About Tow Foundation
To promote wellness and access to opportunities so that individuals and communities can thrive.
Focus Areas
Arts and CultureHigher EducationCivic EngagementEquity and JusticeMedicine and Public HealthYouth mental health (Innovation Fund)
Who They Fund
medical researchers and clinician-scientists (fellows, recruited faculty)students and academic faculty (college and journalism students)people with cancer and oncology patients (including pediatric/ developmental oncology)patients with autoimmune, musculoskeletal, pulmonary, neuromuscular, and ALS conditionsjournalists and news organizations (investigative journalists, media fellows)
About Tow Foundation
The Tow Foundation Inc. has made radiotheranostics a defining thread in its recent grantmaking, including repeated multimillion-dollar support for Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. That long-running oncology work sits alongside sizable commitments to women’s clinical genomics, precision medicine, and tissue regeneration, showing a strong biomedical research emphasis. The foundation also backs journalism education and innovation, with funding for Columbia University, the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism CUNY Foundation, and media capacity building. In the arts, it supports New York cultural institutions through capital and residency-related grants such as Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, The Public Theater, and its Tow Playwrights in Residence program. The Tow Foundation Inc. also funds youth justice, higher education access, and youth mental health initiatives, including the Tow Mentoring Initiative at Brooklyn College Foundation and the 2025 Innovation Fund for early-stage youth well-being work. Its grantmaking reaches both major institutions and targeted programs, reflecting a mix of endowed, restricted, and project-based support.
What Tow Foundation Funds
In medicine and public health, The Tow Foundation Inc. backs research infrastructure and clinical innovation rather than only general health services. It awarded $1.4 million to New York Genome Center Inc. for the Center of Excellence in Womens Clinical Genomic Healthcare, and $1.24 million to the New York Society for the Relief of Ruptured & Crippled Maintaining the Hospital for Special Surgery for precision medicine and tissue regeneration in autoimmune and musculoskeletal diseases. Oncology remains another clear theme: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center received $1.2 million for computational immuno-oncology, building on earlier support for radiotheranostics and developmental oncology. The foundation also supports journalism and higher education through named professorships, research, and center-building, including Columbia University’s Leonard Tow Professorship of Journalism and the Tow-Knight Center at CUNY.
How Tow Foundation Gives
Typical grant size is $10,000 at the 25th percentile, $50,000 at the median, and $100,000 at the 75th percentile, though the recent record also includes several seven-figure awards. The pattern mixes recurring commitments and one-off grants: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Bard College, and Columbia University each appear across multiple years. The Tow Foundation Inc. is a regular funder, not a DAF, and the portfolio includes operating support, fellowships, capital campaign funding, and restricted project grants. It also funds individuals, consistent with its fellowship and training support in higher education and clinical research.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$26.2M
Total Assets
$311.4M
Total Revenue
$21.4M
Total Expenses
$31.7M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $100K, with a median of $50K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$50K
75th Percentile
$100K
Geographic Reach
Regional22 states funded
About 19% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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