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Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc

The animal legal defense fund's mission is to protect the lives and advance the interests of animals through the legal system.

$668k
Granted FY2025still arriving
6
Grants FY2025still arriving
5
States reached
$150k
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, FY2017 to 2025.

Animals$6.2MCrime & Legal$175kEducation$60kCivil Rights$10k
02FY2025 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 6 grants below total $472,856, the rows itemized in this filing. The $668,105 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $195,249 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $34k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $439k
$100,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$25M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
STATE OF WASHINGTON ATTORNEY GENERAL$150,000
ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS$130,000
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUVENILE FAMILY COURT JUDGES$100,000
HUMANE SOCIETY OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON$59,000
UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT$20,000
VIRGINIA ANIMAL FIGHTING TASK FORCE$13,856
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 (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%SAGE COUNSELING INC: $15k → 11%CASCADE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE: $10k → 14%Pennsylvania SPCA: $8k → 22%EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE: $18k → 10%Prevent Cruelty California: $10k → 14%YUBA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: $10k → 15%GODSPEED HORSE HOSTEL: $10k → 9%ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS: $130k → 14%BARK NATION INC: $21k → 8%DESCHUTES COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: $10k → 10%CENTER FOR ANIMAL LAW STUDIES-LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL: $382k → 12%BENTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: $120k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $101k → 11%NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY: $50k → 11%ANIMAL LAW CENTER: $9k → 7%THE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $10k → 9%WHIDBEY ANIMALS IMPROVEMENT FOUNDATION: $10k → 7%HUMANE SOCIETY OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON: $59k → 9%CENTER VALLEY ANIMAL RESCUE: $10k → 11%MCHENRY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: $51k → 6%ANIMAL RESCUE CORPS: $20k → 13%VIRGINIA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: $210k → 22%Nat Counc of Juv & Fam Court: $50k → 10%BORN FREE USA: $115k → 8%ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS: $100k → 14%Center for Animal Law Studies: $366k → 12%BENTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: $120k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $20k → 11%HOOVED ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIETY: $18k → 6%VIRGINIA OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL: $120k → 22%ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS: $100k → 14%CENTER FOR ANIMAL LAW STUDIES-LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL: $330k → 12%Benton County District Atty: $120k → 18%UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $20k → 11%VIRGINIA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: $60k → 22%ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS: $100k → 14%Center for Animal Law Studies: $283k → 12%Benton County District Atty: $105k → 18%ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS: $75k → 14%CENTER FOR ANIMAL LAW STUDIES-LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL: $274k → 12%BENTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: $90k → 18%Assn of Prosecuting Attorneys: $66k → 14%CENTER FOR ANIMAL LAW STUDIES-LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL: $140k → 12%Assn of Prosecuting Attorneys: $66k → 14%LEWIS & CLARK LAW SCHOOL: $26k → 12%ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS: $66k → 14%GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $1.1M → 14%SOUND EQUINE OPTIONS: $10k → 12%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

WA
MT
IL
MI
NY
OR
NV
OH
PA
CT
CA
CO
VA
MD
AZ
NC
DC
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.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$4.6M · 12 repeat orgs$1.9M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +19% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 4 still active in FY2025, 8 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
23

Total granted

$4.6M
$1.8M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+19%

Still filing today

42%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $73k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’21’22’23’24’25
AnimalsEducationCrime & LegalEnvironmentOther
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

  • LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE
    6× · 2017–2023 · $1.8M · revenue +35%
  • AO
    ASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS INC
    8× · 2017–2025 · $703k · revenue +20%
  • NC
    NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUVENILE & FAMILY COURT JUDGES
    4× · 2021–2025 · $415k · revenue +35%

Funded once

  • TG
    The George Washington University
    one grant, 2023 · $1.1M · revenue +13%
  • WS
    WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL
    one grant, 2022 · $150k
  • VO
    VIRGINIA OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
    one grant, 2021 · $120k
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
Global Animal Partnership
Animals
2
Environmental and Animal Defense

At Environmental and Animal Defense, our mission is to provide Colorado with access to affordable legal services for environmental and animal issues, in addition to protecting wildlife and their habitats through enforcement of the law. No…

Crime & Legal
3
Animal Legal Defense Fund Cruelty Prevention Unit dba Caru Spca

The Animal Legal Defense Fund Cruelty Prevention Unit's primary mission is to prevent cruelty to animals.

Human Services
4
Brooks Institute for Animal Rights Law and Policy Inc
Philanthropy
5
Lexus Project Inc

Legal defense for animals

Animals
6
Nonhuman Rights Project Inc

The Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) is the only civil rights organization in The United States dedicated solely to securing fundamental rights for nonhuman animals and the leading force in building a national and global nonhuman rights…

Animals
7
Animal Wellness Action

To prevent cruelty to animals, we promote enacting and enforcing good public policies. enacting good laws depends upon electing good lawmakers, and we remind voters which candidates care about and support animal issues.

Human Services
8
Progressive Animal Welfare Society aka Paws

A champion for animals since 1967, PAWS is a nationally recognized leader - rehabilitating injured and orphaned wildlife, sheltering and adopting homeless cats and dogs, and educating people to make a better world for animals and people.

Animals
9
Animal Partisan Inc

Animal Partisan, Inc. is organized for the purposes of conducting legal advocacy on behalf of animals subjected to cruelty and exploitation.

Animals
10
Humane World for Animals Inc

Humane World for Animals, Inc., formerly known as the Humane Society of the United States (The Organization), seeks to tackle the root causes of animal cruelty and suffering. CONTINUED ON SCHEDULE O

Animals
11
Washington Humane Society

The washington humane society protects animals, supports families, and advocates for positive change to create a world where all animals can thrive. we enrich the humanity of our communities by promoting compassion and encouraging people…

Animals
12
Animal Rescue of the Rockies

Animal Care and Adoption - ARR's mission is to save the lives of homeless and abandoned dogs and cats. Our goal is reaching a no-kill society in the United States.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Whidbey Animals Improvement Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Lewis & Clark College. 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

20 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. 20 of the 37 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
18/20
Grantees still filing
14/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

LEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $1,775,459 · EducationLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGEThe George Washington University: $1,103,042 · EducationThe George Washington UniversityASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS INC: $703,000 · EducationASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS INC+1 more: $110,000 · EducationSTATE OF WASHINGTON ATTORNEY GENERAL: $300,000 · OtherSTATE OF WASHINGTON ATTORNEY GEN…VIRGINIA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL: $270,000 · OtherVIRGINIA OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY …BENTON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: $240,000 · OtherBENTON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENTBenton County District Atty: $225,000 · OtherBenton County District AttyBENTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: $210,000 · OtherBENTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEYWASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: $150,000 · OtherWASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERA…UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT: $141,070 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUTVIRGINIA OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL: $120,000 · OtherVIRGINIA OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENE…+10 more: $209,718 · Other+10 moreNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUVENILE & FAMILY COURT JUDGES: $415,000 · Crime & LegalNATIONAL …NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JUDGES FUND INC: $125,000 · Crime & LegalNATIONAL …Born Free USA united with API: $115,000 · AnimalsVANCOUVER HUMANE SOCIETY AND SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $59,000 · AnimalsBARK NATION: $21,254 · AnimalsAnimal Rescue Corps Inc: $20,000 · AnimalsHOOVED ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIETY: $17,695 · AnimalsVirginia Animal Fighting Task Force: $13,856 · Animals+6 more: $57,863 · AnimalsEarth Island Institute Inc: $17,600 · Environment
Education$3,691,501Other$1,865,788Crime & Legal$540,000Animals$304,668Environment$17,600

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 budgetLEWIS & CLARK COLLEGE: $1,775,459 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetThe George Washington University: $1,103,042 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetASSOCIATION OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS INC: $703,000 over 8y, 4.4% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUVENILE & FAMILY COURT JUDGES: $415,000 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetNATIONAL COUNCIL OF JUVENILE AND FAMILY COURT JUDGES FUND INC: $125,000 over 2y, 72% of budgetBorn Free USA united with API: $115,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DENVER: $110,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetAnimal Rescue Corps Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetHOOVED ANIMAL HUMANE SOCIETY: $17,695 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetEarth Island Institute Inc: $17,600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetVirginia Animal Fighting Task Force: $13,856 over 1y, 22% of budgetGodspeed Horse Hostel Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetCENTER VALLEY ANIMAL RESCUE: $10,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetSOUND EQUINE OPTIONS: $10,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetWHIDBEY ANIMALS IMPROVEMENT FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetPrevent Cruelty California a Humane Society Committee: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WILD ANIMAL SANCTUARY: $9,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: $8,263 over 1y, 0.1% 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Humane World for Anim…Petsmart Charities IncThe Pfizer Foundation…Vanguard Charitable E…Paypal Charitable Giv…The Bank of America C…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Humane World for Animals IncDC13.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Humane World for Animals Inc · Petsmart Charities Inc · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Inc · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Animal Legal Defense Fund Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Lewis & Clark College: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
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 37 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 2025, released 2025. 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