The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is a major U.S. family foundation funding long-term initiatives to reduce disadvantage worldwide, including youth, homelessness, refugees, safe water, early childhood development, and Catholic sisters
The Foundation’s mission is to alleviate human suffering worldwide by applying the founders’ values of integrity, bold thinking, humility, stewardship, and compassion.
Hotel entrepreneur Conrad N. Hilton established the Foundation in 1944 as a philanthropic trust, later transitioning to nonprofit status to expand its charitable reach. After Conrad Hilton’s death, he left nearly all his wealth to sustain the mission in perpetuity. The Foundation’s resources expanded significantly over time, including Barron Hilton’s commitment of 97% of his estate (announced in 2007) and a major endowment increase following his passing.To alleviate human suffering worldwide by applying the founders’ values of integrity, bold thinking, humility, stewardship, and compassion.
The Foundation describes itself as a strategic grantmaker focused on long-term partnerships and proactively developed projects aligned to defined initiatives; it generally does not accept unsolicited proposals. An exception is its locally focused Good Neighbor Program, which accepts proposals for small grants in communities near its offices. The Foundation also complements grantmaking with program-related investments (PRIs), providing mission-driven financing with potential return of capital, and emphasizes multi-stakeholder collaboration that includes philanthropy, business, government, and civil society.
The Foundation is among the world’s largest private foundations by assets and has awarded more than $3.6 billion in grants over its history. In 2024, it reported nearly $300 million in grantmaking worldwide. It is also the patron of the annual Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, awarding $3 million to recognize exceptional humanitarian impact. Through PRIs since 1994, it has deployed mission-driven capital intended to catalyze additional resources and models beyond traditional grants.
The Foundation states that partnerships are central to its strategy, using multi-stakeholder collaboration (philanthropy, private sector, government, and civil society) and incorporating perspectives of people with lived experience. It also works with external investment managers as part of an endowment approach designed to support giving in perpetuity.
The Foundation emphasizes donor intent, referencing principles in Conrad Hilton’s will that encourage giving without territorial, religious, or racial restrictions. Governance is by a board of directors with a majority of members identified as Hilton descendants, with a family development pipeline (e.g., “Generations in Giving”) described on the site. The Foundation’s grantmaking model is primarily proactive and initiative-led, with a limited pathway for local unsolicited proposals through the Good Neighbor Program. It also uses complementary tools such as PRIs and promotes locally led approaches to strengthen community capacity and leadership