Bradley Foundation

Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation

Formation	1942 (82 years ago) (1942)
Type	Nonprofit
Tax ID no.	39-6037928
Legal status	501(c)(3)
Purpose	Private charitable foundation
Headquarters	Ste 300 1400 N Water St Milwaukee, WI 53202-2506 United States
President	Richard William Graber[a]
Chairman	James Arthur Pope[b]
Key people	David Vogel Uihlein Jr. Vice Chairman
Revenue	$82,867,746[c] (2020)
Expenses	$60,529,770[c] (2020)
Website	www.bradleyfdn.org

The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable foundation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that primarily supports conservative causes.^[1][2]

The foundation provides between $35 million and $45 million annually to a variety of causes, including cultural institutions, community-based nonprofit organizations in Milwaukee, and conservative groups. It has been active in education reform including school choice, and efforts to change election rules.^[1][3] Approximately 70% of the foundation's giving is directed to national groups while 30% is Wisconsin-based.^[1] The foundation had about $850 million in assets as of 2021.^[3]

History

The foundation was established in 1942, shortly after the death of Lynde Bradley, to further the philosophy of the Bradley brothers. The foundation's credo is "The good society is a free society."^[4]

In 1965, after the death of Harry Lynde Bradley, Lynde's brother, the foundation expanded and began to concentrate on public policy.^[5] The 1985 acquisition of the Allen-Bradley Company by Rockwell International Corporation resulted in a portion of the proceeds going to expand the foundation, swelling its assets from $14 million to over $290 million.^[6] In 1986, the foundation gave away $23 million, more than it had in the previous four decades.^[5]

The Bradley Foundation's former president, Michael S. Joyce, helped to create the Philanthropy Roundtable, a group of American philanthropists that, as of 2018, has 660 members (consisting of both individuals and organizations).^[7]

In August 2021 New Yorker magazine, Jane Mayer wrote that the Bradley Foundation "has become an extraordinary force in persuading mainstream Republicans to support radical challenges to election rules—a tactic once relegated to the far right" and "funds a network of groups that have been stoking fear about election fraud, in some cases for years. Public records show that, since 2012, the foundation has spent some eighteen million dollars supporting eleven conservative groups involved in election issues."^[3] On the foundation's board of directors is attorney Cleta Mitchell, who joined Donald Trump on his phone call on 2 January 2021 when Trump pressured Georgia election officials to find 11,780 votes to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.^[3]

Funding areas

The foundation describes itself as supporting limited government.^[8] The New York Times described the Bradley Foundation as "a leading source of ideas and financing for American conservatives."^[9] A 2013 report from the Center for Public Integrity found that the Bradley Foundation was a contributor to Donors Trust, a right-wing think tank which has been described as the "dark money ATM" for conservative billionaires, enabling them to make sizable donations to conservative causes without attracting public scrutiny.^[10][11]

In a 2018 interview, the foundation's CEO, Richard Graber, described its four major areas of funding as "constitutional order", education (in particular school choice), civil society, and arts and culture.^[1] In that interview, Graber said that the foundation would deemphasize some areas in which it had previously made grants, including national security and foreign policy.^[1] Activities in these areas had funded millions of dollars for three anti-Muslim groups: the David Horowitz Freedom Center (which received $4.2 million), Frank Gaffney's Center for Security Policy (which received $815,000) and Daniel Pipes' Middle East Forum (which received $305,000). These grants were between 2008 and 2011.^[12] The foundation's funding was criticized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which described the grant recipients as an "Islamophobic network."^[12]

Organizations awarded grants by the foundation have included FreedomWorks,^[13] Americans for Prosperity,^[13] The Heritage Foundation,^[14] the Hoover Institution,^[14] the Black Alliance for Educational Options^[14] and the SEED Foundation.^[14] The associated Bradley Impact Fund in 2020 gave $6.5 million, its largest donation that year, to Project Veritas.^[15]

Bradley Prize

The Bradley Prize is a grant to "formally recognize individuals of extraordinary talent and dedication who have made contributions of excellence in areas consistent with The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation's mission." As many as four prizes of $250,000 each are awarded annually. Winners ^[16] have included Fouad Ajami (2006), John Bolton (2007), Martin Feldstein (2007), Victor Davis Hanson (2008), Leonard Leo (2009), William Kristol (2009), Paul A. Gigot (2010), Jeb Bush (2011),^[17] Edwin Meese III (2012), Roger Ailes (2013),^[18] Paul Clement (2013), Mitch Daniels (2013), Yuval Levin (2013),^[19] Kimberly Strassel (2014),^[20] Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2015), James Ceaser (2015), Gary Sinise (2016),^[21] Peter Berkowitz (2017), Charles R. Kesler (2018),^[16] Roger Kimball (2019), Amity Shlaes (2021),^[22] and Glenn Loury (2022).^[23]

Note: The Bradley Prizes for 2020 were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.^[24]

See also

• Argosy Foundation
• Bader Philanthropies
• Charter School Growth Fund
• Dark Money (book)
• Donors Trust
• Lyle Oberwise
• Zilber Family Foundation

Notes

1. president since 2016
2. chairperson since 2017
3. IRS Form-990 yr2020

References

1. Nicksen, Carole (2 February 2018). "Bradley Foundation CEO Richard Graber Talks Education Reform & the Foundation's New Strategic Plan". Milwaukee Magazine. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
2. "Priority Giving Areas". Bradley Foundation. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
3. Mayer, Jane (2 August 2021). "The Big Money Behind the Big Lie: Donald Trump's attacks on democracy are being promoted by rich and powerful conservative groups that are determined to win at all costs". Newyorker.com. Archived from the original on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021. (...) the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Based in Milwaukee, the private, tax-exempt organization has become an extraordinary force in persuading mainstream Republicans to support radical challenges to election rules—a tactic once relegated to the far right. With an endowment of some eight hundred and fifty million dollars, the foundation funds a network of groups that have been stoking fear about election fraud, in some cases for years. Public records show that, since 2012, the foundation has spent some eighteen million dollars supporting eleven conservative groups involved in election issues.
4. Gonzalez, George (2013). Energy and the Politics of the North Atlantic. SUNY Press. p. 147. ISBN 9781438447957.
5. John J. Miller (2003), "The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation", in How Two Foundations Reshaped America, Philanthropy Roundtable
6. Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, The Bradley Brothers Archived 2011-05-13 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Philanthropy Roundtable: History". Philanthropy Roundtable. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
8. "Bradleyfdn.org". Archived from the original on 18 December 2005.
9. Healy, Patrick; Davey, Monica (8 June 2015). "Behind Scott Walker, a Longstanding Conservative Alliance Against Unions (Published 2015)". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
10. admin (14 February 2013). "Donors use charity to push free-market policies in states". Center for Public Integrity. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
11. "DonorsTrust—the Right's Dark-Money ATM—Pumps Out Record $96 Million". Mother Jones. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
12. Annysa Johnson, Islamic rights group's report rips Bradley Foundation funding, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (September 20, 2013).
13. "Bradley Foundation website" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2011.
14. "Part1b" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
15. Stanley-Becker, Isaac (15 December 2021). "Project Veritas nearly doubled its funding in 2020 while amplifying baseless election fraud claims". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
16. "The Bradley Prizes - Past Winners". The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
17. Rojc, Philip (4 June 2018). "War of Ideas: Conservative Intellectuals Have a Friend in This Foundation". Inside Philanthropy. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
18. Farhi, Paul (13 June 2013). "Roger Ailes wows conservatives in accepting Bradley prize". Washington Post. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
19. (13 June 2014)"Anti-Americanism Needs to Be Answered": Roger Ailes Gets Serious Slate. Retrieved 20 January 2014
20. "Strassel Wins Bradley Prize: 'Potomac Watch' columnist honored for journalistic excellence". The Wall Street Journal. 22 May 2014.
21. Bond, Paul (17 May 2016). "Gary Sinise to Receive Bradley Award and $250,000 for His Charitable Foundation". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
22. Foundation, The Lynde and Harry Bradley. "Amity Shlaes 2021 Bradley Prize Winner". www.bradleyfdn.org. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
23. "Bradley Foundation: Glenn Loury, distinguished economist and scholar, selected as a 2022 Bradley Prize winner". Bradley Foundation. 22 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
24. "Welcome To The Bradley Prizes". The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation. Retrieved 11 December 2020.

External links

• Official website
• Profile at Bloomberg Businessweek
• "Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Internal Revenue Service filings". ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

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