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Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters
10100 Santa Monica Boulevard, Suite 1000
Los Angeles, California 90067-4011 USA

Sr. Joyce Meyer, PBVM, Executive Director
B. Remington Myers, Grants Officer
Sathiya Yong, Grants Assistant
Julianne Mazziotti, Administrative Assistant

Known as much for his philanthropy as for the many hotels around the world that bear his name, Conrad N. Hilton established the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in 1944 and left the bulk of his estate to it upon his death in 1979. Mr. Hilton especially admired the charitable works of Roman Catholic sisters. In his will, he instructed the foundation directors to "give aid to the sisters, who devote their love and life's work for the good of mankind." In 1986 the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation established the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters as a channel for its contributions to sisters' projects that mitigate the suffering of the disadvantaged.

Grants from the Conrad N. Hilton Fund for Sisters usually do not exceed $15,000 USD and are used to purchase essential materials and equipment, or to cover operating expenses such as salaries, utilities, communication and transportation.

In order for a project to qualify for funding, at least one vowed member of an officially recognized Roman Catholic congregation of women religious must serve in a full-time capacity and work directly with the poor. The project to be funded should address a specific need for education, health care or social services. The following kinds of projects typically qualify for funding:

  • Literacy and education projects, particularly those targeting women and children
  • Job creation and job training programs
  • Maternal and infant health-care programs
  • HIV/AIDS education, treatment and support programs
  • Water purification, nutrition and agricultural projects
  • Projects aimed at reducing violence in families, communities and institutions
  • Assistance programs for refugees, immigrants, orphans and others in special need
  • Food, clothing and medical relief in response to emergencies such as floods and earthquakes

In addition to projects that directly serve the poor, the Fund for Sisters awards grants to national and regional conferences of women religious to help them purchase computers and provide computer training for sisters. These communication grants are awarded only to conferences, not to individual congregations. Communication grants are also awarded to help conferences assess their technological needs and develop a plan of action to address them.

The Fund for Sisters also awards short-term technical assistance grants for fund-raising, financial management and consultative services on a case-by-case basis.

Who is NOT Eligible for Funding?
  • Our grants may not be used to address needs that are internal to a congregation. This includes the cost of educating and training new members, operating a novitiate or motherhouse and providing for sisters' retirement.
  • We do not pay tuition or other school fees, not even for sisters.
  • We do not fund prayer centers, retreat or spirituality programs, catechetics, or other forms of evangelization.
  • We do not fund projects that are sponsored by major corporations, universities or medical centers, or well-established projects with large budgets and the support of a broad community, large foundation or government.
  • We do not contribute to major construction projects, capital improvements or the purchase of land or buildings.
  • We do not fund the repayment of debts.
  • We do not contribute to fund-raising campaigns, endowments or pension funds.
  • We do not fund diocesan or parish programs within the United States.
  • We do not contribute to projects engaged in activities that the laws of the United States prohibit our organization from supporting.

To propose a project, carefully follow the following instructions:

In a two-page typed letter, in English and on official stationery:

On a separate page, in U. S. dollars:

  • Give the name and address of the project.
  • Describe the project.
  • Describe how the population you serve is suffering socially and economically.
  • Describe the work of those sisters who are directly involved with the project in a full-time capacity. Include their names and the names of their religious congregations.
  • Give the total amount of your request.
  • Itemize the cost of the services you plan to provide and/or list the cost of every item you plan to purchase with the funds you are requesting.
  • If the project is new, itemize the expected income and expenses for its first year of operation.
  • If the project is not new, itemize the income and expenses for the previous fiscal year, and provide an itemized budget of the entire project for the current fiscal year.

Please be aware that a project proposal is NOT the same thing as a grant application. If your project proposal appears to qualify for funding, then we will send a grant application to you.


You may submit a proposal using our online project proposal form.