Carnegie Corporation of New York Changes Its Name to the Andrew Carnegie Foundation

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To honor the founder of one of the country’s first philanthropic grantmaking institutions, Carnegie Corporation of New York announced today that it has changed its name to the Andrew Carnegie Foundation. The new name recognizes Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish immigrant who established the philanthropic organization on June 9, 1911.

Announced on the foundation’s 115th anniversary, the change provides a clear connection to Andrew Carnegie and reduces confusion caused by the original name. The foundation is Mr. Carnegie’s primary philanthropic grantmaking foundation, not a corporation, and it disburses funds both nationally and internationally, not just in New York.

The Andrew Carnegie Foundation’s mission is staying the same, focused on issues that Andrew Carnegie considered most important: education, democracy, and peace. He endowed his foundation with $135 million, and today, the endowment stands at more than $5 billion, with a grantmaking budget of $220 million for the current year.

“The Andrew Carnegie Foundation represents one of the most powerful stories in modern philanthropy: an impoverished immigrant who rose to become one of the era’s richest men and then devoted himself to doing ‘real and permanent good in the world.’ His example has inspired generations of philanthropists ever since,” said Dame Louise Richardson, president of the foundation and former head of the University of Oxford. “Our foundation continues his extraordinary legacy over a century after his death, and today, across the world, tens of thousands of people benefit from the 2,500 free public libraries he funded in an unprecedented act of strategic generosity.”

Andrew Carnegie became one of the most influential figures in philanthropy in 1889 when he published the essay “The Gospel of Wealth,” stating that the rich should use their excess wealth to improve the lives of others. After selling his steel company in 1901 for nearly $500 million, Carnegie committed to giving away his fortune. By 1911, Carnegie had established more than 20 institutions and had run out of more traditional names, leading him to select “corporation” for his main grantmaking foundation.

In a nod to Andrew Carnegie’s enduring legacy, the foundation’s new logo features his signature. The foundation commissioned the Brooklyn-based agency Madeo to develop its new visual identity and redesigned website, Carnegie.org.