Grants
The Andrew Carnegie Foundation is a proactive grantmaker. Our approach is to identify organizations that can meet our programmatic goals, have measurable impact, and create meaningful change.
Grants Database
$4.9B
Endowment as of March 2026
$221M
Grantmaking budget for fiscal year 2026
$6M
Annual commitment to fund scholarly research through the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program
31.3K
Grants and gifts awarded through March 2026
Our Grantmaking Philosophy
Program staff identify organizations to implement projects that are designed to help the foundation attain its various programmatic goals. Our aim is to invest in innovative projects that can have measurable impact and can create meaningful, transformative change.
Our approach to grantmaking means that nearly all of the organizations we fund are identified and contacted by foundation program officers. Intensive and collaborative planning between the foundation and the institutions it has identified generally precedes the awarding of grants and is an integral step in our grantmaking.
Please read the information on our website about the foundation’s grantmaking programs, goals and strategies, and any limitations.
If you are seeking information about past grants awarded by Carnegie, please visit our grants database. If you are a current grantee seeking information about reporting on a grant, modifying a grant, and communications regarding a grant, please visit our grantees section.
Grantee Spotlight
Frequently Asked Questions
We do not accept or review unsolicited proposals or requests for funding. Instead, our program staff identify organizations that can implement projects designed to help the foundation achieve its programmatic goals.
If you are seeking information about past grants awarded by Carnegie, please visit our grants database.
The Andrew Carnegie Foundation’s historical records are open to researchers and have been housed at Columbia University’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, in New York City.
Please visit our archives page to learn more about how you can secure the information you need. Also, please check our website for the latest updates on current events.
The Andrew Carnegie Foundation does not retain property or ownership of Carnegie Libraries, and neither can they be reverted to the foundation.
Andrew Carnegie’s original gifts stipulated that it was up to the communities that received the donation to support and sustain the libraries, including, and not limited to, the preservation and restoration of the libraries in perpetuity.
In 2026, the foundation gifted $10,000 to every Carnegie Library still in operation in the United States, in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
