About Brookby Foundation
The Brookby Foundation is a highly focused arts funder that directs virtually all of its giving to a single beneficiary: the Oregon Symphony. Its support appears aimed at sustaining large-scale orchestral activity—likely through substantial multi-year or capital/general operating grants—rather than a broad portfolio of arts organizations or geographic diversification.
Focus Areas
Symphony orchestra / classical music performance (Oregon Symphony)Orchestral general operating and capital supportSymphony-led education and community outreach in OregonAudience development and concert series sustainability
Who They Fund
students and early-career environmental stewards (West Michigan)regional NGOs / land trusts (Michigan, Wisconsin)farmers practicing or transitioning to regenerative grazingscientists and research partners (vessel-based research, monitoring)Michigan- and Great Lakes–based communities
About Brookby Foundation
The Brookby Foundation’s most distinctive pattern is its concentration on one major arts beneficiary: the Oregon Symphony. Across 2023, 2024, and 2025, the foundation awarded the orchestra $400,000 to $500,000 annually for general support, signaling a sustained relationship rather than occasional project funding. That long-running commitment sits alongside a second strand of grantmaking in environmental education, water literacy, and Great Lakes research infrastructure, including support tied to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Foundation’s research vessel work and scholarships. The foundation also appears in regional conservation and climate-related grants in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Florida, with recipients ranging from land trusts and nature centers to marine research and environmental advocacy groups. Arts and environment make up the clearest picture of how Brookby gives: one deeply supported orchestra, plus a smaller but recurring set of place-based grants that connect education, science, land, and water. The result is a grant portfolio that is narrower than many national funders, but still spans performance, conservation, and scientific capacity-building through named institutions in the Midwest and beyond.
What Brookby Foundation Funds
In arts and culture, the foundation backed the Oregon Symphony with $500,000 in 2025, continuing a multi-year general-support pattern for orchestral operations. It also supported All Classical Radio with $100,000 for its Media Arts Center, extending the music ecosystem beyond the concert hall. In environmental education and field learning, Brookby gave $205,000 to the UWM Foundation Inc for Brookby Scholarships in Water Literacy and Great Lakes Research Vessel, linking student support to research experience. For Great Lakes access and public learning, it awarded $200,000 to Inland Seas Education Association for its Campaign for the Future. The foundation also funded conservation capacity through $100,000 to Leelanau Conservancy for Friends of Farming & Palmer Woods Addition and $75,000 to Blandford Nature Center for the Second Nature Campaign - The Highlands.
How Brookby Foundation Gives
Brookby’s typical grant size is compact at the low end and highly variable overall: p25 is $300, median is $1,500, and p75 is $25,000. The recent grants list shows both one-off awards and repeated support to the same recipients across multiple years, including annual or near-annual gifts to several organizations. The foundation is classified as a regular funder rather than a DAF, and it funds individuals as well as organizations. The pattern suggests a mix of very small awards and a smaller number of large, relationship-based grants that drive much of the dollar volume.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3.5M
Total Assets
$30.7M
Total Revenue
$1.2M
Total Expenses
$3.8M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $300 and $25K, with a median of $2K.
25th Percentile
$300
Median
$2K
75th Percentile
$25K
Geographic Reach
National24 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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