· Public charity
American Bar Association
To serve equally the members of the legal profession and the public by defending liberty and delivering justice as the national representative of the legal profession, to apply the knowledge and experience of the profession to promote the public good and to encourage cordial discourse among the members of the Bar.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2025
- Under $10k33 grants · $198k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $60k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| University of South Carolina | $60,000 |
| Connecticut Dept of Consumer Protection | $6,000 |
| State of Delaware | $6,000 |
| Ofc of the Utah AG | $6,000 |
| State of Maryland Ofc of AG | $6,000 |
| Oklahoma Attorney General | $6,000 |
| State of Nevada Office of AG | $6,000 |
| Nebraska Dept of Justice | $6,000 |
| State of South Dakota | $6,000 |
| State of New Jersey Ofc of AG | $6,000 |
| State of Indiana Office of AG | $6,000 |
| Commonwealth of Virginia | $6,000 |
| Attorney General of Texas | $6,000 |
| State of Minnesota | $6,000 |
| Wisconsin Dept of Justice | $6,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
52 repeat relationships: 34 still active in FY2025, 18 since wound down.
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
- ABAmerican Bar Association Fund for Justice and Education5× · 2017–2022 · $28M · revenue +38%
- TITHE IP LAW FOUNDATION2× · 2017–2018 · $35k · revenue +58%
- PUPACE UNIVERSITY2× · 2017–2018 · $12k · revenue +24%
Funded once
- LALEGAL AID SOCIETY OF SAN DIEGOgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $70k · revenue +73%
- UOUNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2017 · $58k · revenue +105%
Northwestern Universitygraduatedone grant, 2017 · $38k · revenue +41%
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
To advance the practice of higher education attorneys for the benefit of the institutions they serve.
The association was formed to maintain a high standard of professional ethics among its members and to aid in the institution of improvements in legal education and to provide information to the public in laws relating to patents,…
The only law school in Rhode Island, Roger Williams University School of Law offers future attorneys a rigorous, hands-on legal education in a supportive, personalized environment. Preparing students for success in the public and private…
The institute's mission, as set out in its certificate of incorporation, is to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to…
The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center provides free legal services through pro bono lawyers to low-income individuals, nonprofit organizations and small businesses primarily in the District of Columbia. The Pro Bono Center also recruits and trains…
The national college of advocacy (nca) is the major program of the aaj education fund. the nca shall be the educational arm of aaj; shall be responsible for all aaj educational programs; and shall establish the education policy of aaj. nca…
California western school of law is an independent, aba/aals and wasc senior college and university commission (wscuc) accredited s.d. law school that prepares graduates for the practice of law through a carefully sequenced program of…
New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…
To provide meaningful access to high quality, civil legal services in the pursuit of justice for as many low income persons and members of vulnerable populations throughout colorado as possible.
To advance the science of jurisprudence, secure the more efficient administration of justice, encourage the adoption of proper legislation, advocate thorough and continuing legal education, uphold the honor and integrity of the bar,…
The american bar foundation (abf) seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. to further this mission the abf…
Mitchell hamline school of law is an independent law school that advances its mission through a combination of legal education, public service, and community engagement. it is dedicated to preparing students to practice law, while also…
How this is measured
14 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 14 of the 66 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: Investor Protection Trust · Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Inc · National Fish and Wildlife Foundation · Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation · Association of State and Territorial Health Officials · National Assembly of State Arts Agencies Inc · Association of Public Health Laboratories Inc · The Pew Charitable Trusts · North American Association of Central Cancer Registries · Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation Inc · Our Rescue · National Foundation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Inc
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization American Bar Association funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Bar Association. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Play a game based on American Bar Association’s filings →