Brotherton Foundation

The Brotherton Foundation is a small, sole-trustee family foundation in its earliest years as an independent entity — it was formally reorganized in June 2024 out of the dissolved Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation, with Emily Brotherton Milazzo (nonprofit management degree, Ramapo College) as sole Trustee and her father Wayne Brotherton serving as Trustee Emeritus on a six-person advisory board. This is not a foundation with program officers reviewing hundreds of applications; it is a family-run vehicle with a tight, personal decision-making structure, which means fit and relationship matter more here than polish or scale.

The foundation states plainly that applications are by invitation only, though it accepts inquiry forms from organizations it has not yet worked with. In practice, that makes the on-ramp for new applicants an inquiry, not a full proposal: introduce the organization, state the K-12 education or faith-based program being funded, and let the foundation decide whether to invite a full application. The six publicly showcased grantees — 12 Stones, Living Revelations, Nav Neighbors, Marine Discovery Center, Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Volusia County, and Coastal Choices Women's Clinic — are all Volusia County, Florida organizations, so despite the foundation's official language of serving 'the United States' with a Florida priority, its actual footprint is hyper-local to the New Smyrna Beach area where Emily Milazzo and the foundation's PO Box are based.

First-time applicants should treat this as a cultivation relationship rather than a transactional grant request: with total charitable disbursements of only $86,828 across the entire FY2025 grant year, the foundation is funding a small number of relationships at $10,000-$15,000 each, not running a competitive open RFP. Organizations with existing ties to central Florida, K-12 education (in-school or out-of-school), or explicitly faith-based missions — and ideally some pre-existing local visibility in the New Smyrna Beach/Volusia County area — are best positioned. Because this is a newly independent foundation still establishing its grantmaking rhythm (grant disbursements roughly tripled from FY2024 to FY2025), there is real upside to building a relationship early, before its program becomes more selective as assets and giving scale up from the current $8.26 million asset base.

The Brotherton Foundation's financials reflect a foundation in transition rather than a mature, steady-state grantmaker. Total assets stood at $8,263,572 as of the FY2025 filing (up from $7,448,633 in FY2024, an 11% increase), largely built on the asset transfer that accompanied the 2024 reorganization rather than new contributions — the foundation's income comes almost entirely from investment activity (dividends and investment sales), not fundraising.

Grant disbursements are still small in absolute terms and growing quickly: $24,375 in charitable grants in FY2024 (the foundation's first partial year as an independent entity) rose to $86,828 in FY2025 — a 256% increase year over year. At the foundation's stated average award of $10,000-$15,000, that FY2025 total implies roughly six to nine funded organizations for the entire year, making this a highly selective, low-volume funder rather than a broad grants program.

Revenue and expenses swung significantly between the two available filing years: FY2024 showed $991,220 in revenue against just $59,202 in total expenses, producing a $932,018 net surplus (consistent with a founding-year asset transfer). FY2025 reversed that pattern — $355,130 in revenue against $538,555 in total expenses, producing a $183,425 net deficit, which is typical of a foundation moving from a one-time capitalization event into its first full year of regular operations and grantmaking overhead.

No breakdown by program area or state is available in the underlying data (the platform's grantee and financials tables are empty for this record, reflecting the foundation's brief filing history), but the two stated priorities — K-12 education (in- and out-of-school) and faith-based organizations — combined with the geographic concentration visible in its six featured grantees, all Volusia County-based, suggest the large majority of FY2025's roughly $87,000 in grants went to organizations within a short drive of New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

The platform's peer set for Brotherton Foundation is built purely on asset size (all in the $8.26-8.27 million range) within the broad "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" NTEE category, not on shared mission — none of the five peers publish grantmaking guidelines, focus areas, or an application process that could be independently verified in this research pass.

What differentiates Brotherton Foundation within this asset-matched cohort is transparency and accessibility: it maintains a public website with stated funding priorities, an inquiry form, published contact information, and posted Form 990 filings, none of which could be readily found for the listed peers. Grant seekers should treat the peer table as a reminder that foundations of this exact asset size vary enormously in how (and whether) they engage with unsolicited outside applicants — Brotherton's willingness to accept inquiries from new organizations is a genuine point of access relative to peers that appear to have no public application channel at all.

The defining recent event for this foundation is organizational, not programmatic: in 2023, Wayne Brotherton (who had served as co-trustee for roughly two decades following founder Fred J. Brotherton's death in 2002) transferred leadership to his daughter, Emily Brotherton Milazzo. That transition led to a full legal reorganization completed in 2024, in which the original Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation was dissolved and split into two successor entities — this Brotherton Foundation (IRS ruling date June 2024, EIN 99-3410865) and the separately operated F J Brotherton Charitable Trust.

Financially, the foundation's two available Form 990-PF filings tell a clear before-and-after story. FY2024, its founding year, showed a $932,018 net surplus driven by the reorganization's asset transfer and minimal grantmaking ($24,375 disbursed). FY2025, filed May 2026, shows the foundation settling into regular operations: total assets grew to $8,263,572, and charitable grant disbursements more than tripled to $86,828, even as the foundation posted a modest $183,425 operating deficit for the year — a normal pattern for a foundation moving off a one-time capitalization windfall.

No independent press coverage, award announcements, or new program launches were found for this foundation in 2025 or 2026 web searches; the only substantive public information comes from the foundation's own website and its IRS filings. Grant seekers should not expect a news-driven signal of shifting priorities — the most reliable indicator of the foundation's current direction is its own grantmaking guidelines page and its six currently featured grantee organizations, all based in the New Smyrna Beach/Volusia County area.

Because the Brotherton Foundation states outright that applications are by invitation only, the single most important tactical move for an unfamiliar organization is to submit the inquiry form on brothertonfoundation.org (or reach out directly via hello@brothertonfoundation.org or 386-478-4745) rather than attempting to submit a full proposal cold. Treat the inquiry as a short, targeted introduction: name the specific K-12 education program (in-school or out-of-school) or faith-based mission being funded, and make the central Florida / Volusia County connection explicit and early, since every publicly disclosed grantee is based in that immediate area despite the foundation's broader stated national eligibility.

Respect the foundation's two-cycle calendar: applications for the April distribution are due March 1, and applications for the October distribution are due September 1. Submitting an inquiry 60-90 days ahead of either deadline gives the sole trustee realistic time to review and potentially issue an invitation before the window closes.

Size the request to the foundation's actual capacity, not its asset base. With only $86,828 disbursed across the entire FY2025 grant year and a stated average award of $10,000-$15,000, a request in that range — or lower, if the foundation is a newer relationship — is far more likely to land than a large capital-campaign ask. Foundations this size and this early in their independent operating life rarely fund at a scale beyond their historical median.

A common and avoidable mistake is contacting the wrong Brotherton entity: the related F J Brotherton Charitable Trust (fjbrothertoncharitabletrust.org) is a separate successor organization from the same 2024 split, with a different multi-state footprint (Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina) and its own three-step online registration process. Applicants should confirm they are on brothertonfoundation.org and addressing Emily Milazzo's foundation specifically.

Finally, because this is a single-trustee, family-run structure rather than a staffed program office, personal credibility and local reputation likely carry outsized weight — a warm introduction through a board member, an existing central Florida program presence, or a direct relationship with one of the six currently featured grantee organizations is a more realistic path in than a purely written application. Once funded, remember the 18-month reapplication waiting period before seeking a repeat grant.