Total Assets (endowment): $65,000,000[1]
Total Assets (as of 1996 spend-down decision): $25,000,000[2]
Total Giving: $175,000,000
Prominent Grants: Giving primarily limited to New York City. Prominent grant recipients include the New York Public Library, the Astor Home for Children, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural History.
Summary: Vincent Astor established the Foundation in New York City in 1959 for the purpose of “alleviating human misery”. Astor, a descendant of the 19th century fur trader and financier; John Jacob Astor, died shortly after the Foundation’s establishment. His wife, Brooke, ran the Foundation during its nearly 40-year lifespan. During the course of its grant-making, the Foundation disbursed some $175 million in financial grants to charitable and non-profit organizations and institutions in New York City including libraries, museums, schools, universities, municipal parks, settlement houses, and civic and community improvement groups. Brooke Astor made the decision in 1996 to spend the remains of the Astor family’s philanthropic fortune and the Vincent Astor Foundation shut its doors.