· Private foundation
Brown-Forman Foundation
Its FY2026 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
By grant size · FY2026
- $10k–50k15 grants · $465k
- $50k–250k33 grants · $3.4M
- $250k+8 grants · $5.9M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| WEST END BOYS SCHOOL | $1,000,000 |
| SIMMONS COLLEGE OF KENTUCKY | $1,000,000 |
| LOUISVILLE CENTRAL COMMUNITY CENTERS INC | $1,000,000 |
| WEST END GIRLS SCHOOL | $1,000,000 |
| LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA | $500,000 |
| LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE | $500,000 |
| ACADEMY OF MUSIC PRODUCTION EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT | $500,000 |
| LOUISVILLE BALLET (KENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL | $400,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION | $235,000 |
| METRO UNITED WAY | $200,000 |
| ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE | $175,000 |
| THE MORTON CENTER | $150,000 |
| KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION | $150,000 |
| THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY | $150,000 |
| SPEED ART MUSEUM | $150,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Its human-services grants (FY19–26, $5.9M) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
79 repeat relationships: 47 still active in FY2026, 32 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2026 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2026, 81% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.8M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- SCSimmons College of Kentucky Inc6× · 2020–2026 · $5.2M · revenue +153%
- LCLOUISVILLE CENTRAL COMMUNITY CENTERINC5× · 2021–2026 · $5.0M · revenue +9% · 43% of their budget
- WEWest End School Inc5× · 2019–2024 · $4.6M · revenue +214% · 65% of their budget
Funded once
- AYAMPED YOUTH PROGRAMMINGone grant, 2025 · $500k
- AOAcademy of Music Productionone grant, 2021 · $275k
- JCJEFFERSON COMMUNITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INCgraduatedone grant, 2021 · $250k · revenue +100%
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
Louisville collegiate school inspires academic excellence, extraordinary character and global citizenship.
Endeavor Louisville is leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, catalyzing long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and supporting the best high-impact entrepreneurs in our region.…
To improve the quality of life for all kentuckians through research, education and advocacy on important policy issues facing the commonwealth.
Central indiana corporate partnership (cicp) is an alliance of indiana's business and research university leaders coming together to foster long-term prosperity for the region. cicp's mission is to transform the economy of indiana in order…
To attract, create, and host quality sporting events in the louisville area that increase economic vitality, enhance the quality of life, promote healthy lifestyles, and brand louisville as a great place to live, work, and play.
Lpm provides independent and courageous news, music and experiences that serve the needs and aspirations of our diverse communities.
Our mission is to improve the health and quality of life for louisville's current and future generations through a robust, equitable and diverse tree canopy.
Identify, mobilize, and fund programs to address louisville's greatest challenges regarding business growth and increased economic prosperity for all citizens in the greater louisville region.
Broadens the perspectives of current and emerging leaders through experiential education that inspires them to advance kentucky.
To represent our members, creating the environment and opportunity for economic prosperity and quality living in central kentucky.
The louisville academy of music welcomes everyone to join our musical community. lam nurtures lifelong learners, not solely as musicians but also as creative, inspired people. equity in music education is a force to realize potential,…
Opportunities, inc. of jefferson county provides services for individuals for the purpose of maximizing their success and enhancing their abilities to be independent, contributing members of the community.
How this is measured
78 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 78 of the 116 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds Simmons College of Kentucky Inc ↗
- Who funds LOUISVILLE CENTRAL COMMUNITY CENTERINC ↗
- Who funds West End School Inc ↗
- Who funds THE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC ↗
- Who funds THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC ↗
- Who funds METRO UNITED WAY INC ↗
- Who funds ADVENTUROUS MINDS PRODUCE EXTRAORDINARY DREAMS INC ↗
- Who funds ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE INC ↗
- Who funds KENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUISVILLE BALLET ↗
- Who funds FUND FOR THE ARTS INC ↗
- Who funds UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds KENTUCKY OPERA ASSOCIATION INC ↗
- Who funds SPEED ART MUSEUM ↗
- Who funds GILDA'S CLUB KENTUCKIANA INC ↗
- Who funds BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS OF KENTUCKIANA INC ↗
- Who funds FAMILY & CHILDREN'S PLACE INC ↗
- Who funds DARE TO CARE INC ↗
- Who funds LOUISVILLE ZOO FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds THE MORTON CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds MARYHURST INC ↗
- Who funds the Young Men's Christian Association of Greater Louisville Inc ↗
- Who funds 21ST CENTURY PARKS INC ↗
- Who funds EVOLVE502 SCHOLARS FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds ELDERSERVE INC ↗
- Who funds THE HEALING PLACE INC ↗
- Who funds RIVER CITY DRUM CORP CULTURAL ARTS INSTITUTE INC ↗
- Who funds Sowing Seeds with Faith Inc ↗
- Who funds JEFFERSON COMMUNITY TECHNICAL COLLEGE FOUNDATION INC ↗
- Who funds THE HOME OF THE INNOCENTS INC ↗
- Who funds STAGEONE FAMILY THEATRE INC ↗
- Who funds THE FILSON HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC ↗
- Who funds NATIVITY ACADEMY AT SAINT BONIFACE ↗
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
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Brown-Forman Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Brown-Forman Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on Brown-Forman’s filings →