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Greater Boston Legal Services Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· 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.

$475k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$196k
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$3.4MHousing & Shelter$200kCommunity Improvement$100k
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$179,194
Median grant
1
States reached
$62M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SOUTH COASTAL COUNTIES LEGAL SERVICES INC$196,000
DE NOVO$179,194
HOMESTART INC$100,000
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 (FY17–24, $304k) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%HARBOR COMMUNITIES OVERCOMING VIOLENCE INC (HARBORCOV): $111k → 16%HARBOR COMMUNITIES OVERCOMING VIOLENCE INC (HARBORCOV): $48k → 16%HARBOR COMMUNITIES OVERCOMING VIOLENCE INC (HARBORCOV): $15k → 16%CHELSEA COLLABERATIVE INC: $5k → 16%CHELSEA COLLABERATIVE INC: $5k → 16%BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER: $32k → 16%ASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE WORKSHOP (AARW): $72k → 16%ASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE WORKSHOP (AARW): $16k → 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.

80%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.0M · 7 repeat orgs$749k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +167% since the first grant, against +74% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2025, 4 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
7

Total granted

$3.0M
$749k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+167%
+74%

Still filing today

71%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

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

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

’17’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
Human ServicesCrime & LegalHousing & ShelterHealthCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • DN
    DE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING
    8× · 2017–2025 · $1.3M · revenue +206%
  • HI
    HARBORCOV INC
    3× · 2021–2024 · $174k · revenue +28%
  • ASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE WORKSHOP INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $88k · revenue +167%

Funded once

  • TN
    THE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPERS INCgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $350k · revenue +39%
  • MC
    MISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR JUSTICEgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $100k · revenue +28%
  • ML
    METROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INCgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $86k · revenue +197%
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
Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Inc D/B/a Metro Housing Boston

Metro housing boston mobilizes wide-ranging resources to provide innovative and personalized services that lead families and individuals to housing stability, economic security, and an improved quality of life.

Housing & Shelter
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
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
4
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
5
Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association Inc

The mission of the volunteer lawyers project of the boston bar association is to increase access to justice by delivering high quality pro bono civil legal services to eligible clients in the greater boston area.

Crime & Legal
6
Cambridge Affordable Housing Corp

The organization's mission is to provide management and supporting services for related organizations which own and operate low-income housing units for qualified individuals in the city of cambridge, ma.

Housing & Shelter
7
Inner City Law Center

In 2024, Inner City Law Center, ICLC, served over 3,400 people, helping vulnerable Angelenos to remain in their homes and recover nearly $20.5 million in financial benefits.

Crime & Legal
8
Massachusetts Legal Assistance Corp

The massachusetts legal assistance corporation provides leadership and support to improve civil legal services to low-income people in massachusetts through collaboration with the legal services community, the legislature, the public, the…

Crime & Legal
9
Legal Aid Chicago

At legal aid chicago, we work together to provide high quality civil legal aid to people living in poverty and other vulnerable groups.through advocacy, education, collaboration, and litigation we empower individuals, protect fundamental…

Crime & Legal
10
Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust Inc

To collectively work with partners to statbilize neighborhoods by providing innovative means by which as many residents of foreclosed occupied homes as soon as possible can stay in (continued - see sch o)

Housing & Shelter
11
Legal Services Nyc

Legal services nyc is a non-profit organization that provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people in new york city. a community-based organization serving more than 100,000 people annually, lsnyc is the nation's largest…

Crime & Legal
12
Rcap Solutions Inc Formerly Rural Housing Improvement Inc

Rental assistance received from a government agency under section 8 of the housing assistance payments program. providing technical assistance and training to low-income rural communities and other agencies in order to provide or enhance…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Homestart Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Neighborhood Developers 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

12 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. 12 of the 14 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
11/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

SOUTH COASTAL LEGAL SERVICES INC: $1,114,232 · OtherSOUTH COASTAL LEGAL SERVICES INCBOSTON COLLEGE LEGAL ASSISTANCE BUREAU: $105,000 · OtherBOSTON COLLEGE LEGAL ASSISTANCE BUREAUMETROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INC: $85,699 · OtherMETROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INCURBAN REVIVAL INC: $50,000 · OtherDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING: $1,272,061 · HealthDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALINGTHE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPERS INC: $350,000 · Housing & ShelterTHE NEIGHBOR…BOSTON PUBLIC HOUSING CORPORATION: $50,000 · Housing & ShelterBOSTON PUBLI…HARBORCOV INC: $174,135 · Human ServicesHARBORCOV…ASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE WORKSHOP INC: $88,100 · Human ServicesASIAN AME…BOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INC: $32,000 · Human ServicesBOSTON CH…+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesHomeStart Inc: $200,000 · Community ImprovementMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR JUSTICE: $100,000 · Crime & LegalCOMMUNITY LEGAL AID INC: $80,808 · Crime & Legal
Other$1,354,931Health$1,272,061Housing & Shelter$400,000Human Services$304,235Community Improvement$200,000Crime & Legal$180,808

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDE NOVO CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND HEALING: $1,272,061 over 8y, 9.2% of budgetTHE NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPERS INC: $350,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetHomeStart Inc: $200,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetHARBORCOV INC: $174,135 over 3y, 3.1% of budgetMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR JUSTICE: $100,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetASIAN AMERICAN RESOURCE WORKSHOP INC: $88,100 over 2y, 7.5% of budgetMETROWEST LEGAL SERVICES INC: $85,699 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY LEGAL AID INC: $80,808 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetURBAN REVIVAL INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetBOSTON PUBLIC HOUSING CORPORATION: $50,000 over 1y, 94% of budgetBOSTON CHINATOWN NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER INC: $32,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLA COLABORATIVA INC: $10,000 over 2y, 0.4% 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.

Boston Foundation IncEastern Bank Foundati…Massachusetts Bar Fou…Cummings Foundation G…United Way Of Massach…Combined Jewish Phila…Boston Bar FoundationHerman and Frieda L M…George H & Jane a Mif…Wagner FoundationThe Clowes Fund Incor…Mass General Brigham …
Boston Foundation IncMA20.4× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

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
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 Greater Boston Legal Services Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Greater Boston Legal Services Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Harborcov Inc: 76% of income from government
  • Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center Inc: 38% of income from government
  • La Colaborativa Inc: 34% of income from government
  • HomeStart Inc: 20% 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
  • Community Legal Aid Inc: 5% of income from government
  • The Neighborhood Developers Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Asian American Resource Workshop Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
1rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 14 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 Greater Boston Legal Services’ 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