Skip to content

Ohio · Nonprofit

CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION

CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION (Ohio) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,787,723 to it, the largest being NFL FOUNDATION INC ($3,850,661). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$2.4M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$4.8M
Net assets
$1.9M
7/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 58%
01What it does

What Cleveland Browns Foundation does

Mission

The Cleveland Browns Foundation is dedicated to taking a solution-based, holistic approach to ensure youth in ohio and beyond receive the development and education they need as a foundation for independence and success.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Stay in the game! Attendance network works together to campaign, connect and convene with experts and supporters to dramatically improve attendance for school districts throughout ohio.

    $1,163,829 spentof which $1,163,829 as grants
    44% of program spending
  2. The greater cleveland food bank works to ensure everyone in our communities has the nutritious food they need every day.

    $100,000 spentof which $100,000 as grants
    4% of program spending
  3. The browns field project creates safe places for school districts to enjoy as the fields are lined for multiple sports and the synthetic fields can be used for recreational can community purposes. Annually, the browns install a synthetic turf field in communities to provide equity and access for play.

    $1,008,181 spentof which $1,008,181 as grants
    38% of program spending
  4. Changemakers - the browns honored three individuals as the browns change maker award recipients, for their work through the build the bridge initiative. Build the bridge reaches multiple schools in our local community to bring together athletes from different neighborhoods to engage with each other to understand their differences. Club matching grant - funds support the cleveland muny football league which serves over 2000 athletes who play the game through the football development, including flag football, rookie tackle and 11-man. Serving multiple neighborhoods, athletes who may not have the opportunity to play, can do so, as the funding helps offset costs associated with league play.club matching athletic trainer - knowing not all schools have athletic trainers, the browns have partnered with university hospitals to provide funding that allows a trainer to provide services in two schools in the cleveland metropoltan school district.nike grant - funding through this grant supported uniform and equipment needs for the browns high school girls flag football program as well as the hs combine designed by build the bridge. Salute to service - annually the browns have done a volunteer…

    $348,481 spentof which $348,481 as grants
    13% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,620,491.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.0M) Expenses 100 ($1.1M) Net assets 100 ($813k)2018 Revenue 98 ($989k) Expenses 93 ($1.0M) Net assets 94 ($768k)2019 Revenue 171 ($1.7M) Expenses 90 ($998k) Net assets 184 ($1.5M)2020 Revenue 96 ($968k) Expenses 116 ($1.3M) Net assets 145 ($1.2M)2021 Revenue 225 ($2.3M) Expenses 106 ($1.2M) Net assets 280 ($2.3M)2022 Revenue 193 ($1.9M) Expenses 225 ($2.5M) Net assets 212 ($1.7M)2023 Revenue 256 ($2.6M) Expenses 193 ($2.1M) Net assets 267 ($2.2M)2024 Revenue 240 ($2.4M) Expenses 239 ($2.7M) Net assets 238 ($1.9M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (240)Expenses (239)Net assets (238)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $1.2M to $2.5M (+108%).

$861k
$875k
$1.6M
$1.2M
$2.5M
$2.0M
$2.6M
$2.2M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2022 38% · 2023 47% · 2024 20%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

77% of CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 3,053 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$103k
’17
−$45k
’18
$732k
’19
−$324k
’20
$1.1M
’21
−$555k
’22
$443k
’23
−$235k
’24
2.9
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Board chair

Susan Bagwell Haslam

President & chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed20888891010
Joined·+0+0+0+0+2+2+0
No longer listed·12000110
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 7 funders, grant income fell $515k → $169k.

4 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 80% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

97% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION.

80%
largest funder
94%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 55% · 2020 73% · 2021 83% · 2022 83% · 2023 59% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

50% of CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 44% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Ohio, across 8 states in all.

NY
IN
OH
NJ
MO
DE
GA
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Ohio out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $117k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION has grown faster than half of the 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−10% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve2.9mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)13% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,910 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Ohio

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

98% of spending goes to programs.

Program 98%Management 1%Fundraising 0%

Governance

10
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

81%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

OH

Part of a family of 3 related entities

  • Jhac LLC · partnership
  • Cleveland Browns Football Company LLC · partnership
  • Cleveland Browns Stadium Company LLC · partnership

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION?
CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION (Ohio) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,787,723 to it, the largest being NFL FOUNDATION INC ($3,850,661). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $4,787,723 in grants to CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION?
NFL FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,850,661 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CLEVELAND BROWNS FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 16 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing