Daniel Snyder is best known as the owner of the Washington Football team, but he has had a hand in many organizations. One of the most notable community leaders in Washington, his passion for the D.C. community is apparent in his work. Throughout his career, he has focused just as much on philanthropy as he has on entrepreneurship.
Dan Snyder grew up in the greater D.C. area, and his interest in football formed at a young age when he attended Redskins games with his father. Before becoming involved with the team, though, he had several other major business ventures.
In 1985, Snyder became the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of his company, Snyder Communications, Inc. The company grew to employ 12,000 individuals and bring in over $1 billion in yearly revenue. Snyder was the youngest CEO of a New York Stock Exchange Company at the time.
He purchased the Washington Redskins football team in 1999, and his philanthropic efforts began immediately. In the years since, Daniel Snyder has led the team in raising millions of dollars for various charities.
In 2000, Snyder established the Washington Charitable Foundation. The goal of this organization is to bring together the greater D.C. community and support youth development through education, outreach, and health and wellness initiatives. The foundation has given over $29 million to individuals and organizations in the community.
The foundation is not just a fundraising group, though. Snyder and his team have led numerous events to directly connect with and improve the lives of young people in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. They hosted over 100 workshops for kids and families, including a reading program for fourth and fifth graders and a wellness program for seventh graders. One of their most recent projects is Loads of Love, a program that installs laundry facilities in schools so that students experiencing homelessness or unstable living conditions can have clean clothes.
Snyder’s passion for philanthropy goes beyond his immediate community, too. In 2016, after Hurricane Matthew hit the Caribbean, Snyder mobilized to deliver supplies to the affected area. He offered aid to Indonesia and Thailand after the 2004 tsunami and to those affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
As a board member of the Children’s National Hospital Foundation, Snyder provided support to build the Snyder Family Emergency Medicine and Trauma Center. He also works with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and funded the Family Communication Center, which handles calls regarding missing children.
Dan Snyder recognizes how difficult 2020 has been for many individuals and communities, and he has been making significant efforts to offer support. After the murder of George Floyd, he donated $250,000 to a grassroots movement that aims to raise awareness about social justice issues in the D.C. area. In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, he donated $100,000 to the Capital Area Food Bank and helped to set up a testing site in Prince George County.
Snyder is active with the NFL, too, serving on the Media Committee, the Business Ventures Committee, and a number of other organizations. The Washington Football team, previously known as the Redskins, is one of the most valuable sport franchises in the world thanks to Snyder’s retail campaigns and other marketing efforts. In Snyder’s time as the owner of the team, five Washington Football players have been inducted to the Hall of Fame.
As a long-time football fan himself, Daniel Snyder is committed to improving fan experience. The team invites fans to attend practices, students to attend Play 60 events, and high school coaches to attend clinics. The organization invested $100 million into upgrades to their facility in recent years to improve fan experience. FedExField in Landover, Maryland seats 82,000 people and boasts state-of-the-art technology like video boards and high-speed escalators.
Daniel Snyder continues to be active in several private business ventures. He is the founder of inVentiv Health and Red Zebra Broadcasting, LLC, which manages radio stations in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. He lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife, Tanya, and their three children.
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