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· Public charity

Connecticut Bar Foundation

The CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION is a non-profit organization established in 1952.

$27M
Granted FY2025still arriving
13
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$11M
Largest
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 2024.

Crime & Legal$150MCivil Rights$811kEducation$620kHuman Services$124k
02FY2025 · 13 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $49k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $240k
  • $250k+10 grants · $26M
$789,301
Median grant
1
States reached
$72M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES$11,452,128
GREATER HARTFORD LEGAL AID$5,548,191
NEW HAVEN LEGAL ASSISTANCE$4,676,817
CENTER FOR CHILDREN'S ADVOCACY$1,008,294
CONNECTICUT LEGAL RIGHTS PROJECT$860,153
CONNECTICUT VETERANS LEGAL CENTER$847,404
CONNECTICUT FAIR HOUSING CENTER$789,301
STATEWIDE LEGAL SERVICES$480,106
OPEN COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE$328,648
THE CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER OF$316,204
LAWYERS FOR CHILDREN AMERICA$165,362
CENTER FOR FAMILY JUSTICE$75,000
COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION$48,692
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.

None of its grants could be placed against low income need for this view.

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.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$178M · 17 repeat orgs$78k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +52% since the first grant, against -29% for those funded once.

17 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

17
1

Total granted

$178M
$3k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+52%
-29%

Still filing today

82%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $75k 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 & LegalCivil RightsEducationPhilanthropyHuman ServicesOther
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

  • CL
    CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $83M · revenue +23% · 78% of their budget
  • GH
    GREATER HARTFORD LEGAL AID INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $37M · revenue +24% · 93% of their budget
  • NH
    NEW HAVEN LEGAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $32M · revenue +34% · 85% of their budget

Funded once

  • VR
    VICTIM RIGHTS CENTER OF CONNECTICUT INC
    one grant, 2017 · $3k
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
Connecticut Court Appointed Special Advocates Inc

Empower a statewide network of caring, consistent volunteer court appointed special advocates to advance the best interests of children who have experienced abuse or neglect so every child can find a safe, permanent home to thrive.

Crime & Legal
2
Connecticut Citizen Action Group Inc

We encourage Connecticut residents to participate in government and their communities and we conduct public interest lobbying to advocate for consumer and environmental concerns.

—
3
Connecticut Housing Coalition Inc

The connecticut housing coalition works to expand housing opportunity and to increase the quantity and quality of affordable housing available to people with low and moderate incomes in connecticut through advocacy, education and…

—
4
Connecticut Bar Association Inc

The mission of the connecticut bar association is to work to advance the principles of justice, the practice of law, the image of the profession and public understanding of the law.

—
5
Child Advocates of Connecticut Inc

Child Advocates of Connecticut (CAC) transforms the lives of vulnerable children and youth by providing trained and supervised one-on-one volunteer advocates in the community, classroom and courtroom.

—
6
Community Legal Aid Socal

Community legal aid socal provides compassionate, holistic, and impactful legal services to residents of los angeles and orange counties who need help with housing, family law, healthcare access and other areas of law.

Crime & Legal
7
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Connecticut Inc

To maintain and promote civil liberties and civil rights within the state of ct, including but not limited to the freedoms of speech, press, association, and religion, and the right to due process of law.

Civil Rights
8
Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association

The connecticut trial lawyers association is a non-profit association dedicated to creating and maintaining a more just society by preserving individual rights within the civil justice system.

—
9
Community Legal Aid Society Inc

Clasi provides free civil legal services to people with disabilities; people with low incomes; victims of housing discrimination; older citizens (60 and over); victims of domestic violence; and immigrant victims of crime, abuse and neglect.

Crime & Legal
10
The Children's Law Center

To provide legal services to indigent children in contested custody/ visitation and related cases.

Crime & Legal
11
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
12
Connecticut Humane Society

The connecticut humane society is the leading resource in the state for companion animal welfare, enriching the lives of families and communities through adoption services, medical care, education, and prevention of cruelty.

Animals
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Connecticut Legal Services Inc; the most unlike its peers is Yale University. 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

17 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. 17 of the 20 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.

7
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/17
Grantees still filing
14/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC: $82,735,041 · Crime & LegalCONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INCGREATER HARTFORD LEGAL AID INC: $36,887,848 · Crime & LegalGREATER HARTFORD LEGAL AID INC+3 more: $9,668,754 · Crime & Legal+3 moreNEW HAVEN LEGAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $32,331,524 · OtherNEW HAVEN LEGAL ASSISTAN…CONNECTICUT LEGAL RIGHTS PROJECT INC: $5,774,437 · OtherCONNECTICUT LEGAL RIGHTS…+6 more: $362,966 · OtherCENTER FOR CHILDRENS ADVOCACY INC: $5,996,657 · Civil RightsCONNECTICUT FAIR HOUSING CENTER INC: $2,751,496 · Civil RightsOPEN COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE INC: $740,886 · EducationQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $60,000 · Education+1 more: $20,000 · EducationLAWYERS FOR CHILDREN AMERICA INC: $693,684 · PhilanthropyTHE CENTER FOR FAMILY JUSTICE INC: $75,000 · Human Services
Crime & Legal$129,291,643Other$38,468,927Civil Rights$8,748,153Education$820,886Philanthropy$693,684Human Services$75,000

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 budgetCONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC: $82,735,041 over 9y, 78% of budgetGREATER HARTFORD LEGAL AID INC: $36,887,848 over 9y, 93% of budgetNEW HAVEN LEGAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC: $32,331,524 over 9y, 85% of budgetCENTER FOR CHILDRENS ADVOCACY INC: $5,996,657 over 9y, 30% of budgetCONNECTICUT LEGAL RIGHTS PROJECT INC: $5,774,437 over 9y, 50% of budgetSTATEWIDE LEGAL SERVICES OF CONNECTICUT INC: $3,940,287 over 9y, 20% of budgetCONNECTICUT VETERANS LEGAL CENTER INC: $3,645,269 over 9y, 45% of budgetCONNECTICUT FAIR HOUSING CENTER INC: $2,751,496 over 9y, 27% of budgetCHILDREN'S LAW CENTER INC: $2,083,198 over 9y, 20% of budgetOPEN COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE INC: $740,886 over 6y, 9.3% of budgetLAWYERS FOR CHILDREN AMERICA INC: $693,684 over 9y, 17% of budgetINTEGRATED REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SERVICES: $123,524 over 3y, 0.5% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR FAMILY JUSTICE INC: $75,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION INC: $66,942 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetQUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY: $60,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetYale University: $20,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVICTIM RIGHTS CENTER OF CONNECTICUT INC: $2,500 over 1y, 1.0% 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.

  • Who funds CONNECTICUT LEGAL SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds GREATER HARTFORD LEGAL AID INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW HAVEN LEGAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTER FOR CHILDRENS ADVOCACY INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT LEGAL RIGHTS PROJECT INC ↗
  • Who funds STATEWIDE LEGAL SERVICES OF CONNECTICUT INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT VETERANS LEGAL CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds CONNECTICUT FAIR HOUSING CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds OPEN COMMUNITIES ALLIANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds LAWYERS FOR CHILDREN AMERICA INC ↗
  • Who funds INTEGRATED REFUGEE AND IMMIGRANT SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds THE CENTER FOR FAMILY JUSTICE INC ↗
  • Who funds COMMUNITY PARTNERS IN ACTION INC ↗
  • Who funds QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Yale University ↗
  • Who funds VICTIM RIGHTS CENTER OF CONNECTICUT INC ↗

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.

The Community Foundation for Greater New HavenCT19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven · Hartford Foundation for Public Giving · Fairfield County's Community Foundation Inc · Connecticut Legal Services Inc · The Connecticut Community Foundation · J Walton Bissell Foundation Inc · Connecticut Health Foundation Inc · United Way Inc United Way of Cent & Ne Connecticut · William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund · Aetna Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Connecticut Bar Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Connecticut Bar Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 19%
  • Community Partners in Action Inc: 90% of income from government
  • Connecticut Legal Rights Project Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Children's Law Center Inc: 46% of income from government
  • Open Communities Alliance Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services: 37% of income from government
  • Connecticut Fair Housing Center Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Lawyers for Children America Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Connecticut Legal Services Inc: 18% of income from government
  • Connecticut Veterans Legal Center Inc: 12% of income from government
  • Yale University: 12% of income from government
  • Center for Childrens Advocacy Inc: 5% of income from government
  • New Haven Legal Assistance Association Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Quinnipiac University: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
2rely 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 20 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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