The Snider Foundation was a private foundation established in 1977 by Ed Snider, founder of the Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League team. The Foundation intended to promote what it viewed to be core American values, including the principles of limited government, individual liberty, and free enterprise. The Foundation also supported Israel and Jewish culture and provided funding to enrich local communities in the Philadelphia area. 1
In late 2024, the Snider Foundation announced that it would be ceasing operations, distributing its remaining assets to new foundations managed by Snider’s children. 2
Background
The Snider Foundation was established in 1977 by Ed Snider, founder of the Philadelphia Flyers National Hockey League team. Snider was the founder of the Spectacor management company, which later merged with the Comcast Corporation to become Comcast Spectacor and later Comcast SportsNet, a regional sports cable network. 3
Ed Snider was the founder of the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation, which provides underserved children from urban neighborhoods in the Philadelphia area with the opportunity to learn to play ice hockey. Snider Hockey has provided funding and programming for more than 3,000 kids, including academic support, socio-emotional support, and direct support to families facing food and housing insecurity. 3 Snider died in 2016. 4
Grantmaking
The Snider Foundation has granted more than $40 million since its founding in 1977. In 2014, the Foundation granted $5 million to the University of Maryland, Ed Snider’s alma mater, to establish the Ed Snider Center for Enterprise and Markets. After Snider’s death in 2016, his family continued his philanthropy through the Foundation. 3
The Snider Foundation has given consistently to right-of-center think tanks and advocacy organizations that support the principles of limited government, individual liberty, and free enterprise including the Federalist Society, the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and the Atlas Network. The Foundation has also given to organizations that support Israel and Jewish culture like the Birthright Israel Foundation, the Central Fund of Israel, and the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA). 5
In its 2023 tax filing, the Snider Foundation reported nearly $150 million in assets. 6
Dissolution
In late 2024, the board of the Snider Foundation announced that it would be restructuring the Foundation and ceasing operations. The announcement detailed that the children of Ed Snider would be operating their own independent foundations, continuing to advance the values of Ed Snider. It added that the Craig Snider Foundation, the Jay Snider Foundation, the Lindy Snider Foundation, and the Sarena Snider Foundation would each be managed by Hoplin Jackson Charitable Advisors, a philanthropic consulting firm that would take on the Snider Foundation staff. 2
Leadership
Jay Snider, son of Ed Snider, was the president of the Snider Foundation and a former president of the Philadelphia Flyers and Spectacor. Snider is the founder and chair of UNIT Solutions and the chair of Civilization Works. 7
Other members of the board included Lindy Snider, Thomas Beach, Jamie Snider , Cody Snider, Craig Snider, Jacob Snider, Sarena Snider, and Todd Snider. 8
Donation Recipients
30 Day Fund (nonprofit)
3rd Special Forces Group Warrior Fund (nonprofit)
70 Faces Media (nonprofit)
A Greener World (nonprofit)
A Meaningful Purpose (nonprofit)
Action Inc. (nonprofit)
Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund (nonprofit)
American Committee for Weizmann Institute of Science (nonprofit)
American Friends of Soroka Medical Center (nonprofit)
American Friends of Yahad-In Unum (nonprofit)
American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) (nonprofit)
American Philosophical Society (nonprofit)
Angel Fund (nonprofit)
Andrew Jackson Foundation (nonprofit)
Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund (nonprofit)
Anti-Defamation League (nonprofit)
Atlas Network (nonprofit)
Ayn Rand Institute (nonprofit)
Ballotpedia (nonprofit)
Beis Community (nonprofit)
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences (nonprofit)
Bill of Rights Institute (nonprofit)
Birthright Israel Foundation (nonprofit)
Boston University (nonprofit)
Bowling Green State University (nonprofit)
Bring Change to Mind (nonprofit)
Bringing Hope Home (nonprofit)
Brooklin Keeping Society (nonprofit)
Brownstone Institute (nonprofit)
CDC Foundation (nonprofit)
Center for American Liberty (nonprofit)
Center for Peace Communications (nonprofit)
Center for Security Policy (nonprofit)
Central Fund of Israel (nonprofit)
Chabad of Lancaster (nonprofit)
Chabad of Penn State (nonprofit)
Chabad of Penn Wynne (nonprofit)
Chabad of the Main Line (nonprofit)
Chabad of Tribeca (nonprofit)
Champions Fund (nonprofit)
Children’s Crisis Treatment Center (nonprofit)
Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (nonprofit)
Clarion Project (nonprofit)
Clemson University Foundation (nonprofit)
Club Z (nonprofit)
Columbia University (nonprofit)
Combat Hate Foundation (nonprofit)
Comcast Spectacor Charities (nonprofit)
Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives (nonprofit)
Community Security Service (nonprofit)
Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs Foundation (nonprofit)
Constructive Dialogue Institute (nonprofit)
Creative Visions Foundation (nonprofit)
Cumberland Community Foundation (nonprofit)
Daily Pennsylvanian (nonprofit)
David Horowitz Freedom Center (nonprofit)
Do No Harm (nonprofit)
Drexel University (nonprofit)
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for The United States Senate (nonprofit)
Electric Infrastructure Security Council (nonprofit)
Emory University (nonprofit)
Environmental Progress (nonprofit)
Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund (nonprofit)
Fairness Center (nonprofit)
Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (nonprofit)
Family Reach Foundation (nonprofit)
Federalist Society (nonprofit)
Film Collaborative (nonprofit)
Fiscal Sponsorship Allies (nonprofit)
Food and Environment Reporting Network (nonprofit)
Foundation for Defense of Democracies (nonprofit)
Foundation for Economic Education (nonprofit)
Foundation for Government Accountability (nonprofit)
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (nonprofit)
Freedom Foundation (nonprofit)
FreedomWorks Foundation (nonprofit)
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (nonprofit)
Friends of Israel Initiative (nonprofit)
Friends of United Hatzalah (nonprofit)
Fuente Latina (nonprofit)
Gates Philanthropy Partners (nonprofit)
Generation Justice (nonprofit)
George Mason University Foundation (nonprofit)
George Washington University Program on Extremism (nonprofit)
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (nonprofit)
Giving Back Fund (nonprofit)
Global Wildlife Conservation (nonprofit)
Gratz College (nonprofit)
Health Hub SF (nonprofit)
HealthCorps (nonprofit)
HealthNetwork Foundation (nonprofit)
HelpUsAdopt.org (nonprofit)
Heterodox Academy (nonprofit)
Hillsdale College (nonprofit)
Hole in the Wall Gang Fund (nonprofit)
Holocaust Museum LA (nonprofit)
HonestReporting USA (nonprofit)
Hudson Institute (nonprofit)
ImpactIsrael (nonprofit)
Independent Institute (nonprofit)
Institute for Free Speech (nonprofit)
Institute for Justice (nonprofit)
Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (nonprofit)
International Institute for Education and Research on Antisemitism (nonprofit)
Investigative Reporters and Editors (nonprofit)
Island Institute (nonprofit)
Israel Emergency Alliance (Alums for Campus Fairness) (nonprofit)
Israel on Campus Coalition (nonprofit)
Itrek (nonprofit)
Jack Miller Center (nonprofit)
Jewish Agency for Israel North American Council (nonprofit)
Jewish Communities of Western Connecticut (nonprofit)
Jewish Community Project of Lower Manhattan (nonprofit)
Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, Marin, and the Peninsula (nonprofit)
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia (nonprofit)
Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey (nonprofit)
Jewish Funders Network (nonprofit)
Jewish Institute for Liberal Values (nonprofit)
Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) (nonprofit)
Jewish News Service (nonprofit)
Jewish News Syndicate (nonprofit)
Jewish Relief Agency (nonprofit)
Johns Hopkins Medicine (nonprofit)
Join FreeWorld (nonprofit)
Kavod Survivors of the Holocaust Emergency Fund (nonprofit)
KB Foundation (nonprofit)
Lalela Project (nonprofit)
Lawfare Project (nonprofit)
Lazarus House Ministries (nonprofit)
Legion Fund (The Community Foundation of South Central Kentucky) (nonprofit)
Liberty Justice Center (nonprofit)
Louis D. Brandeis Center (nonprofit)
Lubavitch House at Penn (nonprofit)
Maine Community Foundation (nonprofit)
Maine Farmland Trust (nonprofit)
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (nonprofit)
Media Impact Funders (nonprofit)
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) (nonprofit)
Minding Your Mind Foundation (nonprofit)
Mission Kids (nonprofit)
Museum of the American Revolution (nonprofit)
National Center for Public Policy Research (nonprofit)
National Constitution Center (nonprofit)
National Museum of American Jewish History (nonprofit)
National Progress Alliance (nonprofit)
National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (nonprofit)
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (nonprofit)
New Civil Liberties Alliance (nonprofit)
No Left Turn in Education (nonprofit)
Northeastern University (nonprofit)
Northwestern University (nonprofit)
Pacific Legal Foundation (nonprofit)
Parents Defending Education (nonprofit)
Petit Family Foundation (nonprofit)
Phase One Foundation (nonprofit)
Philadelphia Police Foundation (nonprofit)
Philanthropy Roundtable (nonprofit)
Philos Project (nonprofit)
Prager University Foundation (nonprofit)
Property and Environment Research Center (nonprofit)
Real Clear Foundation (nonprofit)
Reason Foundation (nonprofit)
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (nonprofit)
Richard J. Caron Foundation (nonprofit)
Rodale Institute (nonprofit)
Rohr Center for Jewish Life – Chabad House (Tri-Chabad) (nonprofit)
Samaritans (nonprofit)
Scholars For Peace in the Middle East (nonprofit)
Seal Legacy Foundation (nonprofit)
Secure Community Network (nonprofit)
Simon Wiesenthal Center (nonprofit)
Slow Food USA (nonprofit)
Socially Responsible Agricultural Project (nonprofit)
Southeastern Legal Foundation (nonprofit)
Special Operations Solutions Fund (nonprofit)
StandWithUs (nonprofit)
StandStrong (nonprofit)
Stanford University (nonprofit)
State Financial Officers Foundation (nonprofit)
State Policy Network (SPN) (nonprofit)
Steamboat Institute (nonprofit)
Stop Soldier Suicide (nonprofit)
Students For Liberty (nonprofit)
Students Supporting Israel (nonprofit)
Survivors of Torture International (nonprofit)
Tides Foundation (nonprofit)
Tina Snider Foundation (nonprofit)
To Be Honest (The Tel Aviv Institute) (nonprofit)
Travelling Press Fund (nonprofit)
Tribe Media Corp. (nonprofit)
United Charitable (nonprofit)
United Nations Watch – USA (nonprofit)
University of Austin (nonprofit)
University of Colorado Foundation (nonprofit)
University of Maryland College Park Foundation (nonprofit)
University of Pennsylvania (nonprofit)
University of Southern California (nonprofit)
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (nonprofit)
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History (nonprofit)
White Coat Waste Project (nonprofit)
Women in Film & Video (nonprofit)
Woodson Center (nonprofit)
World Central Kitchen (nonprofit)
World Resources Institute (nonprofit)
Young America’s Foundation (nonprofit)
Young Americans for Liberty Foundation (nonprofit)
Vendors
Conley Law Group LLC (for profit)
Cozen O’Connor (for profit)
Goldman Sachs (for profit)
Haverford Trust Company (for profit)
Hoplin Jackson Charitable Advisors LLC (for profit)
Permit Capital Advisors LLC (for profit)
References
- “Home.” The Snider Foundation. Archived from the original March 1, 2016. Accessed December 8, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20160301074359/http://www.sniderfoundation.org/.
- “Home.” The Snider Foundation. Accessed December 8, 2025. http://www.sniderfoundation.org/.
- “History.” The Snider Foundation. Archived from the original February 3, 2024. Accessed December 8, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20240203164532/https://www.sniderfoundation.org/history.html.
- MacDonald, Tom. “Ed Snider Flyers Legend Dies at 83.” WHYY, April 11, 2016. https://whyy.org/articles/ed-snider-flyers-legend-dies-at-83/.
- The Snider Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2020-2023, Part XIV, Line 3a.
- The Snider Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2023, Part II, Line 16.
- “Jay Snider, Chair.” Civilization Works. Accessed December 8, 2025. https://www.civilizationworks.org/board-of-directors-blog/blog-post-title-one-nk8s4-hnbgm-wrbnf-tr983-r8jy8-9bsa4-dkyee.
- The Snider Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2023, Part VII, Line 2a.