Our History

The Harold B. and Dorothy A. Snyder Foundation exists to provide financial support in an effort to empower the development and innovation of institutions and individuals in the State of New Jersey that hold high promise. Its objective is to nurture, cultivate, and unleash the potential of organizations and individuals in ways that will positively impact the most needy and underserved in their communities. The Snyder Foundation’s main areas of focus have been healthcare, education, social services, and faith-based initiatives, with a particular emphasis on Union County residents and institutions.

The Snyder Foundation was originally founded in New Jersey in 1971 as the Snyder Trust by Harold B. Snyder in memory of his loving, generous, and caring late wife Dorothy, following her death in 1966. Harold, a New Jersey land developer and builder for 50 years, who also founded the Kenilworth State Bank, believed that philanthropy is a critical element in our society. He set up the Trust with instructions on how it should be administered after his death.

In 1979, with Harold’s passing, his daughter Audrey Snyder was appointed as his successor in charge of the Trust. The Trust was subsequently renamed The Harold B. and Dorothy A. Snyder Foundation in 1984, to honor the couple’s shared passion for helping others and “giving back” to society. Audrey Snyder, who assumed the responsibility of administering the Foundation’s charitable giving, proved a faithful executor of her deceased parents’ will. She honorably followed in their footsteps by dispensing charity to those in the community who most needed it. Under Audrey’s leadership, the Snyder Foundation quickly put the ideals of its founder in motion with its first grant issued the same year Audrey assumed office.

Audrey Snyder became known as a passionate champion of healthcare, education, and services for the less fortunate. Over the years, The Snyder Foundation made grants in an amount approximating $25 million to a wide variety of community organizations, entities, and individual in need of philanthropic assistance to help them realize their potential.

Today, the Snyder Foundation remains faithful to its legacy. Two of its two largest endeavors have been seen through to completion, and the majority of its remaining funds will serve the community in a manner consistent with the original founder’s wishes. Its vision is for another decade of more concentrated philanthropy in the form of private scholarships to help unleash the innovative spirit and individual potential of Union County’s young people.