.
- The International Program, or A More Peaceful World, supports peace and global security.
The foundation also maintains significant work related to libraries, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program, Great Immigrants, Great Americans, national service and a Special Opportunities Fund.
Grants for Education and Economic Opportunity
Carnegie’s National Program aims to increase upward mobility and civic participation while strengthening trust in public institutions. It currently makes grants through two interconnected areas, Education and Democracy.
- Education grantmaking increasingly centers on pathways from education to economic opportunity. Recent grants support postsecondary access and completion, career-connected education, work-based learning, college and career pathways, tutoring, civic learning and programs serving students who have historically faced barriers to economic mobility.
- Recent National Program grantees include City Year, Schoolhouse.world, the University of Massachusetts Boston, Valor Collegiate Academies and YouthBuild Global. In June 2026, for example, Carnegie awarded UMass Boston $1.5 million to create new pathways to career credentials for high school students and Valor Collegiate Academies $1.7 million for work-based learning, dual enrollment and career education. See Carnegie’s June 2026 grants.
- Carnegie also backs organizations that connect education to civic life. The Center for Civic Education received $1 million in 2026 to expand its We the People curriculum and youth competition, while Poynter received $750,000 for media-literacy resources for educators.
- Grantseekers should not rely on older Carnegie descriptions of separate programs for “Education for Economic and Social Mobility” and “Education for Civic Participation.” While the underlying interests remain visible in recent grants, the foundation no longer presents those labels as its primary public-facing program structure.
Grants for Democracy, Voting and Immigration
Carnegie’s Democracy grantmaking falls within its broader National Program and supports efforts related to civic participation, elections, immigration, civic learning, public trust and working across political differences. The foundation says it supports election and legal immigration reforms as well as organizations and individuals working together across differences to solve community problems. See its Ladders of Opportunity strategy.
Recent funding illustrates the breadth of this portfolio. Grantees include organizations working on civic education, election security, media literacy, civic infrastructure and nonpartisan participation. June 2026 awards included support for the Chamberlain Network’s nonpartisan work with veterans, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue’s election cybersecurity work, OpenSecrets, RightCount and Veterans for All Voters.
Carnegie also uses donor collaboratives and intermediaries to reach organizations that it may not fund directly. One important example is NEO Philanthropy, which houses two longstanding Carnegie-backed collaborative funds:
- The Four Freedoms Fund supports state and regional immigrant-serving coalitions and organizations working on immigrant integration, organizing, advocacy and institutional capacity.
- The State Infrastructure Fund supports nonpartisan voter engagement, election protection, voting-rights work and state-based civic infrastructure.
These intermediary funds are particularly relevant for smaller, state-based and grassroots organizations. For organizations that are not realistic prospects for a direct Carnegie grant, participation in the ecosystems funded through Four Freedoms Fund or State Infrastructure Fund may provide a more viable route.
Carnegie’s older Democracy framework included categories such as Alliance Building, Field Building, Policy Development, Strategic Communications and Nonpartisan Voter Engagement and Voting Rights. Those activities continue to appear in the portfolio, but those labels should no longer be treated as the foundation’s current program architecture.
Carnegie also supports democracy via one of its special projects, the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program, which will be expanded in 2027 to examine “the relationship between populism and polarization, how other democracies have resisted or reversed polarization, and the conditions that determine whether polarization dissipates or accelerates into systemic violence.”
Another special program, Great Immigrants, recognizes immigrants who have “enriched and strengthened our democracy through their actions and contributions.” This is a public-awareness initiative, not a grantmaking program.
Announced in August 2026, the Service United Fund is a partnership between Carnegie and Schultz Family Foundation that provides $100,000 to $1.5 million grants to U.S. states and territories to expand paid national and community service tied to priorities like workforce development, education, public safety, housing and conservation
Grants for Libraries
Libraries have reemerged as a significant strand of Carnegie’s work. The foundation views libraries as sources of knowledge and opportunity as well as public institutions that can strengthen social cohesion, civic participation and trust. Carnegie has an interactive map of the nearly 1,700 Carnegie libraries built in the U.S.
- The Libraries as Pillars of Education and Democracy initiative illustrates this approach. Carnegie launched a competitive national call in late 2024 to support public libraries providing English-language learning and college-readiness services. More than 1,400 expressions of interest were received, and 11 library systems ultimately shared $5 million in grants.
- Recent library grantees include the Brooklyn Public Library, New York Public Library, Queens Public Library and public library systems in San Diego, Seattle, Los Angeles, Nashville and other communities. The work commonly combines English-language instruction, immigrant integration, workforce development, college access, youth programming and civic participation.
- Carnegie also launched Carnegie Libraries 250,in connection with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In 2026, it provided $10,000 gifts to more than 1,350 operating Carnegie libraries in the United States.
- These initiatives demonstrate that Carnegie will occasionally use an open competitive process even though its ordinary grantmaking does not accept unsolicited proposals. Grantseekers interested in library funding should watch Carnegie announcements closely for future calls.
Grants for International Peace and Global Security
Carnegie significantly overhauled its International Program in 2025. Its current A More Peaceful World program supports efforts to prevent and manage conflict and strengthen the conditions necessary to address global security challenges.
The foundation’s new International Program strategy, announced in October 2025, centers on three areas:
- Preventing and Managing Conflict supports efforts to address current and emerging conflicts, including regional flashpoints, strategic threats and the security implications of new technologies.
- Movements of People examines migration and displacement and their political, economic, security and social consequences.
- Non-State Actors explores the influence of civil society, private-sector actors, social movements, armed groups and other actors outside government on conflict, governance and peace.
Carnegie funds academic research, policy work, international collaborations and organizations developing practical responses to these problems.
Recent International Program grants illustrate the new direction. In June 2026, the foundation awarded $1.8 million to the African Institute for Development Policy for work involving migrant and displaced African youth; $1.75 million to the Danish Refugee Council for work on conflict-induced displacement; $2 million to the Migration Policy Institute; $1.5 million to Cornell University for research on violent non-state actors and technology in Africa; and $2 million to the University of Chicago for an International Crime Lab focused on violent organized criminal groups in Latin America.
The old International Peace and Security categories—Global Dynamics, Arab Region Research and Scholarship, Peacebuilding in Africa and Cross-Cutting Challenges—should be considered legacy program language rather than current funding areas.
Carnegie has also demonstrated some openness to competitive grantmaking here. Its 2025 call for projects related to Movements of People and Non-State Actors received hundreds of submissions. Grantseekers working on global peace and security should therefore monitor International Program announcements even though there is no standing open application.
Nuclear Risk Reduction
Reducing nuclear dangers remains a significant Carnegie interest, although it now sits within the foundation’s broader peace and security work.
Carnegie is a member of the Consortium to Reduce Nuclear Dangers, a philanthropic collaboration supporting projects designed to reduce the possibility of nuclear use or escalation. The consortium has run open competitive funding rounds.
Its second call for proposals in 2026 sought projects addressing nuclear escalation and crisis instability, verification and monitoring, and governance and institutional capacity. Eligible applicants included think tanks, university centers, NGOs, individual researchers and comparable organizations inside and outside the United States.
That round offered:
- Small grants of $50,000 to $200,000 for up to two years.
- Large grants of $200,000 to $1 million for up to three years.
The May 2026 deadline has passed, but the consortium is worth watching for future opportunities. Its use of open calls makes it one of the more accessible entry points into Carnegie’s international peace portfolio.
Important Grant Details:
The foundation reported an endowment of about $4.9 billion as of March 2026 and a $221 million grantmaking budget for fiscal year 2026.
Carnegie describes itself as a proactive grantmaker. Its program staff identify organizations whose work matches foundation goals, and nearly all organizations receiving ordinary grants are contacted by program officers. Carnegie says intensive planning with prospective grantees generally occurs before a grant is awarded. See its grantmaking philosophy and application FAQ.
- Unsolicited proposals and funding requests are not accepted or reviewed.Carnegie nevertheless periodically issues RFPs and competitive calls associated with specific initiatives.
- The foundation also participates in donor collaboratives and intermediary funds, creating indirect funding routes for smaller and state-based organizations.Many grants are multiyear.
- Carnegie commonly funds established nonprofits, universities, think tanks, research centers, intermediaries, public institutions and organizations capable of influencing policy or systems.
- Names and short bios of leadership and staff are provided on the website, although email addresses are not available.
- For information about past grantees, see the searchable grants database.
- Submit general inquiries to the Carnegie Foundation via the contact page. The organization’s phone number is (212) 371-3200.
PEOPLE:
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