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Boston Bar Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Boston Bar Foundation

The mission of the BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION (bbf) is to promote justice by funding and promoting innovation in legal services, enhancing access to justice for the underserved, and supporting the public interest activities of the bar.

$2.6M
Granted FY2025still arriving
56
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$500k
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.

Crime & Legal$13MCivil Rights$11kArts & Culture$5k
02FY2025 · 56 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 56 grants below total $2,439,084, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,640,081 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $200,997 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

  • Under $10k5 grants · $31k
  • $10k–50k41 grants · $818k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $790k
  • $250k+2 grants · $800k
$20,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES$500,000
BOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION$300,000
VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT OF THE BOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION$210,000
POLITICAL ASYLUMIMMIGRATION REPRESENTATION PROJECT$125,000
METROWEST LEGAL SERVICES$100,000
DE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING$90,000
PRISONERS LEGAL SERVICES$85,000
VETERAN'S LEGAL SERVICES$65,000
RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER$60,000
MASSACHUSETTS LAW REFORM INSTITUTE$55,000
LAWYERS CLEARINGHOUSE ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS INC$44,000
NORTHEAST LEGAL AID INC$40,000
WOMEN'S BAR FOUNDATION$40,000
LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS$35,000
MASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN$33,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY17–25, $642k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 93% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $10k → 7%PINE STREET INN: $15k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $10k → 7%PINE STREET INN: $10k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $7k → 7%PINE STREET INN: $10k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $7k → 7%LA COLABORATIVA: $30k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $7k → 7%PINE STREET INN: $10k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $7k → 7%LA COLABORATIVA: $15k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $10k → 16%LA COLABORATIVA: $13k → 16%PINE STREET INN: $10k → 16%HARBORCOV: $6k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $7k → 16%HOUSING FAMILIES: $10k → 8%HOUSING FAMILIES INC: $5k → 8%SAHELI: $10k → 8%SAHELI: $16k → 8%SAHELI: $13k → 8%IMMIGRANT FAMILY SERVICES INSTITUTE: $7k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $15k → 16%CASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ: $10k → 16%IRISH IMMIGRATION CENTER: $18k → 16%HEALTH LAW ADVOCATES: $15k → 16%HEALTH LAW ADVOCATES: $10k → 16%RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER: $60k → 16%RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER: $55k → 16%RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER: $45k → 16%RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER: $35k → 16%RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER: $30k → 16%RIAN IMMIGRATION CENTER: $30k → 16%IRISH IMMIGRATION CENTER: $25k → 16%IRISH IMMIGRATION CENTER: $20k → 16%BRAZILIAN WORKER CENTER: $5k → 16%VICTIM RIGHTS LAW CENTER: $25k → 16%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.
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.

98%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$13M · 38 repeat orgs$254k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +84% since the first grant, against +67% for those funded once.

38 repeat relationships: 33 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 13 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
5

Total granted

$13M
$44k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+84%
+67%

Still filing today

97%
60%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $210k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Crime & LegalHuman ServicesCivil RightsCommunity ImprovementArts & CultureHealthOther
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

  • GB
    GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $4.0M · revenue +120%
  • BB
    BOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +27%
  • VL
    VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT OF THE BOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $1.6M · revenue +36%

Funded once

  • JI
    JUDGE IRELAND CHILDRENS FUND INC
    one grant, 2017 · $14k
  • MASSACHUSETTS LEGAL ASSISTANCE CORPgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $12k · revenue +49%
  • CC
    CAPE COD COMMUNITY COLLEGE
    one grant, 2017 · $10k
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
Legal Aid Justice Center

The legal aid justice center partners with communities and clients to achieve justice by dismantling systems that create and perpetuate poverty.

Crime & Legal
2
Massachusetts Fair Housing Center Inc

Mfhc is committed to ending systemic housing discrimination and creating inclusive communities through education, outreach, advocacy, housing counseling and enforcement.

Housing & Shelter
3
National Immigration Litigation Alliance Inc

Championing the rights of noncitizens.

—
4
Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Inc

Maha breaks down barriers facing first-time and first-generation home buyers and owners through education, counseling, advocacy, and grassroots organizing.

Housing & Shelter
5
South Coastal Counties Legal Services Inc

To achieve equal justice for the poor and disadvantaged through community based legal advocacy.

Crime & Legal
6
New England Legal Foundation

New england legal foundation (nelf) is the leading non-profit public interest law firm in the region addressing policy and constitutional concerns related to free enterprise. its mission is promoting public discourse on the proper role of…

Civil Rights
7
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

As one of the most enduring civil rights institutions on the West Coast, we work to dismantle systems of oppression and racism, and build an equitable and just society.

—
8
Massachusetts Bar Association

To serve the legal profession and the public by promoting the administration of justice, legal education, professional excellence, diversity and unity in the legal profession and respect for the law.

—
9
Boston Bar Foundation

The mission of the boston bar foundation (bbf) is to promote justice by funding and promoting innovation in legal services, enhancing access to justice for the underserved, and supporting the public interest activities of the bar. as the…

Crime & Legal
10
Equal Justice Center

The Equal Justice Center is a non-profit law firm and employment justice organization which empowers low-income families, workers, and communities to achieve fair treatment in the workplace, in the justice system, and in our shared society…

Civil Rights
11
National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild Inc

The national immigration project is a membership organization of attorneys, advocates, and community members driven by the belief that all people should be treated with dignity, live freely, and flourish. the organization litigates,…

Civil Rights
12
New England Justice for Our Neighbors
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Veterans Legal Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Baystate Reentry Network Inc. 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

54 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. 54 of the 57 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)
23
Early backer (in before they grew)
54/54
Grantees still filing
39/54
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC: $4,020,000 · OtherGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INCBOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION: $1,649,700 · OtherBOSTON BAR ASSOCIATIONMETROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INC: $736,500 · OtherMETROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INCMASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL LEGAL SERVICES INC DBA PRISONERS' LEGAL SVCS: $517,000 · OtherMASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL LEGAL SERVICES INC DBA PRISONERS' LEGAL S…VETERANS LEGAL SERVICES INC: $295,000 · Other+16 more: $789,634 · Other+16 moreVOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT OF THE BOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION INC: $1,615,547 · Crime & LegalVOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT OF T…POLITICAL ASYLUMIMMIGRATION REPRESENTATION PROJECT INC: $752,500 · Crime & LegalPOLITICAL ASYLUMIMMIGRATION RE…MASSACHUSETTS LAW REFORM INSTITUTE INC: $417,000 · Crime & LegalMASSACHUSETTS LAW REFORM INSTI…WOMEN'S BAR FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS: $229,500 · Crime & LegalWOMEN'S BAR FOUNDATION OF MASS…LAWYERS CLEARINGHOUSE ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS INC: $181,500 · Crime & LegalLAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC: $161,500 · Crime & Legal+9 more: $255,500 · Crime & Legal+9 moreRIAN IMMIGRANT CENTER INC: $317,500 · Human ServicesCASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ INC: $80,000 · Human ServicesPINE STREET INN INC: $65,000 · Human ServicesLA COLABORATIVA INC: $57,500 · Human ServicesSAHELI INC: $39,000 · Human ServicesVICTIM RIGHTS LAW CENTER INC: $25,000 · Human ServicesHEALTH LAW ADVOCATES INC: $25,000 · Human Services+5 more: $50,750 · Human ServicesDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING: $579,000 · HealthMASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN INC: $145,500 · Civil RightsPROJECT CITIZENSHIP INC: $70,000 · Civil RightsMASSACHUSETTS IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE ADVOCACY COALITION INC: $30,000 · Civil RightsINTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC: $20,000 · Civil RightsACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $10,700 · Civil RightsYOUTH ADVOCACY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 · Public BenefitTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $55,000 · Community ImprovementALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT INC: $25,000 · Community Improvement
Other$8,007,834Crime & Legal$3,613,047Human Services$659,750Health$579,000Civil Rights$276,200Public Benefit$100,000Community Improvement$80,000

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 budgetGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC: $4,020,000 over 9y, 2.6% of budgetBOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION: $1,649,700 over 9y, 5.5% of budgetVOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROJECT OF THE BOSTON BAR ASSOCIATION INC: $1,615,547 over 9y, 6.0% of budgetPOLITICAL ASYLUMIMMIGRATION REPRESENTATION PROJECT INC: $752,500 over 9y, 7.5% of budgetMETROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INC: $736,500 over 9y, 3.3% of budgetDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING: $579,000 over 9y, 3.2% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS CORRECTIONAL LEGAL SERVICES INC DBA PRISONERS' LEGAL SVCS: $517,000 over 9y, 1.9% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS LAW REFORM INSTITUTE INC: $417,000 over 9y, 1.2% of budgetRIAN IMMIGRANT CENTER INC: $317,500 over 9y, 1.0% of budgetVETERANS LEGAL SERVICES INC: $295,000 over 9y, 2.8% of budgetWOMEN'S BAR FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS: $229,500 over 9y, 5.8% of budgetURBAN REVIVAL INC: $220,000 over 9y, 1.8% of budgetLAWYERS CLEARINGHOUSE ON AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND HOMELESSNESS INC: $181,500 over 9y, 5.1% of budgetLAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC: $161,500 over 9y, 1.4% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN INC: $145,500 over 9y, 1.6% of budgetYOUTH ADVOCACY FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 7y, 3.5% of budgetNORTHEAST LEGAL AID INC: $90,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetChildren Law Center of Massachusetts Inc: $84,500 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetCASA MYRNA VAZQUEZ INC: $80,000 over 9y, 0.2% of budgetPROJECT CITIZENSHIP INC: $70,000 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetPINE STREET INN INC: $65,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN'S LUNCH PLACE INC: $62,500 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetLA COLABORATIVA INC: $57,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHIRD SECTOR NEW ENGLAND INC: $55,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetBoston Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR LAW AND EDUCATION INC: $47,500 over 4y, 1.7% of budgetASIAN TASK FORCE AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC: $45,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS COALITION FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH INC: $45,000 over 4y, 1.4% of budgetTHE SECOND STEP INC: $42,500 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetSAHELI INC: $39,000 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetMABEL CENTER FOR IMMIGRANT JUSTICE: $35,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetSUFFOLK UNIVERSITY: $30,134 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE ADVOCACY COALITION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVICTIM RIGHTS LAW CENTER INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetHEALTH LAW ADVOCATES INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITY AND ENVIRONMENT INC: $25,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetINTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEW ENGLAND INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetREACH BEYOND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INC: $17,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetDOVE INC: $16,500 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetFAMILYAID BOSTON INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSING FAMILIES INC: $15,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetJustice For Housing Inc: $15,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetARTS & BUSINESS COUNCIL OF GREATER BOSTON INC: $12,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS LEGAL ASSISTANCE CORP: $12,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetACLU FOUNDATION OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $10,700 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE WELCOME PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetDISABILITY LAW CENTER INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKIND INC: $7,500 over 2y, 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Massachusetts Bar Fou…Eastern Bank Foundati…Boston Foundation IncCummings Foundation G…Massachusetts Legal A…United Way Of Massach…Combined Jewish Phila…The Fish Family Found…Barr FoundationThe Clowes Fund Incor…The Hyams Foundation …The Cabot Family Char…
Massachusetts Bar Foundation IncMA64.1× affinity28 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Massachusetts Bar Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Boston Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · The Fish Family Foundation · Barr Foundation · The Clowes Fund Incorporated · The Hyams Foundation Inc · The Cabot Family Charitable Trust

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 Boston Bar Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Boston Bar Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 120%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Victim Rights Law Center Inc: 89% of income from government
  • Harborcov Inc: 76% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp: 68% of income from government
  • Saheli Inc: 61% of income from government
  • Dove Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Disability Law Center Inc: 57% of income from government
  • Reach Beyond Domestic Violence Inc: 53% of income from government
  • Health Law Advocates Inc: 52% of income from government
  • La Colaborativa Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence Inc: 32% of income from government
  • The Second Step Inc: 26% of income from government
  • International Institute of New England Inc: 24% of income from government
  • Justice for Housing Inc: 22% of income from government
  • Veterans Legal Services Inc: 16% of income from government
  • Housing Families Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Pine Street Inn Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Project Citizenship Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Metrowest Legal Services Inc: 10% of income from government
  • De Novo Center for Justice and Healing: 9% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Women's Lunch Place Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Northeast Legal Aid Inc: 7% of income from government
  • Brazilian Worker Center Inc: 6% of income from government
  • Casa Myrna Vazquez Inc: 5% of income from government
  • The Welcome Project Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Familyaid Boston Inc: 4% of income from government
  • Third Sector New England Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Legal Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Youth Advocacy Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Bar Association: 1% of income from government
  • Suffolk University: 1% of income from government
  • Lawyers for Civil Rights Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Boston Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
12get no government money at all
6report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
8rely 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 57 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

Play a game based on Boston Bar’s filings →

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