Kentucky · Private foundation
Brown-Forman Foundation
Its FY2026 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
- $9.8M
- Granted FY2026(still arriving)
- 56
- Grants FY2026
- 38
- Organizations funded FY2025
- 11%
- First-time grantees FY2025
- Median grant, FY2026
- $80,000
- Largest grant, FY2026
- $1,000,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 31 to 58
- FY2019 to FY2025
- States reached, FY2026
- 1
- Total assets, FY2026
- $111M
- Applications
- Takes unsolicited applications
- Per its most recent filing; check its own site
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2025, 11% of the organizations Brown-Forman Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 36% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 64% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.6M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026still arriving | 56 | $9.8M | 16% |
| FY2025 | 38 | $7.2M | 11% |
| FY2024 | 58 | $9.8M | 17% |
| FY2023 | 38 | $7.2M | 8% |
| FY2022 | 56 | $4.0M | 21% |
| FY2021 | 55 | $7.6M | 31% |
| FY2020 | 45 | $3.0M | 64% |
| FY2019 | 31 | $2.5M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2019 to FY2026, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simmons College of Kentucky Inc | $5,150,000 | 6 | 12% |
| Louisville Central Community Centerinc | $5,000,000 | 5 | 43% |
| West End School Inc | $4,600,000 | 5 | 65% |
| The Louisville Urban League Inc | $3,520,000 | 8 | 7% |
| The Louisville Orchestra Inc | $1,750,000 | 6 | 5% |
| Metro United Way Inc | $1,600,000 | 8 | 1% |
| Adventurous Minds Produce Extraordinary Dreams Inc | $1,575,000 | 4 | 14% |
| Actors Theatre of Louisville Inc | $1,375,000 | 7 | 8% |
| Kentucky Dance Council Inc Dba Louisville Ballet | $1,300,000 | 5 | 6% |
| Fund for the Arts Inc | $1,275,000 | 8 | 3% |
Show all 80 grantees
What it could do for these grantees
Plus 35 recipients with no EIN on record ($8.6M), not named here.
Where it is load-bearing
Brown-Forman Foundation supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 6 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 70 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: The Gheens Foundation Inc · LG&E and Ku Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Corporate Depository Inc · James Graham Brown Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Depository Inc · Cralle Foundation Inc · Republic Bank Foundation Inc · Kosair Charities Committee Inc · Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels Inc · Sociable Weaver Foundation Inc · Norton Healthcare Inc
How this is measured
About Brown-Forman Foundation
- How much does Brown-Forman Foundation give?
- Brown-Forman Foundation reported 56 grants totaling $9,805,000 in its FY2026 IRS filing. It funded between 31 and 58 organizations a year over FY2019 to FY2025.
- What does Brown-Forman Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2019 to FY2026, its largest causes are Education (33%), Arts & Culture (22%), Human Services (14%).
- Who are Brown-Forman Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2019 to FY2026: Simmons College of Kentucky Inc ($5.2M), Louisville Central Community Centerinc ($5.0M), West End School Inc ($4.6M).
- Does Brown-Forman Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2025, 11% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Does Brown-Forman Foundation accept unsolicited applications?
- Its most recent filing reports that it accepts unsolicited grant applications.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Brown-Forman Foundation?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include The Gheens Foundation Inc, LG&E and Ku Foundation Inc, The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc.
- Where is Brown-Forman Foundation based?
- Brown-Forman Foundation is based in KY.
Play a game based on Brown-Forman’s filings →