U.S. private foundation funding arts and culture, nature, and health and well-being. It also advances Doris Duke’s legacy through national grantmaking, public-facing centers, and related charitable entities.
The foundation works to help build a more creative, fairer, and more sustainable future by supporting work in arts and culture, nature, and health and well-being, while carrying forward Doris Duke’s charitable legacy through grantmaking and stewardship.
Doris Duke began philanthropic giving during her lifetime, including creating an earlier foundation in 1934. The modern Doris Duke Foundation was established in 1996 through the terms of her will and began awarding grants in 1997. Its current corporate successor, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Inc., was incorporated in New York in December 2017, and in 2019 it received the assets of the earlier Doris Duke Charitable Foundation trust. Today, the foundation continues work shaped by Duke’s interests in the arts, conservation, health, child well-being, and the preservation of her properties and collections.
The foundation says its program staff researches gaps and needs in the fields it supports, then often develops targeted initiatives around specific goals. Most grants are made by invitation, though unsolicited proposals and occasional open calls are accepted. Beyond grants, it also uses convenings, communications, investments, and its public-facing centers, Duke Farms and Shangri La, to advance its work. For unsolicited inquiries, the foundation states that only U.S. nonprofit organizations are reviewed, and it generally does not make direct grants to individuals, except where artist-focused opportunities are offered through supported regranting or open-call programs.
The foundation has operated since 1996 and awarded its first grants in 1997. It reports more than $2 billion in assets and awarded $62.24 million in grants in 2024. Its Doris Duke Artist Awards program, launched in 2012, has provided nearly 150 artists with more than $40 million. It also sustains Doris Duke’s legacy through centers such as Duke Farms and Shangri La, which extend its environmental, cultural, and public-engagement work beyond grantmaking alone.
The foundation’s work includes partnerships across philanthropy, culture, and research. Examples on its official site include work with Islamic Scholarship Fund and Sundance Institute through a Building Bridges fellowship, and a multi-foundation arts-and-technology commitment with Mozilla Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. Its broader operating model also includes collaboration through Duke Farms and Shangri La.
Public-facing materials describe the Doris Duke Foundation as working across three broad areas: Arts & Culture, Nature, and Health & Well-being. The audited financial statements show that the current corporate entity, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Inc., is a New York not-for-profit corporation incorporated in 2017 as successor to the earlier Doris Duke Charitable Foundation trust established in 1996. The same filing notes that the broader “Foundation” includes related entities such as Duke Farms Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, Doris Duke Management Foundation, and Doris Duke Foundation. The official website states that the organization is endowed with over $2 billion from Doris Duke’s assets. Its grant resources page emphasizes that research informs strategy, most grants are by invitation, and other tools beyond grantmaking are used to advance impact. At the time reviewed, the official grants page listed no open competitions. Current public leadership listings identify Samsher (Sam) Gill as president and CEO.