Starr Foundation

The Starr Foundation operates on a strictly proactive, invitation-only grantmaking model — it does not accept unsolicited proposals, will not respond to funding inquiries, and publishes no open grant cycles. Founded in 1955 by Cornelius Vander Starr, who created what became AIG, the Foundation has distributed over $4.1 billion across 14,055 grants, making it one of the ten largest private foundations in the United States.

The Foundation's philosophy centers on deep, multi-decade institutional partnerships rather than competitive rounds. Examining the top grantee list makes the model vivid: Broad Institute ($40M cumulative for the Starr Cancer Consortium), New York-Presbyterian ($36.5M across 4 capital grants), Weill Cornell Medicine ($59M+ across multiple lines), Rockefeller University ($25M), and Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale ($20.3M). None of these entered the portfolio through a grant application — they were invited, cultivated, and elevated over years. The Foundation concentrates transformational capital into a small number of proven institutional partners rather than diversifying broadly.

The Greenberg family's personal legacy is architecturally embedded throughout the portfolio. Scholarship funds, research centers, and named academic facilities bearing "Maurice R. Greenberg" or "Corinne P. Greenberg" appear at Weill Cornell, Rockefeller, Yale, Georgia State, New York Botanical Garden, and the Hebrew Home. This naming culture signals that legacy recognition is a meaningful partnership element — organizations in a position to offer endowment naming rights have a distinct structural advantage.

Geography matters significantly. Of 523 tracked grants in the database, 311 (59%) went to New York state organizations, overwhelmingly in Manhattan. Washington, D.C. captures 13% through the public policy program. Non-NYC, non-DC organizations need a compelling national or international case — and typically a connection to an existing grantee or the Greenberg network — to enter the portfolio.

The realistic path to an invitation runs through warm introductions: development officers at Weill Cornell, Rockefeller, or Georgia State; board members with connections to the insurance or financial services world; or institutional collaborators already in the Foundation's orbit. Organizations in elder care, disaster relief, risk management education, or U.S.-China policy work have the clearest programmatic precedent — and somewhat lower institutional barriers than the flagship medical research program dominated by Ivy-tier research centers.

The Starr Foundation's grantmaking across 2019-2024 has ranged from $71.3 million (FY2021) to $101.4 million (FY2019), with FY2024 at $73.5 million in grants paid against $1.36 billion in assets — a payout rate of approximately 5.4%, consistent with private foundation minimums. The 2023 spike to $94.9 million in grants paid likely reflects multi-year disbursements landing simultaneously; FY2024's moderation does not indicate reduced capacity.

Grant size shows a strongly bimodal distribution. The Foundation's enriched data indicates a median grant of $50,000 and an average of $792,701 — a ratio revealing two distinct giving modes. The smaller mode encompasses sustained operating support for NYC community organizations: City Harvest receives roughly $100,000-$300,000 annually; Citymeals on Wheels received $1 million across 4 grants; Harlem Children's Zone received $625,000 total across 4 grants. These are accessible precedents for established nonprofits with existing relationships. The larger mode encompasses transformational institutional commitments: the Broad Institute's Starr Cancer Consortium has received $40 million across 4 grants; the 2025 Lincoln Center commitment totals $30 million over 10 years; Weill Cornell's multiple lines exceed $59 million cumulatively.

By program area (cumulative historical totals from the Foundation's own reporting): Health & Medicine tops the per-grant average at $1.4 billion+ across 1,656 grants (~$845,000 per grant); Education is the highest-volume program at $1.3 billion+ across 4,959 grants (~$262,000 per grant), with scholarship endowments pulling the average down; Human Needs at $482 million+ across 3,131 grants reflects more community-scale giving (~$154,000 per grant); Public Policy & International Relations at $423 million+ across 1,679 grants; Culture at $310 million+; and Environment at $95 million+ — the smallest and most selective program area.

Geographically: New York (59%), District of Columbia (13%), California (5%), Connecticut (4%), New Jersey (4%), Virginia (3%). International giving routes through U.S.-registered intermediaries — Give2Asia for China programs ($1.99M), Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris ($5.2M), NUS America Foundation for Yale-NUS ($2M), and International Scholarship & Tuition Services for scholarship administration ($2.59M).

The five foundations matched by asset size and NTEE category provide useful context for Starr's distinctive profile:

Starr is distinguished from this peer group by three characteristics. First, its geographic footprint is explicitly national and international — most comparable foundations concentrate regionally (Daniels in the Mountain West, Woodruff in metro Atlanta, Allen in the Pacific Northwest), while Starr funds elite institutions from New York to Beijing to Paris. Second, Starr's six-program structure and $4.1 billion in cumulative historical giving reflect unmatched breadth at this asset tier. Third, the Foundation's connection to the Greenberg family's AIG legacy gives it distinctive expertise and interest in risk management, insurance education, and U.S.-China relations that no peer foundation actively prioritizes. Among this peer group, Daniels Fund is the only foundation with a meaningfully open application process — its online LOI portal offers a genuine alternative path for organizations unable to access the invitation-only funders in this cohort.

The defining event of the Foundation's recent history is the generational leadership transition triggered by Maurice R. Greenberg's death in April 2023. Greenberg — who built AIG into a $180 billion enterprise and served as the Foundation's Board Chairman for decades — had personally shaped its priorities in U.S.-China relations, insurance education, and elite medical research. His son Jeffrey W. Greenberg formally assumed the Board Chairmanship on March 19, 2024, per IRS filings. Florence A. Davis has continued as President throughout the transition, receiving $503,322 in compensation in FY2024, suggesting strong operational continuity.

The early JW Greenberg era is taking shape through 2025 grantmaking. March 2025 brought the Foundation's most prominent recent commitment: $30 million over 10 years to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts for the West Project, a transformational arts infrastructure investment that signals elevated cultural giving ambition. In February 2025, the Foundation simultaneously renewed the Council on Foreign Relations China Program ($2.25 million, 3 years) and funded the Hoover Institution's U.S.-China policy program ($2.25 million) — a dual investment demonstrating that China policy infrastructure remains a priority even amid a changed geopolitical landscape.

Emergency giving remained active: the C.V. Starr Disaster Relief Fund disbursed $334,000 for the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires in February 2025. The June 2025 grant of $1 million to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum for its 25th anniversary exhibition continued a multi-decade relationship. Park Avenue Armory received $1.5 million over 3 years in February 2025, and Harlem Lacrosse received $500,000 over 4 years in May 2025, suggesting broadening interest in NYC youth and performing arts organizations beyond the Foundation's traditional institutional core.

Because the Starr Foundation is strictly invitation-only, effective "application strategy" is relationship strategy — the goal is to position your organization to receive an invitation, not to submit a proposal cold.

Building toward an invitation The most reliable path is a warm introduction through an existing Starr grantee. Development officers at Weill Cornell Medicine, Rockefeller University, New York-Presbyterian, Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, City Harvest, Georgia State University, or the New York Botanical Garden are the most accessible entry points. Board mapping is equally important: identify whether any of your trustees or major donors have personal or professional connections to the Greenberg family or to the insurance and financial services world in which C.V. Starr and Maurice R. Greenberg built their careers.

For general inquiries — not funding requests — contact info@starrfoundation.org or call (212) 909-3600. The Foundation cannot respond to unsolicited funding requests but may acknowledge general organizational inquiries from organizations with a compelling alignment case.

Alignment language that resonates The Foundation responds to proposals framed around institutional permanence, legacy, and scale — capital campaigns, named endowments, scholarship funds, and named facilities. Avoid systems-change or advocacy framing; this Foundation funds institutions, not movements. Connect your mission authentically to their programmatic history: elder care and aging services (Hebrew Home precedent), NYC-based food security (City Harvest, Citymeals-on-Wheels precedent), cancer or stem cell research through multi-institutional partnerships, risk management education, or U.S.-China policy.

If invited to submit a formal proposal The Foundation requires a specific package — no application form exists. Prepare: (1) a cover letter describing your organization and the exact grant terms requested; (2) a line-item project budget; (3) most recent audited financial statements; (4) list of current and anticipated major funders; (5) board member list with affiliations; (6) current IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter; (7) full administrative expense detail including the salaries of your top five employees. The critical compliance threshold: administrative and fundraising costs must not exceed 25% of total annual expenses. Exceeding this is an explicit disqualifying factor.

Formatting and logistics Do not include DVDs, CDs, or video files — explicitly prohibited. The Foundation reviews proposals on a rolling basis with no deadlines. Multi-month review timelines are standard; follow-up inquiries to Foundation staff are appropriate after 60-90 days with no response.