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New York · Public charity

NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc

The naacp legal defense & educ. Fund. Inc. (legal defense fund - ldf) is america's premier legal organization fighting for racial justice. Using the power of law, narrative, research, and people, we defend and advance the full dignity and citizenship of black people in america.

$4.8M
Granted FY2025(still arriving)
8
Itemized grants FY2025
18
Organizations funded FY2024
44%
First-time grantees FY2024
Read the full brief
Itemized, FY2025
$142k
The rest is grants the schedule does not break out
Median grant, FY2025
$10,000
Largest grant, FY2025
$55,000
Organizations funded a year
3 to 18
FY2017 to FY2024
States reached, FY2025
7
Total assets, FY2025
$434M

How open it is to new grantees

In FY2024, 44% of the organizations NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc funded were first-time grantees, receiving 29% of its grant dollars.

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 71% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $176k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’21’22’23’24
Community ImprovementCivil RightsHuman ServicesEducationPublic BenefitArts & CultureOther
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.
The numbers by year
Fiscal yearOrganizations fundedTo those organizationsFirst-time grantees
FY2025still arriving7$112k71%
FY202418$608k44%
FY202314$697k79%
FY202210$457k70%
FY20216$360k83%
FY20183$15k100%
FY201713$956kn/a
100% 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$1.0MCivil Rights$829kCommunity Improvement$575kEducation$330kPhilanthropy$310kHuman Services$300kPublic Benefit$205kReligion$50kOther$0

Where its grants go

Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.

Which US states its grants reach

ND
IL
NY
MA
OH
PA
CA
KY
VA
MD
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL

Top grantees

Largest recipients by total granted, FY2017 to FY2025, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.

GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Fusion Partnership Inc$265,00051%
Charleston Area Justice Ministry$185,00059%
Justice Unity & Social Transformation$175,000347%
Kentucky Civic Engagement Table Inc$135,00025%
Organizing Black Inc$130,000211%
Southern Center for Human Rights$120,00022%
League of Women Voters of Florida Educat$120,000124%
Florida Rising Together Inc$105,00030%
Justice for Greenwood Foundation Inc$100,00023%
Legal Aid of North Carolina Inc$100,00010%
Show all 52 grantees
All grantees of NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc by total granted
GranteeTotal grantedYearsShare of their budget
Fusion Partnership Inc$265,00051%
Charleston Area Justice Ministry$185,00059%
Justice Unity & Social Transformation$175,000347%
Kentucky Civic Engagement Table Inc$135,00025%
Organizing Black Inc$130,000211%
Southern Center for Human Rights$120,00022%
League of Women Voters of Florida Educat$120,000124%
Florida Rising Together Inc$105,00030%
Justice for Greenwood Foundation Inc$100,00023%
Legal Aid of North Carolina Inc$100,00010%
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Inc$100,00012%
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc$100,00010%
Texas Appleseed$90,00017%
Louisiana Center for Children's Rights$90,00016%
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California Inc$81,25010%
New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation$75,0001n/a
Red Hook Initiative$75,00021%
Advocates for Children of New York$75,00011%
Public Counsel$75,00011%
Education Law Center - PA$75,0001n/a
Legal Aid Justice Center$75,00011%
Georgia Educators for Equity and Justice Incorporated$60,000272%
Jacksonville Community Action Committee Inc$50,0001n/a
New Prospect Baptist Church$50,0001n/a
Coalition of Concerned Mothers$50,000135%
Baltimore Action Legal Team Inc$50,00013%
E3 Educate Empower Elevate$50,000112%
Together Sc$50,00013%
National Institute for Peer Support$50,00014%
National Center for Youth Law$40,00011%
Sncc Legacy Project$40,00014%
Kentucky Youth Advocates Inc$40,00012%
Regents Univ of California$40,0001n/a
Equity and Transformation$35,00011%
National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States$31,69210%
Community Partners$25,00010%
Pure Justice$25,00015%
Southern Vision Alliance$25,00010%
Housing Justice League Inc$25,00018%
Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality$25,00017%
The City University of New York School of Law Foundation Inc$12,50020%
Advancement Project Education Fund$10,0001n/a
Mississippi Votes$10,00010%
Love Not Blood Campaign$10,00011%
Bold Training Institute Inc$8,00010%
University of Mississippi$7,5001n/a
The Howard University$7,50010%
University of North Dakota-College of Business & Public Admin$7,0001n/a
Dance Theatre of Harlem Inc$6,85010%
The Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund$6,75010%
Faulkner University$5,75010%
Poverty and Race Research Action Council$5,00010%

Where it is load-bearing

NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 3 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 44 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetFusion Partnership Inc: $265,000 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetCharleston Area Justice Ministry: $185,000 over 5y, 9.3% of budgetJustice Unity & Social Transformation: $175,000 over 3y, 47% of budgetKentucky Civic Engagement Table Inc: $135,000 over 2y, 5.1% of budgetOrganizing Black Inc: $130,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetSouthern Center for Human Rights: $120,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetLeague of Women Voters of Florida Educat: $120,000 over 1y, 24% of budgetFlorida Rising Together Inc: $105,000 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetJustice for Greenwood Foundation Inc: $100,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetLegal Aid of North Carolina Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetThe Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetAmerican Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTexas Appleseed: $90,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetLouisiana Center for Children's Rights: $90,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetAmerican Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California Inc: $81,250 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRed Hook Initiative: $75,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetAdvocates for Children of New York: $75,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetPublic Counsel: $75,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLegal Aid Justice Center: $75,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetGeorgia Educators for Equity and Justice Incorporated: $60,000 over 2y, 72% of budgetCoalition of Concerned Mothers: $50,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetBaltimore Action Legal Team Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetE3 Educate Empower Elevate: $50,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetTogether Sc: $50,000 over 1y, 3.3% of budgetNational Institute for Peer Support: $50,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetNational Center for Youth Law: $40,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetSncc Legacy Project: $40,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetKentucky Youth Advocates Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetEquity and Transformation: $35,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNational Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States: $31,692 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Partners: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPure Justice: $25,000 over 1y, 5.2% of budgetSouthern Vision Alliance: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHousing Justice League Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 7.9% of budgetOhio Families Unite Against Police Brutality: $25,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetThe City University of New York School of Law Foundation Inc: $12,500 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMississippi Votes: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetLove Not Blood Campaign: $10,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetBold Training Institute Inc: $8,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetThe Howard University: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDance Theatre of Harlem Inc: $6,850 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetThe Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund: $6,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFaulkner University: $5,750 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPoverty and Race Research Action Council: $5,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budget

Tap a dot to name the grantee.

How this is measured
Share of budget is the funder’s grant in a year over the grantee’s total revenue that year, at its highest across the years we hold; revenue is from all sources. Only grantees confirmed against their own filings, whose grants do not exceed their revenue, are plotted: the largest 44.

Nonprofits that may fit its grantmaking

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.

Amalgamated Charitabl…Common Counsel Founda…The Ford FoundationNew Venture FundBorealis PhilanthropyNEO Philanthropy IncSolidaire Network IncAnnie E Casey Foundat…Equal Justice WorksProteus Fund IncTides FoundationThe Skadden Foundation
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC33.7× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Common Counsel Foundation · The Ford Foundation · New Venture Fund · Borealis Philanthropy · NEO Philanthropy Inc · Solidaire Network Inc · Annie E Casey Foundation Inc · Equal Justice Works · Proteus Fund Inc · Tides Foundation · The Skadden 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.

Compare NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc with peer funders

About NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc

How much does NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc give?
NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc reported 8 itemized grants totaling $141,850, out of $4,782,416 in total grant expense reported on the return in its FY2025 IRS filing. It funded between 3 and 18 organizations a year over FY2017 to FY2024.
What does NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc fund?
By grant dollars over FY2017 to FY2025, its largest causes are Crime & Legal (27%), Civil Rights (22%), Community Improvement (15%).
Who are NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc's largest grantees?
By total granted over FY2017 to FY2025: Fusion Partnership Inc ($265k), Charleston Area Justice Ministry ($185k), Justice Unity & Social Transformation ($175k).
Does NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc fund new organizations?
In FY2024, 44% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
Which funders back the same organizations as NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc?
Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc, Common Counsel Foundation, The Ford Foundation.
Where is NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc based?
NAACP Legal Defense & Educ Fund Inc is based in NY.

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 59 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 NAACP Legal Defense & Educ’s 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