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American Board of Trial Advocates at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

American Board of Trial Advocates

The American Board of Trial Advocates fosters improvement in the ethical and technical standards of practice in the field of advocacy for individuals in the civil justice system.

$470k
Granted FY2024still arriving
7
Grants FY2024still arriving
6
States reached
$414k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Crime & Legal$1.8MEducation$95kInternational$25kCivil Rights$15kPhilanthropy$10kMembership Benefit$8k
02FY2024 · 7 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $15k
  • $10k–50k3 grants · $41k
  • $250k+1 grant · $414k
$11,400
Median grant
6
States reached
$7.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates$413,829
Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates$15,000
Loyola Law School$15,000
American Bar Association - TIPS Trial Academy$11,400
Duke University$5,000
Council of Chief Judges of the State Court of Appeals$5,000
The National Judicial College$5,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 97% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%Loyola Law School: $15k → 14%Hawaii Community Foundation: $5k → 9%Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $450k → 14%UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF LAW: $15k → 16%NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION: $8k → 14%MIAMI CHAPTER OF ABOTA: $8k → 15%Duke University: $5k → 11%Montrose Community Foundation: $5k → 12%American Bar Association: $11k → 14%NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS: $25k → 7%The National Judicial College: $5k → 10%LOYOLA JOURNALIST LAW SCHOOL: $15k → 14%Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $414k → 14%University of South Carolina: $15k → 16%Center for Strategic and International Studies: $25k → 14%American Bar Association: $11k → 14%Council of Chief Judges of the State Court of Appeals: $5k → 7%The National Judicial College: $5k → 10%Loyola Law School: $15k → 14%Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $412k → 14%American Bar Association - TIPS Trial Academy: $11k → 14%The National Judicial College: $5k → 10%LOYOLA JOURNALIST LAW SCHOOL: $15k → 14%Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $409k → 14%NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE: $5k → 10%Loyola Law School: $15k → 14%Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $35k → 14%Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $15k → 14%FOUNDATION OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCATES: $5k → 14%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
NV
CA
CO
VA
NC
SC
DC
HI
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

96%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.9M · 5 repeat orgs$75k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
4

Total granted

$1.9M
$65k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+89%

Still filing today

80%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $10k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationCivil RightsCrime & LegalInternationalPublic BenefitOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • FO
    Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.7M · revenue +15% · 29% of their budget
  • LM
    LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
    5× · 2019–2024 · $75k · revenue +41%
  • AB
    American Bar Association
    3× · 2021–2024 · $34k · revenue +92%

Funded once

  • NC
    NATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTSgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +89%
  • CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
    one grant, 2022 · $25k · revenue -12%
  • AB
    AMERICAN BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCATES
    one grant, 2020 · $8k
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.

04Its field

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.

1
Colorado Bar Association

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,…

—
2
National Association of College and University Attorneys

To advance the practice of higher education attorneys for the benefit of the institutions they serve.

—
3
North Carolina Bar Association

The north carolina bar association is organized for the purposes of promoting and improving the administration of justice in north carolina; fostering and encouraging law reform when in the public interest; advancing the science of…

—
4
Ohio State Bar Association

The ohio state bar association (the "association") is an unincorporated voluntary non-profit organization. the association was formed to promote justice and advance the interests of the legal profession.

—
5
The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

Enhance the ability of actec members to provide the most efficient and highest quality services to their clients; develop qualified trust and estate counselors; improve and reform probate, trust and tax laws, procedures, and standards of…

Community Improvement
6
American Bar Endowment

To make distributions to 501(c)(3) organizations including, in pact, to advance legal study and research and to promote the administration of justice and uniformity of judicial decision throughout the u.s.

Crime & Legal
7
Denver Bar Association

To promote justice, its administration, and its availability to all sectors of society; to support and assist the membership in the delivery of legal services; to uphold the honor and dignity of the bar, and foster respect for the legal…

—
8
American Law Institute

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…

Crime & Legal
9
United States Naval Institute

Provide an independent forum for those who dare to read, think, speak, and write to advance the professional, literary, and scientific understanding of sea power and other issues critical to global security.

—
10
Council for Court Excellence

Council for court excellence's (cce's) mission is to bring people together to conduct research, educate, and advocate to make d.c.'s unique legal systems more just, equitable, and accountable to the community.

—
11
American Association for Justice Education Fund

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…

—
12
National Association for College Admission Counseling

Empowering college admission counseling professionals through education, advocacy, and community.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The National Judicial College; the most unlike its peers is Montrose Community Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

11 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. 11 of the 13 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
8/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $1,740,748 · Civil RightsFoundation of the American Board of Trial AdvocatesAmerican Bar Association: $34,200 · OtherUSC School of Medicine Greenville: $30,000 · OtherTHE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE: $20,000 · OtherAMERICAN BOARD OF TRIAL ADVOCATES: $7,500 · OtherNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION: $7,500 · OtherMontrose Community Foundation: $5,051 · OtherLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $75,000 · EducationDUKE UNIVERSITY: $5,000 · EducationNATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS: $25,000 · Crime & LegalCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $25,000 · InternationalCOUNCIL OF CHIEF JUDGES OF THE STATE COURTS OF APPEAL: $5,000 · Public BenefitHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 · Philanthropy
Civil Rights$1,740,748Other$104,251Education$80,000Crime & Legal$25,000International$25,000Public Benefit$5,000Philanthropy$5,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFoundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates: $1,740,748 over 5y, 29% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $75,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAmerican Bar Association: $34,200 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR STATE COURTS: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE: $20,000 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION: $7,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMontrose Community Foundation: $5,051 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetCOUNCIL OF CHIEF JUDGES OF THE STATE COURTS OF APPEAL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDUKE UNIVERSITY: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Donor Advised Charita…
Donor Advised Charitable Giving IncCO5× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization American Board of Trial Advocates funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Board of Trial Advocates. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 13 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home