Bradley Foundation

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The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, commonly known as the Bradley Foundation, is an American charitable foundation based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that has been one of the most influential funders of the conservative movement.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="milwaukeemag">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The foundation funds a variety of conservative groups along with cultural institutions and Milwaukee nonprofit organizations. It has been active in school choice and efforts to change election rules.<ref name="milwaukeemag" /><ref name=":0" /> Approximately 70% of the foundation's giving is directed to national groups while 30% is Wisconsin-based, its CEO said in 2018.<ref name="milwaukeemag" /> The foundation had about $850 million in assets as of 2021.<ref name=":0" /> It awards the Bradley Prize.<ref name=":1" />

HistoryEdit

Template:Conservatism US The foundation was established in 1942, shortly after the death of Lynde Bradley, to further the philosophy of the Bradley brothers. The Bradley brothers had helped found the Allen-Bradley Company, a major electrical controls manufacturer.<ref name=":1" /> The foundation's credo is "The good society is a free society."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1965, after the death of Harry Lynde Bradley, Lynde's brother, the foundation expanded and began to concentrate on public policy.<ref name=Miller/> 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.<ref>The Bradley Brothers. Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Template:Webarchive</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 1986, the foundation gave away $23 million, more than it had in the previous four decades.<ref name=Miller>John J. Miller (2003), "The Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation", in How Two Foundations Reshaped America, Philanthropy Roundtable</ref>

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).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Bradley Foundation acts like "a venture capital fund for conservative ideas", in the words of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2011.<ref name=":1" />

In the 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."<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />

Funding areasEdit

The foundation describes itself as supporting limited government.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The New York Times described the Bradley Foundation as "a leading source of ideas and financing for American conservatives."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name=milwaukeemag/> 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.<ref name=milwaukeemag/> 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.<ref name="Johnson">Annysa Johnson, Islamic rights group's report rips Bradley Foundation funding, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (September 20, 2013).</ref> The foundation's funding was criticized by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which described the grant recipients as an "Islamophobic network."<ref name=Johnson/>

The Bradley Foundation is a major funder of state-level initiatives opposing unions, particularly in Wisconsin.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":1" />

Organizations awarded grants by the foundation have included the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC),<ref name=":2" /> FreedomWorks,<ref name="bradleyfdn.org">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Americans for Prosperity,<ref name="bradleyfdn.org" /> The Heritage Foundation,<ref name="bradley2007">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the Hoover Institution,<ref name="bradley2007" /> the Black Alliance for Educational Options<ref name="bradley2007" /> and the SEED Foundation.<ref name="bradley2007" /> The associated Bradley Impact Fund in 2020 gave $6.5 million, its largest donation that year, to Project Veritas.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Bradley PrizeEdit

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, often to right-wing opinion leaders.<ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Winners<ref name=pastwinners>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Edwin Meese III (2012), Roger Ailes (2013),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Paul Clement (2013), Mitch Daniels (2013), Yuval Levin (2013),<ref>(13 June 2014)"Anti-Americanism Needs to Be Answered": Roger Ailes Gets Serious Slate. Retrieved 20 January 2014</ref> Kimberley Strassel (2014),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ayaan Hirsi Ali (2015), James Ceaser (2015), Gary Sinise (2016),<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Peter Berkowitz (2017), Charles R. Kesler (2018),<ref name=pastwinners/> Roger Kimball (2019), Amity Shlaes (2021),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Glenn Loury (2022),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> John H. Cochrane (2023), and Jay Bhattacharya (2024).<ref name=pastwinners/>

The Bradley Prizes for 2020 were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.<ref name=prizewinners>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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