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The W Bruce Lunsford Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

The W Bruce Lunsford Foundation Inc

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$741k
Granted FY2025still arriving
26
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$300k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2025.

Education$3.1MArts & Culture$401kReligion$92kHealth$90kPhilanthropy$70kFood & Nutrition$43kRecreation & Sports$20kHuman Services$10kOther$0
02FY2025 · 26 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k13 grants · $43k
  • $10k–50k9 grants · $198k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $200k
  • $250k+1 grant · $300k
$10,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$554k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NORTHERN KY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$300,000
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY$100,000
WEST END SCHOOL$50,000
THE LEXINGTON THEATRE COMPANY$50,000
FRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL OF LOUISVILLE$40,000
BELLARMINE UNIVERSITY$33,400
BELLARMINE UNIVERSITY$25,000
CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$25,000
NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL FOUNDATION$20,000
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY$15,600
UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE$15,000
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY$13,600
ST JAMES CATHOLIC SCHOOL$10,000
CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$7,500
CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION$7,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–25, $15k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PROJECT HOME: $2k → 22%BELMONT CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION: $1k → 6%RUTH'S HOUSE: $100 → 9%THE POINT ARC OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY: $5k → 11%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOUISVILLE: $1k → 15%DAY SPRING: $1k → 15%DREAMS WITH WINGS: $3k → 15%DREAMS WITH WINGS: $3k → 15%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.7M · 33 repeat orgs$139k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +52% since the first grant, against +31% for those funded once.

33 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 15 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

33
39

Total granted

$3.7M
$137k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+52%
+31%

Still filing today

64%
62%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthFood & NutritionRecreation & SportsOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • LT
    LEXINGTON THEATRE COMPANY
    5× · 2021–2025 · $250k · revenue ×12
  • CE
    CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $238k · revenue +55%
  • BU
    BELLARMINE UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED
    5× · 2020–2025 · $130k · revenue +1%

Funded once

  • TL
    THE LEXINGTON THEATER
    one grant, 2020 · $50k
  • NC
    NATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $13k · revenue +61%
  • GL
    GREATER LOUISVILLE SPORTS COMMISSION INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue +17%
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.

04Its field

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.

1
Louisville Collegiate School

Louisville collegiate school inspires academic excellence, extraordinary character and global citizenship.

Education
2
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Inc

To improve the quality of life for all kentuckians through research, education and advocacy on important policy issues facing the commonwealth.

Public Benefit
3
Commerce Lexington Inc

To represent our members, creating the environment and opportunity for economic prosperity and quality living in central kentucky.

—
4
Kentucky College of Art Design

The kentucky college of art and design opens the door to a creative and productive life through an undergraduate education in the contemporary arts.

Education
5
Kentucky Public Radio Inc

Lpm provides independent and courageous news, music and experiences that serve the needs and aspirations of our diverse communities.

Arts & Culture
6
Endeavor Louisville Inc

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.…

International
7
Kentucky Chamber Foundation Inc

The Kentucky Chamber Foundation's purpose is to unlock the power of business, accelerate solutions, and build opportunity in Kentucky.

Community Improvement
8
Kentucky Country Day School Inc

Kentucky country day school challenges its students to achieve their highest level of academic excellence and to grow into honorable men and women of confidence and integrity. we inspire personal growth through a diverse community and…

Education
9
Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra Society Inc

To provide, in cooperation with public and private schools, equitable access to the highest quality musical opportunities and to foster a life- long love of music for dedicated young musicians. ckyo enriches the lives of its student…

—
10
Kentucky Bankers Association

To provide effective advocacy for the financial services industry both in kentucky and on a national level; to serve as a reliable and responsive source of information and education about areas of interest to the industry; and to provide a…

—
11
Leadership Kentucky Foundation Inc

Broadens the perspectives of current and emerging leaders through experiential education that inspires them to advance kentucky.

Public Benefit
12
Louisville Academy of Music

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,…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Greater Louisville Sports Commission Inc; the most unlike its peers is West End School Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

48 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 48 of the 74 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
47/48
Grantees still filing
35/48
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NORTHERN KY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $1,200,000 · OtherNORTHERN KY UNIVERSITY FOUNDATIONUNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: $1,020,600 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKYUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE: $131,140 · OtherFRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL OF LOUISVILLE INC ST FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL INC: $125,000 · Other+35 more: $321,864 · Other+35 moreCATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $237,500 · EducationCATHOLIC EDUCATI…West End School Inc: $150,000 · EducationWest End School …BELLARMINE UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED: $130,300 · EducationBELLARMINE UNIVE…+6 more: $24,500 · EducationLEXINGTON THEATRE COMPANY: $250,000 · Arts & CultureLEXINGTON …FUND FOR THE ARTS INC: $30,000 · Arts & CultureFUND FOR T…THE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC: $18,350 · Arts & CultureCOMMONWEALTH FUND FOR KET INC: $15,500 · Arts & CultureSARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $14,500 · Arts & Culture+6 more: $27,630 · Arts & Culture+6 moreDARE TO CARE INC: $40,000 · Food & NutritionFEEDING KENTUCKY INC: $2,000 · Food & NutritionNATIONAL STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · HealthVanderbilt University Medical Center: $2,500 · Health+2 more: $2,000 · HealthTHE POINTARC OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY: $5,000 · Human ServicesDREAMS WITH WINGS INC: $5,000 · Human ServicesPROJECT HOME: $2,000 · Human ServicesBelmont Child Care Association Inc: $1,000 · Human ServicesDAY SPRING INC: $1,000 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOUISVILLE INC: $1,000 · Human Services+1 more: $100 · Human ServicesGREATER LOUISVILLE SPORTS COMMISSION INC: $10,000 · Recreation & Sports21ST CENTURY PARKS ENDOWMENT INC: $2,500 · Recreation & Sports
Other$2,798,604Education$542,300Arts & Culture$355,980Food & Nutrition$42,000Health$34,500Human Services$15,100Recreation & Sports$12,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetLEXINGTON THEATRE COMPANY: $250,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetCATHOLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $237,500 over 6y, 0.7% of budgetWest End School Inc: $150,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetBELLARMINE UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED: $130,300 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetFRANCIS PARKER SCHOOL OF LOUISVILLE INC ST FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL INC: $125,000 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetDARE TO CARE INC: $40,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL STEM CELL FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFUND FOR THE ARTS INC: $30,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC: $18,350 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMONWEALTH FUND FOR KET INC: $15,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetSARATOGA PERFORMING ARTS CENTER INC: $14,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR FAMILIES LEARNING INC: $12,500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAWESOME CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetGREATER LOUISVILLE SPORTS COMMISSION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNATIONAL MUSEUM OF RACING INC: $8,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetTRINITY HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $6,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN FRIENDS OF TIFF: $5,380 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetTHE POINTARC OF NORTHERN KENTUCKY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOLDHAM COUNTY ATHLETIC BOOSTERS INC: $5,000 over 1y, 4.1% of budgetDREAMS WITH WINGS INC: $5,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetSECOND STRIDE INC: $3,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetKentucky Race Track Chaplaincy Inc: $3,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetBARREN HEIGHTS CHRISTIAN RETREAT CENTER INC: $3,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budget21ST CENTURY PARKS ENDOWMENT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENTUCKY DANCE COUNCIL INC DBA LOUISVILLE BALLET: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVanderbilt University Medical Center: $2,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFEEDING KENTUCKY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE BACKSIDE LEARNING CENTER INC: $2,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetPROJECT HOME: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME AND MUSEUM INC: $1,250 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCAPITAL DAY SCHOOL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PITTSBURGH FOUNDATION: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBelmont Child Care Association Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetDAY SPRING INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKENYON COLLEGE: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF LOUISVILLE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetBaptist Health Foundation Greater Louisville Inc: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE BERRY CENTER INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTRAL MUSIC ACADEMY INC: $500 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE WHAS CRUSADE FOR CHILDREN INC: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetIMAGINATION LIBRARY OF LOUISVILLE INC: $500 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetDOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF CONNEC: $400 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetLOUISVILLE PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTERS: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRUTHS HOUSE INC: $100 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
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.

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.

The Community Foundat…The Community Foundat…The Community Foundat…Snowy Owl Foundation …LG&E and Ku Foundatio…The Gheens Foundation…Cralle Foundation IncRepublic Bank Foundat…Honorable Order of Ke…Julia & Isadore Klein…Norton Healthcare IncW L Lyons Brown Found…
The Community Foundation of Louisville IncKY41.2× affinity19 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation of Louisville Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Depository Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Corporate Depository Inc · Snowy Owl Foundation Inc · LG&E and Ku Foundation Inc · The Gheens Foundation Inc · Cralle Foundation Inc · Republic Bank Foundation Inc · Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels Inc · Julia & Isadore Klein Family Foundation Inc · Norton Healthcare Inc · W L Lyons Brown Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The W Bruce Lunsford Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The W Bruce Lunsford Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 0%
  • Down Syndrome Association of Connec: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The W Bruce Lunsford Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The W Bruce Lunsford Foundation Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 74 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on W Bruce Lunsford’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home