Conrad N Hilton Foundation

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation operates as a strategic grantmaking organization, meaning it does not accept unsolicited proposals. Instead, the foundation proactively identifies, initiates, and develops long-term partnerships with organizations aligned with its seven core program areas: Catholic Sisters, Global Early Childhood Development, Foster Youth, Homelessness, Opportunity Youth, Refugees, and Safe Water. This invitation-only model allows the foundation to focus deeply on systemic change rather than responding to ad-hoc requests. A defining strategic commitment is to locally led development — the foundation has pledged to allocate at least 25% of its international grantmaking directly to local organizations, investing nearly $100 million more in local organizations over three years compared to prior levels. The foundation also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with USAID to advance locally led development, emphasizing shared strengths in early childhood development, youth empowerment, disaster response, safe water, and faith-based engagement. Program-Related Investments (PRIs) complement traditional grants, as seen in loan facilities for water infrastructure in Ghana. The foundation incorporates perspectives of people with lived experience across its three strategic pillars and uses multi-stakeholder collaboration spanning philanthropy, private sector, government, and civil society.

The Hilton Foundation distributes over $300 million annually through quarterly board-approved grant cycles. In 2025, Q1 saw $42M+ across 14 grants and Q2 saw $52M across 22 grants. Grant sizes range dramatically: strategic initiative grants typically fall between $750,000 and $5.95 million, while the Good Neighbor Program provides fixed $10,000 awards locally and the Humanitarian Prize awards $3 million annually. By program area, Catholic Sisters receives the largest share (~$49M annually), followed by Homelessness (~$37M), Foster Youth (~$27M), Safe Water (~$26M), and Opportunity Youth (~$27M). The foundation favors multi-year commitments to proven partners — organizations like Water4, Inc. received both a $5M grant and a $2.5M PRI loan in the same quarter, demonstrating layered funding approaches. Geographic distribution spans heavily into Sub-Saharan Africa (Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda), Latin America (Mexico City), and domestically focuses on Los Angeles County, New York, and select underserved communities. Since inception, the foundation has awarded over $3.6 billion in total grants.

The Hilton Foundation stands out among mega-foundations for its narrow, deep focus on seven specific program areas rather than broad thematic grantmaking. Its asset base of $7.4 billion grew substantially after Barron Hilton bequeathed 97% of his wealth in 2019, elevating it into the top tier of U.S. family foundations. Unlike peers such as Ford or Kellogg that maintain open application processes for some programs, the Hilton Foundation operates almost entirely on an invitation-only basis, which allows for deeper partnerships but limits accessibility for new organizations. Its commitment to locally led development (25% of international giving to local orgs) positions it as a leader in the decolonization of philanthropy movement, comparable to initiatives at the Hewlett and Packard foundations.

In Q2 2025, the foundation approved $52 million across 22 grants spanning all major program areas. Notable awards included $5.95 million to the University of California/California Policy Lab for homelessness prevention research in Los Angeles County, $5 million to Water4, Inc. for expanding safe water access in Western Ghana, and $5 million to Myriad USA, Inc. supporting WHO work in Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique. The foundation also expanded into humanitarian aviation with $1.5M to Mission Aviation Fellowship and $1M to Angel Flight West. In Q1 2025, the board approved $42M+ across 14 grants. The foundation previously signed a groundbreaking MOU with USAID to advance locally led development. The 2022 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize ($2.5M) was awarded to the Norwegian Refugee Council, and in 2021 to CAMFED (Campaign for Female Education). The foundation crossed the $3.6 billion lifetime giving milestone and reported providing safe water access to over 1.9 million people through its water initiative.

Since the Hilton Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for its main programs, the most viable path for new organizations is through the Good Neighbor Program, which is open to 501(c)(3) organizations and Title 1 schools in the Conejo Valley area (Agoura Hills, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura) for $10,000 general operating grants or $5,000 school project grants. For organizations seeking strategic partnership consideration: (1) Align your work squarely with one of the seven core initiatives — the foundation does not fund outside these areas; (2) Demonstrate locally led approaches with community ownership, as this is a strategic priority; (3) Build visibility through networks the foundation monitors, including USAID partnerships, WHO collaborations, and major intermediaries like Water4 or WRI; (4) Show evidence of systemic impact potential rather than service delivery alone; (5) The foundation values multi-year partnerships with measurable outcomes, so prepare evidence of sustained results; (6) No grants are made to individuals. Contact: 818-851-3700, 1 Dole Drive, Westlake Village, CA 91362. Monitor their quarterly grant announcements and grants database at hiltonfoundation.org/grants/search/ to understand current funding priorities and partner profiles.