Funding search · EIN 396037928 · Milwaukee, WI

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

Name: The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation grants, 2022–2024
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

1,027
grants reported: $157.1M
total given: 2022–2024
filing years: $85,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

fellowship bradley post graduate center freedom legal capital

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

General operating support for state and national free-market policy institutes
Constitutional and administrative-law litigation and legal advocacy groups
Milwaukee K-12 school choice, Catholic/Lutheran schools, and youth programs
Named university centers on capitalism, civic thought, and economic policy
Scholarships and programs for academically gifted students
Conservative journalism, books, and cultural publications

Typical grant

Median grant is $85,000 and the middle half runs $40,000 to $165,000, so most checks are modest and unrestricted. The outliers are internal and legacy commitments: $6.6 million for the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship program, $3.2 million to the affiliated Bradley Impact Fund, and seven-figure Milwaukee capital campaigns. With 1,027 grants to 495 recipients across three years, most grantees are funded repeatedly, often at the same amount annually.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“To support general operations”
“To support a capital campaign”
“free enterprise”
“public policy”
“To support building organizational capacity”

Positioning adjacent work

Frame the work as a named center or working group at your university, the model they fund at Stanford, Clemson, and George Mason.
Ask $175,000 to $300,000 for an academic center or project; that is where their university money lands.
Emphasize constitutional government, free enterprise, or the administrative state rather than generic economics or education research.
Any credible Milwaukee or Wisconsin component materially improves your odds; 371 of 1,027 grants stayed in state.

Worth knowing: Giving is ideologically consistent and network-based: State Policy Network affiliates, Federalist Society, AEI, Cato, Manhattan Institute, and dozens of state think tanks receive unrestricted operating money year after year, which leaves little room for cold approaches. Milwaukee is the other center of gravity, absorbing local capital campaigns, schools, and arts grants that would not be funded anywhere else.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

The Caroline D Bradley Association of Scholars3 grants · $19.4M
Bradley Impact Fund11 grants · $8.3M
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra3 grants · $3.3M
Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education3 grants · $2.4M
Encounter for Culture and Education4 grants · $2.1M
Historic Haymarket Milwaukee I1 grant · $2.0M
Center for Urban Teaching5 grants · $1.8M
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty3 grants · $1.5M
Foundation for Government Accountability3 grants · $1.5M
American Legislative Exchange Council3 grants · $1.5M

Giving over time

$46.5M

2022

$54.1M

2023

$56.5M

2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 1,027 grants.

$6.6M
The Caroline D Bradley Association of Scholars · Pasadena, CA · 2024
To support the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship program
$6.5M
The Caroline D Bradley Association of Scholars · Pasadena, CA · 2023
To support the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship program
$6.2M
The Caroline D Bradley Association of Scholars · Pasadena, CA · 2022
To support the Caroline D. Bradley Scholarship program
$3.2M
Bradley Impact Fund · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support a donor advised fund
$3.2M
Bradley Impact Fund · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support general operations
$3.0M
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support a capital campaign
$2.0M
Historic Haymarket Milwaukee I · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support a capital campaign
$1.0M
Encounter for Culture and Education · New York, NY · 2024
To support Encounter Books
$1.0M
Encounter for Culture and Education · New York, NY · 2023
To support Encounter Books
$1.0M
National Center for Public Policy Research · Washington, DC · 2022
To support the Free Enterprise Project
$850,000
Bradley Impact Fund · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support general operations
$800,000
Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education · Princeton, NJ · 2024
To support educational institutes, centers, and programs at universities
$800,000
Acts Community Development Corporation · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support a capital campaign
$800,000
Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education · Princeton, NJ · 2023
To support educational institutes, centers, and programs at universities
$800,000
Foundation for Excellence in Higher Education · Princeton, NJ · 2022
To support educational institutes, centers, and programs at universities
$750,000
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support general operations
$750,000
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support general operations
$750,000
Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support general operations
$685,000
Foundation for the Constitution · Washington, DC · 2024
To support the Center for the Constitution
$650,000
Mackinac Center for Public Policy · Midland, MI · 2023
To support general operations
$600,000
Competitive Enterprise Institute · Washington, DC · 2023
To support general operations
$600,000
Leadership Program of the Rockies · Denver, CO · 2023
To support general operations
$598,000
Bradley Impact Fund · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support general operations
$539,605
Center for Urban Teaching · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support expansion
$500,000
American Legislative Exchange Council · Arlington, VA · 2024
To support general operations
$500,000
Center for Urban Teaching · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support expansion
$500,000
Concordia University Wisconsin Foundation · Mequon, WI · 2024
To support the Free Enterprise Center
$500,000
Evergreen Freedom Foundation · Olympia, WA · 2024
To support general operations
$500,000
Foundation for Government Accountability · Naples, FL · 2024
To support general operations
$500,000
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research · New York, NY · 2024
To support economic policy and urban policy
$500,000
State Financial Officers Foundation · Shawnee, KS · 2024
To support general operations
$500,000
American Legislative Exchange Council · Arlington, VA · 2023
To support general operations
$500,000
Concordia University Wisconsin Foundation · Mequon, WI · 2023
To support the Free Enterprise Center
$500,000
Foundation for Government Accountability · Naples, FL · 2023
To support general operations
$500,000
Franklin News Foundation · Chicago, IL · 2023
To support an education project
$500,000
Milwaukee Repertory Theater · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support a capital campaign
$500,000
Seton Education Partners · New York, NY · 2023
To support the Seton Teaching Fellowship
$500,000
State Financial Officers Foundation · Shawnee, KS · 2023
To support general operations
$500,000
American Legislative Exchange Council · Arlington, VA · 2022
To support general operations
$500,000
Concordia University Wisconsin · Mequon, WI · 2022
To support the Free Enterprise Center
$500,000
Foundation for Government Accountability · Naples, FL · 2022
To support general operations
$500,000
Freedomworks Foundation · Washington, DC · 2022
To support general operations
$500,000
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research · New York, NY · 2022
To support projects on culture and urban policy
$500,000
Notre Dame School of Milwaukee · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support an expansion project
$475,000
Barry Goldwater Institute for Public Policy Research · Phoenix, AZ · 2024
To support general operations
$450,000
Mackinac Center for Public Policy · Midland, MI · 2024
To support general operations
$450,000
New Civil Liberties Alliance · Arlington, VA · 2024
To support general operations
$425,000
Philanthropy Roundtable · Washington, DC · 2023
To support general operations
$425,000
Philanthropy Roundtable · Washington, DC · 2022
To support general operations
$400,000
Kingdom Prep Lutheran High School · Wauwatosa, WI · 2024
To support building organizational capacity
$400,000
Philanthropy Roundtable · Washington, DC · 2024
To support general operations
$400,000
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies · Washington, DC · 2024
To support general operations
$400,000
San Juan Diego Institute Corp · Phoenix, AZ · 2023
To support parent engagement
$400,000
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies · Washington, DC · 2023
To support general operations
$400,000
The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies · Washington, DC · 2022
To support general operations
$395,000
Lincoln Network · San Francisco, CA · 2024
To support development of a website
$388,000
Lincoln Network · San Francisco, CA · 2023
To support development of a website
$350,000
Badger Institute · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support general operations
$350,000
Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation · Plymouth, VT · 2024
To support a publication and a conference
$350,000
Cato Institute · Washington, DC · 2024
To support the Project to Defend the Free Economy
$350,000
Public Interest Legal Foundation · Alexandria, VA · 2024
To support general operations
$350,000
The Buckeye Institute · Columbus, OH · 2024
To support general operations
$350,000
Badger Institute · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support general operations
$350,000
Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation · Plymouth, VT · 2023
To support an economics history program
$350,000
Evergreen Freedom Foundation · Olympia, WA · 2023
To support general operations
$350,000
Public Interest Legal Foundation · Alexandria, VA · 2023
To support general operations
$350,000
The Buckeye Institute · Columbus, OH · 2023
To support general operations
$350,000
Badger Institute · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support general operations
$347,500
Bradley Impact Fund · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support a donor advised fund
$340,000
Lakeshore Regional Child Advocacy Center · Saukville, WI · 2023
To support general operations
$338,500
National Review Institute · New York, NY · 2024
To support the Capital Matters initiative and the Thomas L. Rhodes Journalism Fellowship
$325,000
Sagamore Institute · Indianapolis, IN · 2024
To support the Secretaries' Innovation Group
$325,000
Sagamore Institute · Indianapolis, IN · 2023
To support the Secretaries' Innovation Group
$325,000
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra · Milwaukee, WI · 2022
To support general operations
$325,000
Public Interest Legal Foundation · Alexandria, VA · 2022
To support general operations
$325,000
Sagamore Institute · Indianapolis, IN · 2022
To support the Secretaries' Innovation Group
$312,000
Lincoln Network · San Francisco, CA · 2022
To support development of a website
$301,845
Jack Miller Center for Teaching Americas Founding Principles and History · Bala Cynwyd, PA · 2023
To support the 2024 Bradley Graduate and Post-Graduate Fellowship Program conference
$300,000
American Institute for Economic Research · Great Barrington, MA · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Beacon Center of Tennessee · Nashville, TN · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Capital Research Center · Washington, DC · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
City On a Hill · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support capital project
$300,000
Competitive Enterprise Institute · Washington, DC · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Franklin News Foundation · Chicago, IL · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Georgia Center for Opportunity · Norcross, GA · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Leadership Program of the Rockies · Denver, CO · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra · Milwaukee, WI · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
Montana Community Choice Schools Commission · Helena, MT · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
National Taxpayers Union Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
To support general operations
$300,000
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · Stanford, CA · 2024
To support the Economic Policy Working Group
$300,000
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · Stanford, CA · 2024
To support the Role of Military History in Contemporary Conflict Working Group
$300,000
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · Stanford, CA · 2024
To support the Monetary Policy in Practice Project
$300,000
American Institute for Economic Research · Great Barrington, MA · 2023
To support general operations
$300,000
Capital Research Center · Washington, DC · 2023
To support general operations
$300,000
Cato Institute · Washington, DC · 2023
To support the Project to Defend the Free Economy
$300,000
Georgia Center for Opportunity · Norcross, GA · 2023
To support general operations
$300,000
Mercatus Center · Arlington, VA · 2023
To support general operations
$300,000
Milwaukee Science Education Consortium · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support school expansion
$300,000
Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra · Milwaukee, WI · 2023
To support general operations
$300,000
National Taxpayers Union Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023
To support general operations

View all 1,027 grants →

Who else funds this kind of work

Same state

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Ascendium Education Solutions667 grants · $296.7M
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Similar purposes

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George Mason University Foundation46 grants · $399.9M

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Grants already paid are the record; PaperOrbit reads your paper and finds the funders whose record matches it — then explains why.

Search funders like this one

Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.