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Michigan State Bar Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Michigan State Bar Foundation

The MICHIGAN STATE BAR FOUNDATION provides leadership and grants to improve access for all to the justice system, including support for civil legal aid for low-income individuals, law-related education and conflict resolution.

$22M
Granted FY2025still arriving
55
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$4.3M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
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$92MHuman Services$21kEducation$16kCivil Rights$10k
02FY2025 · 55 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k2 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k15 grants · $437k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $1.9M
  • $250k+22 grants · $20M
$122,133
Median grant
1
States reached
$57M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LAKESHORE LEGAL AID$4,338,671
LAKESHORE LEGAL AIDCOUNSEL AND ADVOCACY LAW LINE$1,801,640
LAKESHORE LEGAL AIDMETRO$1,777,996
LEGAL AID OF WESTERN MICHIGAN$1,705,015
MICHIGAN ADVOCACY PROGRAM$970,500
LEGAL SERVICES OF EASTERN MICHIGAN$916,301
LEGAL AID OF WESTERN MICHIGAN$796,438
MICHIGAN LEGAL SERVICES$794,945
LAKESHORE LEGAL AID$771,710
MICHIGAN ADVOCACY PROGRAMMICHIGAN POVERTY LAW PROGRAM$692,623
MICHIGAN ADVOCACY PROGRAMMICHIGAN LEGAL HELP$650,000
LEGAL AID OF WESTERN MICHIGAN$611,208
MICHIGAN LEGAL SERVICES$481,077
MICHIGAN ADVOCACY PROGRAM (LSSCM)$455,115
LEGAL SERVICES OF EASTERN MICHIGAN$429,572
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, $286k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 13% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES LEGAL REFERRAL SERVICE: $8k → 8%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $75k → 9%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $75k → 9%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $38k → 9%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $15k → 9%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $15k → 9%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $13k → 9%ELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $11k → 9%SOUTHWEST ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS: $21k → 21%FREEDOM HOUSE - DETROIT: $15k → 21%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.

99%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$91M · 24 repeat orgs$561k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +56% since the first grant, against +37% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2025, 10 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
17

Total granted

$91M
$490k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+56%
+37%

Still filing today

79%
82%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $71k 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 ServicesEducationCivil RightsHousing & ShelterCommunity 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

  • LL
    Lakeshore Legal Aid
    9× · 2017–2025 · $32M · revenue +143% · 46% of their budget
  • MA
    Michigan Advocacy Program
    9× · 2017–2025 · $26M · revenue +194% · 77% of their budget
  • LA
    Legal Aid of Western Michigan
    9× · 2017–2025 · $12M · revenue +48% · 44% of their budget

Funded once

  • ML
    MIGRANT LEGAL AID INC
    one grant, 2017 · $200k · revenue +11% · 38% of their budget
  • MD
    MICHIGAN DEP OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES
    one grant, 2017 · $39k
  • UC
    US COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $35k · revenue 0%
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
The Toledo Legal Aid Society

Toledo Legal Aid Society provides legal representation for indigent clients that are charged with criminal, traffic, or juvenile offenses for which the penalty or any possible adjudication includes the potential loss of liberty.

—
2
Legal Aid Society of Birmingham

The Organization is a nonprofit community defender providing legal assistance through court appointment to children and other indigent persons.

Crime & Legal
3
Oakland County Bar Association

The mission of the Oakland County Bar Association is to serve the professional needs of our members, improve the justice system, and ensure the delivery of quality legal services to the public.

—
4
Monroe County Senior Legal Services

To provide civil legal services to the residents of Monroe County, Michigan who are 60 years of age or older.

Crime & Legal
5
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
6
Legal Aid of Manasota Inc

Legal aid of manasota provides legal services at no or low cost to those in need by partnering with local lawyers.

Crime & Legal
7
Legal Services of Greater Miami Inc

To advance economic opportunity and social justice through legal advocacy.

Crime & Legal
8
Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati

To resolve serious legal problems of low income people, to promote economic and family stability, and reduce poverty through effective legal assistance.

—
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
Action for Liberation

Michigan Liberation is dedicated to the leadership development of community members and creation of effective campaigns to advance racial, gender and economic justice in Michigan

Civil Rights
11
Legal Aid of Western Missouri

To improve the lives of those in need through quality legal assistance.

Crime & Legal
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Legal Aid of Western Michigan; the most unlike its peers is Pro Se Bankruptcy Assistance Project. 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

36 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. 36 of the 44 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.

9
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
12
Early backer (in before they grew)
35/36
Grantees still filing
24/36
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Lakeshore Legal Aid: $32,401,515 · Crime & LegalLakeshore Legal AidMichigan Advocacy Program: $25,960,555 · Crime & LegalMichigan Advocacy ProgramLegal Aid of Western Michigan: $11,683,583 · Crime & LegalLegal Aid of Western MichiganMICHIGAN LEGAL SERVICES: $7,185,915 · Crime & LegalMICHIGAN LEGAL SERVICESLegal Services of Eastern Michigan: $5,384,171 · Crime & LegalLegal Services of Eastern MichiganLegal Services of Northern Michigan: $3,149,226 · Crime & Legal+10 more: $2,992,950 · Crime & LegalGenesee County Legal Aid Society DBA Center for Civil Justice: $920,357 · OtherTHE MAURICE & JANE SUGAR LAW CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: $610,509 · OtherLEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION INC: $358,124 · OtherMIGRANT LEGAL AID INC: $200,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $181,956 · Other+12 more: $291,768 · OtherELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $241,348 · Human ServicesSOUTHWEST ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS INC: $20,831 · Human ServicesFREEDOM HOUSE DETROIT: $15,000 · Human Services+1 more: $8,323 · Human ServicesUNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY: $80,414 · EducationDetroit Bar Association Foundation: $61,578 · EducationHENRY FORD LEARNING INSTITUTE: $19,950 · EducationAccounting Aid Society: $30,000 · Community ImprovementAVALON HEALING CENTER: $15,000 · HealthALLIANCE FOR HOUSING OAKLAND COUNTY CONTINUUM OF CARE: $13,500 · Housing & ShelterCASA FOR KIDS INC: $12,000 · Civil Rights
Crime & Legal$88,757,915Other$2,562,714Human Services$285,502Education$161,942Community Improvement$30,000Health$15,000Housing & Shelter$13,500Civil Rights$12,000

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 budgetLakeshore Legal Aid: $32,401,515 over 9y, 46% of budgetMichigan Advocacy Program: $25,960,555 over 9y, 77% of budgetLegal Aid of Western Michigan: $11,683,583 over 9y, 44% of budgetMICHIGAN LEGAL SERVICES: $7,185,915 over 9y, 56% of budgetLegal Services of Eastern Michigan: $5,384,171 over 8y, 33% of budgetLegal Services of Northern Michigan: $3,149,226 over 9y, 33% of budgetMICHIGAN COMMUNITY RESOURCES: $1,641,736 over 9y, 50% of budgetGenesee County Legal Aid Society DBA Center for Civil Justice: $920,357 over 8y, 62% of budgetMichigan Indian Legal Services: $767,177 over 9y, 19% of budgetTHE MAURICE & JANE SUGAR LAW CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL JUSTICE: $610,509 over 4y, 15% of budgetLEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION INC: $358,124 over 9y, 9.2% of budgetELDER LAW OF MICHIGAN: $241,348 over 4y, 5.5% of budgetMICHIGAN STATE BAR FOUNDATION: $221,575 over 2y, 2.9% of budgetMIGRANT LEGAL AID INC: $200,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetDetroit Justice Center: $163,253 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetLEGAL ASSISTANCE CENTER: $83,475 over 3y, 15% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY: $80,414 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetDetroit Bar Association Foundation: $61,578 over 8y, 5.2% of budgetUS COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS INC: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetAccounting Aid Society: $30,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetCitizens for Prison Reform: $30,000 over 1y, 8.5% of budgetHAVEN INC: $28,999 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetMICHIGAN COALITION TO END DOMESTIC AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE: $23,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetMICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW: $22,306 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHWEST ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS INC: $20,831 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHENRY FORD LEARNING INSTITUTE: $19,950 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAVALON HEALING CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetIMMIGRATION LAW & JUSTICE MICHIGAN: $15,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetSouthwest Detroit Immigrant and Refugee Center: $14,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetALLIANCE FOR HOUSING OAKLAND COUNTY CONTINUUM OF CARE: $13,500 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetCASA FOR KIDS INC: $12,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetMICHIGAN SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE: $8,323 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNAT'L ASSOCIATION OF IOLTA PROGRAMS: $7,500 over 1y, 3.8% 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.

Community Foundation …United Way for Southe…Ford PhilanthropyMcGregor FundWK Kellogg FoundationOakland County Bar Fo…Michigan Health Endow…The Kresge FoundationSafe & Just MichiganThe Skillman Foundati…The Ralph C Wilson Jr…Butzel Long Charitabl…
Community Foundation for Southeast MichiganMI38.8× affinity18 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan · United Way for Southeastern Michigan · Ford Philanthropy · McGregor Fund · WK Kellogg Foundation · Oakland County Bar Foundation · Michigan Health Endowment Fund · The Kresge Foundation · Safe & Just Michigan · The Skillman Foundation · The Ralph C Wilson Jr Foundation · Butzel Long 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 Michigan State Bar Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Michigan State Bar Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    12report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely 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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Michigan State Bar Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Michigan State Bar Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 44 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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    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