Bradley Foundation, Lynde and Harry

Overview: Brothers Lynde and Harry Bradley went into business in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903, forming an enterprise (the Allen-Bradley Company) that was sold to Rockwell International Corporation in 1985. A major portion of the proceeds was used to establish The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Although it has no direct ties to the Allen-Bradley Company, the purpose of the Foundation is to commemorate Lynde and Harry Bradley by promoting the principles and philosophy by which they lived and upon which they built their company.

Giving primarily in Milwaukee, but also on a national basis. Support for projects that cultivate a renewed, healthier, and more vigorous sense of citizenship, at home and abroad. Projects will reflect the assumption that free men and women are genuinely self-governing, personally responsible citizens, able to run their daily affairs without the intrusive therapies of the bureaucratic, social service state.

Consequently, they will seek to reinvigorate and revive the authority of the traditional institutions of civil society - families, schools, churches, neighborhoods, and entrepreneurial enterprises - that cultivate and provide room for the exercise of citizenship, individual responsibility, and strong moral character.

Projects reflecting this view of citizenship and civil society may be demonstrations with national significance; public policy research in economics, politics, culture, or foreign affairs; or media and public education undertakings. Local support is directed toward cultural programs, education, social services, medical and health programs, and public policy research.

The Foundation aims to encourage projects that focus on cultivating a renewed, healthier, and more vigorous sense of citizenship among the American people and among peoples of other nations, as well. Projects likely to be considered by the foundation will generally share these values:

1) treat free men and women as self-governing, personally responsible citizens;

2) restoration of common sense, wisdom of experience, everyday morality, and personal character;

3) reinvigoration of traditional and local institutions and;

4) encourage decentralization of power.

Eligible projects may address any arena of public life -- economics, politics, culture, or civil society -- where citizenship as here understood is an important issue. It is important to note that the Foundation’s view of citizenship is not primarily concerned with promoting civics education, voter awareness or turnout, or similar activities narrowly focused on voting and elections. Such projects will aim to improve the life of the community through increasing cultural and educational opportunities, grass-roots economic development, and effective and humane social and health services, reflecting where possible the Foundation's focus on the resuscitation of citizenship.

Projects may be actual demonstrations of the resuscitation of citizenship in the economic, political, cultural, or social realms; policy research and writing about approaches encouraging that resuscitation; academic research and writing that explore the intellectual roots of citizenship, its decline, and prospects for revival; and popular writing and media projects that illustrate for a broader public audience the themes of citizenship.

NOTE: The foundation's asset base has grown by nearly $200 million during the last two years and giving has been growing, but slipped by nearly $2 million during the last reporting year.

• Arts:
• Arts & Culture, Humanities:
• Crime/law enforcement:
• Crime/violence prevention:
• Crime/violence prevention, abuse prevention:
• Crime/violence prevention, youth:
• Economics:
• Education:
• Education, Higher Education:
• History, History/archaeology:
• International Affairs:
• Political Science:
• Public Affairs:
• Public Affairs, Citizen Participation:
• Public policy, research:
• Youth Development, Citizenship:

Sample Grants
$ 100,000 to Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty , Grand Rapids , MI
$ 35,000 to Aid to the Catholic Church in Russia , Great Falls , VA
$ 750,000 to American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research , Washington , DC
$ 39,100 to Argus Project , New York , NY
$ 250,000 to Best Friends Foundation , Washington , DC
$ 200,000 to Black Alliance for Educational Options , Washington , DC
$ 75,000 to Cato Institute , Washington , DC
$ 60,000 to Center for Education Reform , Washington , DC
$ 90,000 to Center for Equal Opportunity , Sterling , VA
$ 350,000 to Center for the Study of Popular Culture , Los Angeles , CA
$ 10,000 to Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute , Reston , VA
$ 50,000 to DC Parents for School Choice , Washington , DC
$ 25,000 to Dr. Howard L. Fuller Education Foundation , Milwaukee , WI
$ 1,000,000 to Encounter for Culture and Education , Milwaukee , WI
$ 300,000 to Ethics and Public Policy Center , Washington , DC
$ 10,000 to Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA) , Washington , DC
$ 360,000 to Freedom House , Washington , DC
$ 50,000 to Galen Institute , Alexandria , VA For work on health care reform
$ 200,000 to Heritage Foundation , Washington , DC
$ 275,000 to Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace , Stanford , CA
$ 461,000 to Hudson Institute , Indianapolis , IN
$ 35,000 to In the Paint , Milwaukee , WI
$ 20,000 to Independent Womens Forum , Arlington , VA
$ 30,000 to Institute for Responsible Citizenship , Washington , DC
$ 30,000 to Jewish Policy Center , Washington , DC
$ 20,000 to Latino Community Center , Milwaukee , WI
$ 25,000 to Lincoln Park Community Center , Milwaukee , WI
$ 300,000 to Lynde and Harry Bradley School of Technology and Trades , Milwaukee , WI
$ 72,500 to Mackinac Center For Public Policy , Midland , MI
$ 300,000 to Marquette University , Milwaukee , WI
$ 15,000 to Maryland Public Television , Owings Mills , MD For airing of Think Tank with Ben Wattenberg
$ 250,000 to Media Research Center , Alexandria , VA
$ 45,000 to Michigan State University , East Lansing , MI
$ 50,000 to National Council for History Education , Westlake , OH
$ 100,000 to National Council of La Raza , Washington , DC For Charter School Development Initiative
$ 100,000 to National Fatherhood Initiative , Gaithersburg , PA
$ 25,000 to National Journalism Center , Herndon , VA
$ 72,500 to National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation , Springfield , VA
$ 550,000 to National Strategy Information Center , Washington , DC
$ 25,000 to New Harmony Project , Indianapolis , IN
$ 25,000 to Northeastern Ohio Roundtable , Solon , OH
$ 10,000 to Ohio Roundtable , Strongsville , OH
$ 10,000 to Philadelphia Society , Jerome , MI
$ 15,000 to Place of Refuge , Jenkintown , PA
$ 50,000 to Richard M. Nixon Center for Peace and Freedom , Washington , DC For Citizenship and Homeland Security project
$ 10,000 to Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal , Mecosta , MI
$ 25,000 to SAT-7 North American , Easton , MD
$ 50,000 to University of Maryland, College Park , College Park , MD
$ 30,000 to University of Notre Dame , Notre Dame , IN
$ 15,000 to Womens Freedom Network , Washington , DC

Application Procedures:: Interested organizations should submit a letter of inquiry with a brief history of the organization, description of its mission, and a statement of the problem the project will address. If the Foundation concludes that the project is within its policy guidelines, the applicant will receive a brochure covering the Foundation’s program and a checklist of information the proposal should address, including detailed description of project and amount of funding requested, staff qualifications, organizational and project budgets, audited financial statement, funding sources and IRS determination letter. Final authority for making grants rests with the Board of Directors, which meets four times a year. To be considered at one of these meetings, complete proposals should be submitted by the following dates: December 1, March 1, July 1, and September 1. Notification within 3-5 months of application

Grants Paid

1999 ($35,400,000 )

2000 ($44,600,000 )

2001 ($44,500,000 )

2002 ($25,200,000 )

2003 ($30,000,000 )

2004 ($36,626,023 )

2005 ($34,830,000 )

2007 ($39,810,371 )

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