Skip to content
Plinth

· Private foundation

W L Lyons Brown Foundation

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.

$34M
Granted FY2025still arriving
21
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$11M
Largest
01What you fund
0197% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY20202025.

Philanthropy$35MEducation$6.9MEnvironment$4.3MArts & Culture$2.6MFood & Nutrition$1.3MHealth$1.3MRecreation & Sports$1.1MHuman Services$699kOther$0
02FY2025 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k6 grants · $28k
  • $10k–50k6 grants · $65k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $275k
  • $250k+6 grants · $34M
$12,000
Median grant
10
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MSB COCKAYNE FUND INC$11,380,633
SKYLIGHT WOODS FOUNDATION INC$5,653,382
LIMESTONE FAMILY FOUNDATION INC$5,527,278
OWSLEY BROWN III PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION INC$3,769,149
BROOKE BROWN BARZUN PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION INC$3,759,149
SOCIABLE WEAVER FOUNDATION$3,684,861
FOOD LITERACY PROJECT$125,000
BILLFISH FOUNDATION$100,000
BERRY CENTER$50,000
EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL$12,500
BREVARD MUSIC CENTER$12,000
TREES LOUIVILLE$10,000
SALISBURY SCHOOL$10,000
UNC CHAPEL HILL$10,000
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO FOUNDATION$10,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Your human-services grants (FY20–24, $722k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 98% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%PERC INC: $5k → 10%CAN'D AID: $10k → 12%MID-SOUTH EVENTING AND DRESSAGE ASSN: $3k → 8%AMERICAN RED CROSS- WESTERN KENTUCKY CHAPTER: $5k → 13%MID-SOUTH EVENTING AND DRESSAGE ASSN: $3k → 8%MID-SOUTH EVENTING AND DRESSAGE ASSN: $3k → 8%MID-SOUTH EVENTING AND DRESSAGE ASSN: $3k → 8%MID-SOUTH EVENTING AND DRESSAGE ASSN: $1k → 8%A SHOT FOR LIFE INC: $1k → 29%PAYNE HOLLOW ON THE OHIO INC: $3k → 4%PAYNE HOLLOW ON THE OHIO INC: $3k → 4%THE HOPE BUSS: $15k → 15%THE HOPE BUSS: $10k → 15%LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE: $371k → 15%CENTER FOR WOMEN AND FAMILIES: $3k → 15%LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE: $1k → 15%RITA JUNE FOUNDATION INC: $285k → 15%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

ME
VT
NH
MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
WY
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
TN
NC
DC
MS
GA
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

34%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$19M · 155 repeat orgs$37M to everyone else

And the relationships you keep tend to grow: grantees you re-up on have seen median revenue of +40% since the first grant, against +14% for the ones you funded once.

155 repeat relationships — 12 still active in FY2025, 143 since wound down; 9 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

155
107

Total granted

$19M
$3.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+40%
+14%

Still filing today

76%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 1% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $34M 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
EducationEnvironmentArts & CultureAnimalsRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • LC
    LOUISVILLE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL
    4× · 2021–2024 · $868k · revenue +87%
  • TB
    THE BERRY CENTER INC
    6× · 2020–2025 · $587k · revenue +27%
  • CD
    CIVIC DESIGN CENTER
    3× · 2020–2022 · $580k · revenue +71%

Funded once

  • RJ
    RITA JUNE FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2024 · $285k
  • IT
    ILLUMINATE THE ARTSgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $250k · revenue +76%
  • TR
    TOMKAT RANCH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2020 · $238k · revenue -93%

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Eastern National

Eastern national promotes the public's understanding and support of america's national parks and other public trust partners by providing quality educational experiences, products and services.

Recreation & Sports
2
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

To sustain, restore, and enhance the nation's fish, wildlife, plants, and habitats.

Animals
3
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
4
Native Plant Trust Inc

The organization's mission is to conserve and promote new england's native plants to ensure healthy, biologically diverse landscapes.

Environment
5
Tenngreen Land Conservancy

The organization's primary mission is conserving land where people and nature can thrive by creating green corridors linking existing public lands using conservation easments and outright purchase.

Recreation & Sports
6
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

7
Harvard Conservation Trust

To preserve the unique character and natural resources of harvard.

Environment
8
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
9
African Parks Foundation of America

To engage the united states and its citizens in the work of african parks and to promote access to american experience and expertise in the african parks actiities by 1) raising funds for specific projects, activities, training, equipment…

Recreation & Sports
10
Conservation Farms & Ranches

Preserving and enhancing the habitat of wildlife, such as sandhill cranes, waterfowl, raptors, which habitat expenses are supported by agricultural activities.

Housing & Shelter
11
Jefferson National Parks Association

Jefferson national parks association provides quality educational products and related services that enhance public understanding and appreciation of america's national parks, public lands and historic places.

Arts & Culture
12
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is 21ST Century Parks Inc and the most unlike its peers is SoQuiet. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyOrchestra and Ensemble Perf…Volunteer Fire & Ems Servic…Community Food PantriesJewish Community Organizati…Local History MuseumsDomestic Violence ServicesChristian Youth CampsHealth Access Advocacy and …Youth Sports ProgramsCancer Support ServicesChristian Missionary Organi…Equine Therapy ProgramsCommunity Arts CentersPolicy Research and AdvocacyLocal Food System Organizat…Addiction Recovery ServicesIndependent K-12 SchoolsCommunity College Foundatio…United Way AffiliatesCommunity FoundationsEnvironmental Conservation …Faith-Based Liberal Arts Co…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 33 years old; the field is 18. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number20%3%<5yr14%7%5–10yr18%20%10–20yr16%24%20–35yr14%21%35–55yr18%25%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value20%22%<5yr14%2%5–10yr18%50%10–20yr16%7%20–35yr14%6%35–55yr18%13%55yr+

The field is 20% startups (under 5 years old) — 3% of your grantees by number, and just 22% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 0.0% lost their exemption, against 12% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
0.0%0/227
the rest of the field
12%
2,432/20,091

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

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

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 220 of the 278 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
54
Early backer (in before they grew)
219/220
Grantees still filing
149/220
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

MSB COCKAYNE FUND INC — $11,380,633 · PhilanthropyMSB COCKAYNE FUND INCSKYLIGHT WOODS FOUNDATION INC XXX-XX-XXXX — $5,653,382 · PhilanthropySKYLIGHT WOODS FOUNDATION INC XXX-XX-XXXXLIMESTONE FAMILY FOUNDATION INC — $5,527,278 · PhilanthropyLIMESTONE FAMILY FOUNDATION INCSOCIABLE WEAVER FOUNDATION INC — $3,684,861 · PhilanthropySOCIABLE WEAVER FOUNDATION INC+9 more — $1,847,733 · Philanthropy+9 moreTHE OWSLEY BROWN III PHILANTHROPIC FOUND — $3,769,149 · OtherTHE OWSLEY BROWN III PHILANTHRO…THE BROOKE BROWN BARZUN PHILANTHROPIC FOUNDATION INC — $3,759,149 · OtherTHE BROOKE BROWN BARZUN PHILANT…UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCES CENTER — $575,000 · Other+100 more — $7,628,427 · Other+100 moreKENTUCKY COLLEGE OF ART DESIGN — $1,877,511 · EducationKENTUCKY CO…LOUISVILLE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL — $867,786 · EducationLOUISVILLE …THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL IN VIRGINIA — $815,000 · EducationTHE PROTEST…THE BERRY CENTER INC — $586,750 · EducationTHE BERRY C…SALISBURY SCHOOL INC — $355,000 · EducationSALISBURY S…+24 more — $1,181,586 · Education+24 moreSPEED ART MUSEUM — $500,914 · Arts & CultureCENTER FOR INTERFAITH RELATIONS — $417,787 · Arts & CultureTHE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC — $411,882 · Arts & CultureCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART — $258,000 · Arts & CultureILLUMINATE THE ARTS — $250,000 · Arts & CultureStone Barns Restoration Corp DBA Stone Barns Center for Food & Agri — $210,692 · Arts & CultureFUND FOR THE ARTS INC — $145,000 · Arts & CultureAPPALSHOP INC — $125,000 · Arts & CultureKENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO INC — $115,000 · Arts & Culture+14 more — $491,184 · Arts & CultureDucks Unlimited Inc — $411,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION — $400,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC — $366,226 · EnvironmentTHE LAND TRUST FOR TENNESSEE INC — $335,650 · EnvironmentBLUEGRASS LAND CONSERVANCY INC — $325,000 · EnvironmentISAAC W BERNHEIM FOUNDATION — $212,500 · EnvironmentNASHVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION — $175,000 · EnvironmentKENTUCKY WATERWAYS ALLIANCE INC — $115,000 · EnvironmentHARPETH CONSERVANCY — $100,000 · Environment+13 more — $422,629 · EnvironmentCIVIC DESIGN CENTER — $580,000 · Community ImprovementTREESLOUISVILLE INC — $60,000 · Community ImprovementBROWN UNIVERSITY — $60,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY PARTNERS — $27,000 · Community Improvement+1 more — $25,000 · Community ImprovementTHE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC — $372,483 · Human ServicesRITA JUNE FOUNDATION INC — $284,683 · Human ServicesThe Hope Buss Inc — $25,000 · Human Services+2 more — $21,000 · Human Services
Philanthropy$28,093,887Other$15,731,725Education$5,683,633Arts & Culture$2,925,459Environment$2,863,005Community Improvement$752,000Human Services$703,166

Showing your 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetLIMESTONE FAMILY FOUNDATION INC — $5,527,278 over 1y, 86% of budgetKENTUCKY COLLEGE OF ART DESIGN — $1,877,511 over 4y, 25% of budgetLOUISVILLE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL — $867,786 over 4y, 2.1% of budgetTHE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL HIGH SCHOOL IN VIRGINIA — $815,000 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE BERRY CENTER INC — $586,750 over 6y, 9.3% of budgetCIVIC DESIGN CENTER — $580,000 over 3y, 20% of budgetSPEED ART MUSEUM — $500,914 over 5y, 3.2% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF LOUISVILLE INC — $455,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetLOUISVILLE OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY IN — $435,000 over 5y, 6.1% of budgetMETRO UNITED WAY INC — $430,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCREASEY MAHAN NATURE PRESERVE INC — $420,741 over 5y, 11% of budgetCENTER FOR INTERFAITH RELATIONS — $417,787 over 4y, 15% of budgetTHE LOUISVILLE ORCHESTRA INC — $411,882 over 3y, 1.9% of budgetDucks Unlimited Inc — $411,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION — $400,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTHE LOUISVILLE URBAN LEAGUE INC — $372,483 over 2y, 5.5% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC — $366,226 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetSALISBURY SCHOOL INC — $355,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetAMERICAN FARMLAND TRUST — $345,000 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetTHE LAND TRUST FOR TENNESSEE INC — $335,650 over 4y, 4.7% of budgetBLUEGRASS LAND CONSERVANCY INC — $325,000 over 5y, 14% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE INC — $310,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE J DAVID GLADSTONE INSTITUTES — $305,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetRITA JUNE FOUNDATION INC — $284,683 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetThe Food Literacy Project at Oxmoor Farm Inc — $280,000 over 6y, 6.6% of budgetEVOLVE502 INC — $277,778 over 4y, 2.5% of budgetCHEEKWOOD BOTANICAL GARDEN AND MUSEUM OF ART — $258,000 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetILLUMINATE THE ARTS — $250,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetTOMKAT RANCH EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION — $238,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetTHE BILLFISH FOUNDATION INC — $215,000 over 6y, 8.0% of budgetISAAC W BERNHEIM FOUNDATION — $212,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetStone Barns Restoration Corp DBA Stone Barns Center for Food & Agri — $210,692 over 4y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER — $175,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetNASHVILLE PARKS FOUNDATION — $175,000 over 2y, 41% of budgetDENDRIFUND INC IMA DATED 6162015 — $170,000 over 2y, 24% of budgetSOUTH LOUISVILLE COMMUNITY MINISTRIES INC — $150,000 over 1y, 8.9% of budgetFUND FOR THE ARTS INC — $145,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetDefenders of Wildlife — $140,000 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetThe Edible Schoolyard Project dba The Alice Waters Institute — $135,000 over 4y, 2.7% of budgetKENTUCKY HORSE PARK FOUNDATION INC — $125,000 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetTOKEN III CLUB — $125,000 over 5y, 10% of budgetAPPALSHOP INC — $125,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetKENTUCKY WATERWAYS ALLIANCE INC — $115,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetKENTUCKY PUBLIC RADIO INC — $115,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE FOUNDATION INC — $101,667 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI FOUNDATION — $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FOUNDATION — $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHARPETH CONSERVANCY — $100,000 over 1y, 11% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The Community Foundation of Louisville IncKY112.4× affinity73 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 · Limestone Family Foundation Inc · Sociable Weaver Foundation Inc · The Gheens Foundation Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Depository Inc · Snowy Owl Foundation Inc · The Brooke Brown Barzun Philanthropic Foundation Inc · LG&E and Ku Foundation Inc · Owsley Brown II Family Foundation Inc · Ina B Bond Ashbourne Charitable Fund Inc · Msb Cockayne Fund Inc · The Community Foundation of Louisville Corporate Depository Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization W L Lyons Brown Foundation funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 140%6%23%51%90%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 9%
  • Sterling College10% of income from government
  • Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association in9% of income from government
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
14get no government money at all
51report 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, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to W L Lyons Brown Foundation?

Find your warmest path to W L Lyons Brown Foundation 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 directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 278 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

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

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph