Massachusetts · Public charity
Greater Boston Legal Services Inc
Greater boston legal services (gbls) is the primary provider of free civil (non-criminal) legal assistance to the almost 341,000 low-income persons living in metropolitan boston to help them secure some of the most basic necessities of life. Our clients include homeless families seeking access to emergency shelter or permanent housing,…
- $475k
- Granted FY2025(still arriving)
- 3
- Grants FY2025
- 6
- Organizations funded FY2024
- 17%
- First-time grantees FY2024
- Median grant, FY2025
- $179,194
- Largest grant, FY2025
- $196,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 4 to 6
- FY2017 to FY2024
- States reached, FY2025
- 1
- Total assets, FY2025
- $62M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2024, 17% of the organizations Greater Boston Legal Services Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 18% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 82% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $100k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025still arriving | 3 | $475k | 0% |
| FY2024 | 6 | $557k | 17% |
| FY2023 | 6 | $975k | 33% |
| FY2021 | 4 | $316k | 25% |
| FY2020 | 5 | $371k | 40% |
| FY2019 | 4 | $348k | 25% |
| FY2018 | 5 | $258k | 20% |
| FY2017 | 6 | $411k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| De Novo Center for Justice and Healing | $1,272,061 | 8 | 9% |
| South Coastal Legal Services Inc | $1,114,232 | 8 | n/a |
| The Neighborhood Developers Inc | $350,000 | 1 | 4% |
| HomeStart Inc | $200,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Harborcov Inc | $174,135 | 3 | 3% |
| Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau | $105,000 | 7 | n/a |
| Mississippi Center for Justice | $100,000 | 1 | 3% |
| Asian American Resource Workshop Inc | $88,100 | 2 | 7% |
| Metrowest Legal Services Inc | $85,699 | 1 | 4% |
| Community Legal Aid Inc | $80,808 | 1 | 1% |
Show all 14 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| De Novo Center for Justice and Healing | $1,272,061 | 8 | 9% |
| South Coastal Legal Services Inc | $1,114,232 | 8 | n/a |
| The Neighborhood Developers Inc | $350,000 | 1 | 4% |
| HomeStart Inc | $200,000 | 2 | 1% |
| Harborcov Inc | $174,135 | 3 | 3% |
| Boston College Legal Assistance Bureau | $105,000 | 7 | n/a |
| Mississippi Center for Justice | $100,000 | 1 | 3% |
| Asian American Resource Workshop Inc | $88,100 | 2 | 7% |
| Metrowest Legal Services Inc | $85,699 | 1 | 4% |
| Community Legal Aid Inc | $80,808 | 1 | 1% |
| Urban Revival Inc | $50,000 | 1 | 2% |
| Boston Public Housing Corporation | $50,000 | 1 | 94% |
| Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center Inc | $32,000 | 1 | 1% |
| La Colaborativa Inc | $10,000 | 2 | 0% |
Where it is load-bearing
Greater Boston Legal Services Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 1 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 12 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Boston Foundation Inc · Eastern Bank Foundation · Massachusetts Bar Foundation Inc · Cummings Foundation Grants Inc (Fka Oneworld Boston Inc) · United Way Of Massachusetts Bay Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Boston Bar Foundation · Herman and Frieda L Miller Foundation · George H & Jane a Mifflin Memorial Fund · Wagner Foundation · The Clowes Fund Incorporated · Mass General Brigham Incorporated & Affiliates Group Return
How this is measured
About Greater Boston Legal Services Inc
- How much does Greater Boston Legal Services Inc give?
- Greater Boston Legal Services Inc reported 3 grants totaling $475,194 in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 4 and 6 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2024.
- What does Greater Boston Legal Services Inc fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Crime & Legal (92%), Housing & Shelter (5%), Community Improvement (3%).
- Who are Greater Boston Legal Services Inc's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: De Novo Center for Justice and Healing ($1.3M), South Coastal Legal Services Inc ($1.1M), The Neighborhood Developers Inc ($350k).
- Does Greater Boston Legal Services Inc fund new organizations?
- In FY2024, 17% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as Greater Boston Legal Services Inc?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Boston Foundation Inc, Eastern Bank Foundation, Massachusetts Bar Foundation Inc.
- Where is Greater Boston Legal Services Inc based?
- Greater Boston Legal Services Inc is based in MA.
Play a game based on Greater Boston Legal Services’ filings →