Brookfield Inc.

Brookfield Inc. is a small, closely held Richmond, Virginia family/legacy private foundation (est. 1939, EIN 54-0638415) with $12.4M in assets, administered through the Williams Mullen law firm (contact: Douglas Nabhan, C/O John Walker). Unlike most funders on this platform, Brookfield operates a closed, preselected grantmaking model: multiple independent funder-research sources (Cause IQ, Grantable, Instrumentl) each confirm the foundation 'only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds.' There is no published RFP, no online portal, and its own enrichment record leaves application_instructions blank. This is the single most important fact for any grant seeker: cold applications are very unlikely to be reviewed.

What Brookfield does instead is fund a stable, loyal roster of roughly 15-20 core Richmond-area human-services and youth-development nonprofits year after year — 39 of its last 40 recorded grants (97.5%) went to Virginia organizations, almost entirely in the Richmond metro. Repeat, multi-year support (Child Savers received 3 grants totaling $250,000; Communities In Schools 2 grants totaling $180,000; Grasp 2 grants totaling $160,000) suggests trustees favor deepening existing relationships over funding new organizations. Grant sizes cluster around a typical single award of $40,000-$80,000 (median $70,000, average $65,556 across its most recent 9-grant sample), though the full 40-grant history ranges much wider — from token $1,000-5,000 gifts (Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, Path Partnerships) up to $100,000 single awards (Communities In Schools of Richmond).

For a first-time applicant, the realistic path is not an application at all — it is relationship-building. Board leadership titles rotate across a small, stable group (President Andrea Brougton/Katy Hottinger, Treasurer Crit Richardson/Thomas Bean, Secretary Terrell Williams/Sheron Carter-Gunter, directors John Walker, Arrion Dennis, Scott Nystrom, Willie J. Bell Jr.), indicating family/community trustees rather than paid program staff. Organizations should pursue warm introductions through current grantees, shared board connections, or Richmond nonprofit-sector convenings such as the Virginia Funders Network, which Brookfield itself helps fund, rather than submitting an unsolicited LOI.

Brookfield's giving is remarkably steady and modest relative to its asset base. Grants paid have held in a tight band for the past several fiscal years: $530,000 (2019), $511,000 (2020), $561,000 (2021), $590,000 (2022), $562,000 (2023), and $575,000 in both FY2024 and FY2025 per the most recent 990-PF filings. That is roughly 4.6-5% of the $12.4M asset base — close to the IRS's 5% minimum distribution requirement for private foundations, indicating Brookfield spends near the statutory floor rather than pursuing an aggressive giving target.

Across the platform's 40-grant history, total disbursed is $2,224,000 with an average grant of $55,600. The foundation's own most recent typical-award pattern (n=9) shows a $40,000-$80,000 range, median $70,000, average $65,556. The largest identifiable cumulative recipient is Child Savers/Memorial Child Guidance Clinic at $250,000 across 3 grants; the smallest are token grants to Path Partnerships ($4,000 across 3 grants, explicitly 'to fund the Virginia Funder's Network') and Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities ($5,000, single grant).

Geographically, funding is almost exclusively local: 39 of 40 grants (97.5%) went to Virginia organizations, with just 1 reaching New York (likely a national intermediary). No evidence of funding outside the Richmond metro area was found.

By program area, the grantee list clusters into four buckets. Youth development/mentoring — Elk Hill Farm ($70K), YMCA ($80K), YWCA ($70K), Boys & Girls Club ($70K), Higher Achievement ($70K), First Tee of Richmond ($40K), Challenge Discovery ($45K/2 grants) — represents roughly 35-40% of dollars. Family/child human services is the largest single bucket at roughly 35%: Child Savers ($250K), St Joseph's Villa ($120K), Human Kind ($120K), Sacred Heart Center ($110K), Family Lifeline ($90K), United Methodist Family Services ($70K), Peter Paul Development Center ($65K + $50K under a variant name). Education/workforce accounts for roughly 20%: Communities In Schools ($180K + $100K), J Sargeant Reynolds Community College ($50K), Read Center ($40K). The remainder goes to environment/outdoor education (James River Association $50K, Blue Sky Fund $50K) and sector infrastructure (Neighborhood Resource Center $50K, Path Partnerships $4K). Investment income is volatile ($1.39M in 2021 vs. $301K in 2023) but grant payout does not track that volatility, confirming budgeted, smoothed distributions rather than market-linked giving.

Brookfield sits at the small end of Richmond's private-foundation landscape — its $12.4M in assets is comparable to the Windsor Foundation but only 7-9% of the Cabell Foundation's $163.5M or Mary Morton Parsons' $136.9M. Unlike Cabell and Parsons, which run structured LOI/proposal processes and fund dozens of organizations a year statewide, Brookfield makes far fewer, larger, sustained gifts (roughly 9-11 grants/year) to a tight, repeat roster of Richmond nonprofits, and does not accept unsolicited applications at all. For organizations without an existing Brookfield relationship, Cabell and Mary Morton Parsons represent more accessible near-term Richmond targets with a formal path in; Brookfield is better treated as a long-term relationship-building goal once an organization has an established track record in Richmond's youth- and human-services network.

No dedicated press exists for Brookfield Inc. — it does not issue press releases, and its listed website (brookfield.org) currently returns an SSL certificate error, leaving it unclear whether that domain is even affiliated with this specific foundation rather than the large, unrelated asset-management company that shares the Brookfield name. The only reliably dated recent activity comes from IRS/ProPublica filing records: the foundation's FY2025 Form 990-PF was filed May 5, 2026, reporting $759,346 in revenue, $727,391 in total expenses, $575,000 in charitable disbursements, and $12,417,278 in net assets — figures essentially flat versus FY2024 ($1,522,868 revenue, $692,045 expenses, $575,000 disbursed, $12,043,722 net assets). The jump in FY2024 revenue reflects one-time investment gains rather than a change in grantmaking capacity, since the disbursed amount stayed identical year over year.

Board composition has been stable across the two most recent filing cycles, with leadership titles rotating among the same small group: Andrea Brougton (President, previously Vice President), Katy Hottinger (President in an earlier cycle), Crit Richardson and Thomas Bean (alternating Treasurer), Terrell Williams and Sheron Carter-Gunter (alternating Secretary), and directors John Walker, Arrion Dennis, Scott Nystrom, and Willie J. Bell Jr. No officer draws compensation. No new program announcements, staff hires, or strategic-plan changes were identifiable in public records for 2025-2026 — this remains a low-visibility, administratively lean family/legacy foundation whose most recent 'news' is effectively its annual 990-PF filing.

Since Brookfield does not run an open application process, treat this less as an 'apply' playbook and more as a 'get on the radar' playbook.

1. Do not lead with a cold LOI or online form — none exists. Cause IQ, Grantable, and Instrumentl each independently confirm Brookfield 'does not accept unsolicited requests for funds' and 'only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations.' Time spent drafting a formal proposal before establishing contact is likely wasted.

2. Start with a phone call, not an email blast. The only public contact channel is (804) 783-6484 and the mailing address (PO Box 1320, Richmond, VA 23218), routed through Williams Mullen (attn: Douglas Nabhan / John Walker). A brief, respectful call asking whether the foundation is open to hearing from new organizations is more useful than a generic inquiry email, since there is no dedicated program officer to triage mass outreach.

3. Build proximity through Brookfield's existing grantee network. Organizations like Child Savers, Communities In Schools of Richmond, Grasp, St Joseph's Villa, Human Kind, and Sacred Heart Center have received repeat, multi-year gifts — a warm introduction or co-referral from one of these groups is the most realistic entry point.

4. Show up in Richmond's funder-collaborative infrastructure. Brookfield funds Path Partnerships specifically 'to fund the Virginia Funder's Network,' signaling its trustees are plugged into VA's funder-collaboration ecosystem — visibility there may matter more than a proposal.

5. If a relationship does develop, align your ask with Brookfield's demonstrated range: request $40,000-$80,000 for an established, ongoing program rather than a first-time seed request, and frame it as general operating support — nearly all recorded grant purposes are simply 'GENERAL,' not narrowly scoped project grants.

6. Anchor mission language to what Brookfield has actually funded — youth development, family/child human services, and education/workforce readiness in the Richmond metro — rather than generic 'community development' language from its NTEE classification, which understates the specificity of its real giving pattern.

The most common mistake to avoid is submitting a statewide or national proposal: 39 of 40 recorded grants (97.5%) stayed within Virginia, almost entirely Richmond metro — an organization without a clear Richmond nexus is unlikely to be considered regardless of program quality.