Illinois · Public charity
American Bar Foundation
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 produces timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the…
- $660k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 1
- Itemized grants FY2025
- 2
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 50%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Itemized, FY2025
- $90k
- The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
- Median grant, FY2025
- $90,241
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $90,241
- Organizations funded a year
- 1 to 5
- FY2017 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 1
- Total assets, FY2025
- $44M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 50% of the organizations American Bar Foundation funded were first-time grantees, receiving 21% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 79% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $12k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 1 | $90k | 0% |
| FY2024 | 2 | $58k | 50% |
| FY2023 | 2 | $121k | 0% |
| FY2022 | 2 | $66k | 0% |
| FY2021 | 5 | $123k | 80% |
| FY2019 | 2 | $65k | 0% |
| FY2018 | 2 | $137k | 50% |
| FY2017 | 1 | $22k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $369,452 | 6 | n/a |
| Comparative Constitutions Project | $102,401 | 2 | n/a |
| Texas A&M University | $66,255 | 3 | n/a |
| Texas A&M University-Commerce | $54,175 | 3 | n/a |
| University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation Inc | $30,000 | 1 | 1% |
| Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago | $30,000 | 1 | 0% |
| Rutgers the State University | $30,000 | 1 | n/a |
About American Bar Foundation
- How much does American Bar Foundation give?
- American Bar Foundation reported 1 itemized grants totaling $90,241, out of $659,741 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 1 and 5 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2024.
- What does American Bar Foundation fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Science & Tech (62%), Education (21%), Social Science (13%).
- Who are American Bar Foundation's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ($369k), Comparative Constitutions Project ($102k), Texas A&M University ($66k).
- Does American Bar Foundation fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 50% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Where is American Bar Foundation based?
- American Bar Foundation is based in IL.
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