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Equal Justice Works at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Equal Justice Works

EQUAL JUSTICE WORKS creates opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service.

$11M
Granted FY2023
175
Grants FY2023
39
States reached
$278k
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 2023.

Crime & Legal$45MCivil Rights$11MHuman Services$3.4MEducation$3.3MHealth$1.0MEnvironment$905kHousing & Shelter$894kPhilanthropy$534kOther$0
02FY2023 · 175 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2023

  • Under $10k21 grants · $147k
  • $10k–50k25 grants · $752k
  • $50k–250k127 grants · $9.6M
  • $250k+2 grants · $549k
$57,000
Median grant
39
States reached
$42M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY$278,288
LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER$271,100
ALASKA LEGAL SERVICES$221,100
SOUTH CAROLINA LEGAL SERVICES INC$181,026
TEXAS CIVIL RIGHTS PROJECT$172,917
TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC$171,100
NEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP$164,300
KENTUCKY LEGAL AID$159,000
GIRLS FOR GENDER EQUITY$157,000
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA LEGAL SERVICES$153,550
LEGAL AID OF WEST VIRGINIA$145,524
DISABILITY RIGHTS CALIFORNIA$137,398
CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS$132,433
NATIONAL REDISTRICTING FOUNDATION$131,418
LEGAL AID CHICAGO$120,600
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 (FY17–23, $3.5M) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 95% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HIAS PENNSYLVANIA: $101k → 22%HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE: $55k → 14%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON - HOUSTON: $122k → 16%FEDERAL DEFENDER SERVICES OF EASTERN TENNESSEE: $50k → 12%COVENANT HOUSE NEW JERSEY: $86k → 16%MID-SHORE PRO BONO: $46k → 10%HIAS PENNSYLVANIA: $78k → 22%CATHOLIC CHARITIES HOUSTON TX: $64k → 16%HIAS PENNSYLVANIA: $78k → 22%HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE: $50k → 14%CATHOLIC CHARITIES - CABRINI CENTER: $48k → 16%ACLU OF KENTUCKY: $57k → 15%CATHOLIC CHARITIES - CABRINI CENTER: $45k → 16%HIAS PENNSYLVANIA: $75k → 22%CATHOLIC CHARITIES - CABRINI CENTER: $45k → 16%DISABILITY RIGHTS LOUISIANA: $85k → 23%START SMALL THINK BIG: $82k → 28%CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE DIOCESE OF PALM BEACH: $38k → 11%DISABILITY RIGHTS LOUISIANA: $58k → 23%START SMALL THINK BIG: $41k → 28%START SMALL THINK BIG: $41k → 28%YMCA OF THE GREATER HOUSTON AREA: $121k → 16%YMCA OF THE GREATER HOUSTON AREA: $63k → 16%DISABILITY RIGHTS WASHINGTON AVID PRISON PROGRAM: $50k → 9%HEALTH LAW ADVOCATES: $50k → 16%HEALTH LAW ADVOCATES: $50k → 16%AYUDA INC: $55k → 14%IRISH INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRANT CENTER: $41k → 16%IRISH INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRANT CENTER: $41k → 16%LEGAL AID SOCIETY OF METROPOLITAN FAMILY SERVICES: $114k → 14%IRISH INTERNATIONAL IMMIGRANT CENTER: $41k → 16%INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $50k → 17%INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $50k → 17%INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT: $44k → 17%CALA: $50k → 14%COMMUNITY ACTIVISIM LAW ALLIANCE (CALA): $50k → 14%LENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $63k → 17%LENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $63k → 17%LENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $44k → 17%START SMALL THINK BIG: $51k → 17%START SMALL THINK BIG: $50k → 17%UNLOCAL INC: $50k → 17%ASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT: $100k → 17%ASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT: $90k → 17%NETWORK FOR VICTIM RECOVERY IN DC: $49k → 14%AYUDA: $41k → 14%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $50k → 17%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $50k → 17%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

AK
ME
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
NM
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
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.

93%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$63M · 316 repeat orgs$4.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +58% since the first grant, against +26% for those funded once.

316 repeat relationships: 140 still active in FY2023, 176 since wound down; 35 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

316
76

Total granted

$63M
$3.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+58%
+26%

Still filing today

95%
91%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.7M went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Crime & LegalCivil RightsHuman ServicesEducationHealthPublic 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

  • TR
    TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +47%
  • LS
    LONE STAR LEGAL AID
    7× · 2017–2023 · $1.2M · revenue +57%
  • GB
    GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.0M · revenue +120%

Funded once

  • NO
    New Orleans Workers Ctr For Racial Justice
    one grant, 2017 · $117k · revenue -48%
  • GL
    GEORGIA LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM INCgraduated
    2× · 2020–2024 · $107k · revenue +58%
  • LA
    Legal Aid of Western Missouri
    one grant, 2020 · $100k · revenue +14%
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
District of Columbia Access to Justice

Work with DC courts, private bar & legal services providers to increase legal representations for low & moderate income DC residents, enhance efficiency of legal services, and reduce barriers to the judicial system.

Crime & Legal
2
Civil Liberties Defense Center

CIVIL LIBERTIES DEFENSE CENTER (CLDC) educates the general public about their rights and privileges under the US Constitution and provides free legal support to climate and social justice activists.

Civil Rights
3
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
4
Lakeshore Legal Aid

Standing with our neighbors, Lakeshore Legal Aid fights poverty and injustice through advocacy and by providing meaningful and dignified access to the legal system.

Crime & Legal
5
Philadelphia Legal Assistance Center Inc C/O the Organization

Enforcing and protecting the rights of individuals and families by providing accessible, creative, and high quality legal assistance and working collaboratively for systemic change.

Crime & Legal
6
The Public Interest Law Center

The Public Interest Law Center uses high-impact legal strategies to advance the civil, social, and economic rights of communities in the Philadelphia region facing discrimination, inequality, and poverty. We use litigation, community…

Crime & Legal
7
Legal Link

Legal Link removes legal barriers that prolong poverty by adding critically needed capacity to the legal ecosystem.

Crime & Legal
8
Afl-Cio Union Lawyers Alliance

Afl-cio union lawyers alliance was established to better the conditions of working men and women and their families by enhancing the quality of legal representation that is available to the afl-cio and the national and international unions…

—
9
Sexual Violence Law Center

Sexual Violence Law Center (SVLC) is a nonprofit law firm that protects the safety, privacy, and civil rights of survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Washington through holistic and trauma-informed practices rooted in race and…

Human Services
10
New Civil Liberties Alliance

Public interest legal activities

Arts & Culture
11
Community Legal Services

Community legal services is a non-profit law firm committed to increasing fairness in the civil justice system by advocating, litigating, and educating on behalf of arizonas most underserved communities.

Crime & Legal
12
Virginia Legal Aid Society Inc

The mission of Virginia Legal Aid Society is to resolve serious legal problems of low-income people, promote economic and family stability, reduce poverty through effective legal assistance, and to champion equal justice.

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Colorado Legal Services; the most unlike its peers is Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center. 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

454 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.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
124
Early backer (in before they grew)
447/454
Grantees still filing
345/454
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC: $1,281,221 · Crime & LegalLONE STAR LEGAL AID: $1,217,029 · Crime & LegalTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $980,069 · Crime & Legal+76 more: $20,749,339 · Crime & Legal+76 moreGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC: $1,021,313 · OtherGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INCEQUIP FOR EQUALITY: $655,924 · OtherNEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP INC: $625,772 · OtherBET TZEDEK: $614,981 · Other+65 more: $14,623,768 · Other+65 moreAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $650,100 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIV…REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $589,374 · Civil RightsREFUGEE & IM…DISABILITY RIGHTS TEXAS: $463,063 · Civil RightsDISABILITY R…Equal Justice Center: $454,009 · Civil RightsEqual Justic…THE TAHIRIH JUSTICE CENTER: $384,276 · Civil RightsTHE TAHIRIH …ROCKY MOUNTAIN IMMIGRANT ADVOCACY NETWORK: $310,234 · Civil RightsCOMMUNITY JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $256,936 · Civil RightsDISABILITY RIGHTS CALIFORNIA: $251,309 · Civil RightsNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $250,000 · Civil RightsACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $246,000 · Civil RightsNEW YORK CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION: $212,000 · Civil RightsACLU Foundation of Texas Inc: $200,000 · Civil Rights+11 more: $1,681,492 · Civil Rights+11 moreNEW MEXICO IMMIGRANT LAW CENTER: $977,062 · Human ServicesCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON - HOUSTON: $347,808 · Human ServicesHIAS and Council Migration Service of Philadelphia Inc: $332,961 · Human ServicesSTART SMALL THINK BIG INC: $265,400 · Human ServicesYoung Men's Christian Association of the Greater Houston Area: $224,853 · Human ServicesSANCTUARY FOR FAMILIES INC: $200,084 · Human ServicesASYLUM SEEKER ADVOCACY PROJECT INC: $190,341 · Human ServicesLENOX HILL NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE INC: $169,306 · Human ServicesMetropolitan Family Services: $144,371 · Human ServicesINTERNATIONAL REFUGEE ASSISTANCE PROJECT INC: $144,306 · Human ServicesDISABILITY RIGHTS LOUISIANA: $143,295 · Human ServicesRIAN IMMIGRANT CENTER INC: $123,000 · Human ServicesVOLARE: $122,780 · Human Services+2 more: $221,806 · Human ServicesWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $364,100 · EducationSustainable Economies Law Center: $307,000 · EducationSOUTHERN UNIVERTY SYSTEM: $237,982 · EducationUniversity of Miami: $204,824 · EducationEDUCATION LAW CENTER INC: $180,750 · EducationEducation Law Center - PA: $163,984 · EducationLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $108,390 · EducationMITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW: $100,000 · EducationWASHINGTON LAWYERS' COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS AND URBAN AFFAIRS INC: $323,000 · PhilanthropyRoderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center: $257,000 · PhilanthropyFUND FOR THE CITY OF NEW YORK INC: $251,500 · PhilanthropyVeterans Consortium Pro Bono Program: $400,000 · Public BenefitYOUTH ADVOCACY FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 · Public BenefitCENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY INC: $146,234 · Public Benefit
Crime & Legal$24,227,658Other$17,541,758Civil Rights$5,948,793Human Services$3,607,373Education$1,667,030Philanthropy$831,500Public Benefit$746,234

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

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 budgetTEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC: $1,281,221 over 8y, 1.3% of budgetLONE STAR LEGAL AID: $1,217,029 over 7y, 0.9% of budgetGREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC: $1,021,313 over 8y, 1.4% of budgetTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $980,069 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetNEW MEXICO IMMIGRANT LAW CENTER: $977,062 over 8y, 5.9% of budgetLEGAL AID CHICAGO: $792,613 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetEQUIP FOR EQUALITY: $655,924 over 8y, 1.9% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC: $650,100 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetNEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP INC: $625,772 over 8y, 0.4% of budgetCALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $622,513 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetBET TZEDEK: $614,981 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetKIND INC: $612,849 over 8y, 0.7% of budgetREFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES: $589,374 over 4y, 3.0% of budgetLEGAL AID JUSTICE CENTER: $563,130 over 8y, 3.0% of budgetLEGAL ASSISTANCE OF WESTERN NEW YORK INC: $561,576 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetURBAN JUSTICE CENTER: $548,061 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetNational Center for Youth Law: $545,626 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetLEGAL AID OF NORTHWEST TEXAS: $540,970 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetAlaska Legal Services Corporation: $507,165 over 7y, 2.7% of budgetKIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION: $475,373 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetDISABILITY RIGHTS TEXAS: $463,063 over 7y, 0.8% of budgetATLANTA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC: $455,948 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetEqual Justice Center: $454,009 over 5y, 12% of budgetROOT & REBOUND: $443,642 over 5y, 3.5% of budgetLegal Services of Greater Miami Inc: $436,910 over 7y, 1.2% of budgetTexas Fair Defense Project: $434,050 over 6y, 17% of budgetPRAIRIE STATE LEGAL SERVICES INC: $427,107 over 7y, 0.7% of budgetCENTRAL VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC: $425,217 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetCABRINI GREEN LEGAL AID: $421,536 over 5y, 3.0% of budgetOneJustice: $421,384 over 4y, 8.3% of budgetLAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER: $421,100 over 4y, 3.8% of budgetLEGAL AID OF WEST VIRGINIA INC: $405,800 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetVeterans Consortium Pro Bono Program: $400,000 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetLEGAL AID OF ARKANSAS: $398,496 over 7y, 2.4% of budgetCharlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Inc: $390,560 over 7y, 2.5% of budgetTHE TAHIRIH JUSTICE CENTER: $384,276 over 5y, 2.1% of budgetHOUSTON VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROGRAM INC: $378,064 over 4y, 8.7% of budgetIndiana Legal Services Inc: $377,944 over 6y, 0.8% of budgetSOUTHERN COALITION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE: $374,996 over 7y, 1.3% of budgetPUBLIC COUNSEL: $374,045 over 8y, 0.6% of budgetVIRGINIA POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $371,315 over 5y, 3.7% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF DALLAS INC: $369,469 over 4y, 0.6% of budgetIMMIGRANT LAW CENTER OF MINNESOTA INC: $366,945 over 8y, 3.1% of budgetWILLIAM J BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE INC: $364,100 over 7y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL VETERANS LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM INC: $363,260 over 6y, 1.5% of budgetFLORIDA LEGAL SERVICES INC: $351,889 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetTHE BRONX DEFENDERS: $348,000 over 6y, 0.2% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF GALVESTON - HOUSTON: $347,808 over 7y, 0.3% 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 TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC ↗
  • Who funds LONE STAR LEGAL AID ↗
  • Who funds GREATER BOSTON LEGAL SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds THE LEGAL AID SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NEW MEXICO IMMIGRANT LAW CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL AID CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds EQUIP FOR EQUALITY ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds NEW YORK LEGAL ASSISTANCE GROUP INC ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC ↗
  • Who funds BET TZEDEK ↗
  • Who funds KIND INC ↗
  • Who funds REFUGEE & IMMIGRANT CENTER FOR EDUCATION & LEGAL SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL AID JUSTICE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL ASSISTANCE OF WESTERN NEW YORK INC ↗
  • Who funds URBAN JUSTICE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds National Center for Youth Law ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL AID OF NORTHWEST TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds Alaska Legal Services Corporation ↗
  • Who funds KIDS IN NEED FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds DISABILITY RIGHTS TEXAS ↗
  • Who funds ATLANTA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds Equal Justice Center ↗
  • Who funds ROOT & REBOUND ↗
  • Who funds Legal Services of Greater Miami Inc ↗
  • Who funds Texas Fair Defense Project ↗
  • Who funds PRAIRIE STATE LEGAL SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds CENTRAL VIRGINIA LEGAL AID SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds CABRINI GREEN LEGAL AID ↗
  • Who funds OneJustice ↗
  • Who funds LAWNDALE CHRISTIAN LEGAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL AID OF WEST VIRGINIA INC ↗
  • Who funds Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program ↗
  • Who funds LEGAL AID OF ARKANSAS ↗
  • Who funds Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE TAHIRIH JUSTICE CENTER ↗
  • Who funds HOUSTON VOLUNTEER LAWYERS PROGRAM INC ↗
  • Who funds Indiana Legal Services Inc ↗
  • Who funds SOUTHERN COALITION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE ↗
  • Who funds PUBLIC COUNSEL ↗

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.

Legal Services Corpor…The Skadden FoundationAmerican College of B…The Sidley Austin Fou…The Morrison & Foerst…California Access to …The Impact FundThe Wilson Sonsini Go…Borealis PhilanthropyVera Institute of Jus…Immigrant Justice Cor…The New York Bar Foun…
Legal Services CorporationDC172.9× affinity88 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Legal Services Corporation · The Skadden Foundation · American College of Bankruptcy Foundation · The Sidley Austin Foundation · The Morrison & Foerster Foundation · California Access to Justice Commission · The Impact Fund · The Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation · Borealis Philanthropy · Vera Institute of Justice Inc · Immigrant Justice Corps Inc · The New York Bar 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 Equal Justice Works funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Equal Justice Works. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%1%5%11%20%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Dove Inc: 60% of income from government
  • Health Law Advocates Inc: 52% of income from government
  • Florida Legal Services Inc: 39% of income from government
  • Legal Services of North Florida Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Gulfcoast Legal Services Inc: 27% of income from government
  • Baltimore Bar Foundation Inc: 23% of income from government
  • Bay Area Legal Services Inc: 14% of income from government
  • Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma Inc: 13% of income from government
  • Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County Inc: 10% of income from government
  • Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service Inc: 7% of income from government
  • University of Miami: 5% of income from government
  • Community Legal Services of Prince George's County: 4% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Legal Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Northeast New Jersey Legal Services Corporation: 2% of income from government
  • Legal Services of Greater Miami Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Youth Advocacy Foundation Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Legal Aid Service of Broward County Inc: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
64report 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 428 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports $13M of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2023, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Equal Justice Works’ 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