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National Employment Law Project at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

National Employment Law Project

To build a just and inclusive economy where all workers have expansive rights and thrive in good jobs.

$695k
Granted FY2024still arriving
23
Grants FY2024still arriving
14
States reached
$130k
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 2024.

Crime & Legal$6.0MEmployment$5.6MCivil Rights$5.1MCommunity Improvement$2.2MHuman Services$972kEducation$698kPublic Benefit$683kHousing & Shelter$285kOther$0
02FY2024 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k22 grants · $565k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $130k
$25,000
Median grant
14
States reached
$20M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUSINESS FOR A FAIR MINIMUM WAGE INC$130,000
PEOPLE'S LOBBY EDUCATION INSTITUTE$40,750
MINNESOTA UBERLYFT DRIVERS ASSN$40,750
FAIR WORK CENTER$33,000
CINCINNATI INTERFAITH WORKERS CENTER$33,000
WORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT$33,000
PILIPINO WORKERS CENTER$33,000
GRASSROOTS LAW AND ORGANIZING FOR WORKERS$33,000
NEW ERA COLORADO ACTION FUND$30,000
ALIGN THE ALLIANCE FOR A GREATER NEW YORK$28,500
COMMUNICATIONS WORKERS OF AMERICAL LOCAL 7777$25,000
MIAMI WORKERS CENTER$25,000
WORKING WASHINGTONFAIR WORK CENTER$25,000
WECOUNT$25,000
CENTRO DE TRABAJADORES UNIDOS EN LUCHA$20,000
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 (FY17–23, $1.1M) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 63% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%NORTH SHORE WORKERS COMMUNITY FUND: $100k → 10%MIXTECOINDIGENA COMMUNITY ORGANIZING PROJECT: $30k → 10%HAWAII APPLESEED FOR LAW & ECONOMIC JUSTICE: $50k → 9%OPERATION RESTORATION: $50k → 9%COLUMBIA COUNTY SANCTUARY MOVEMENT: $41k → 11%NEW YORK TAXI WORKERS ALLIANCE: $81k → 13%WORKERS' CENTER OF CENTRAL NEW YORK: $10k → 14%NORTH CAROLINA JUSTICE CENTER: $40k → 8%MIXTECOINGIDENA COMMUNITY ORGANIZING PROJECT: $30k → 10%HAWAII APPLESEED FOR LAW & ECONOMIC JUSTICE: $50k → 9%NEW YORK TAXI WORKERS ALLIANCE: $60k → 13%COLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $60k → 12%COLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $50k → 12%TIDES CENTER: $40k → 10%COMMUNITY SERVICE SOCIETY OF NEW YORK: $13k → 17%COLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $8k → 12%GARMENT WORKER CENTER: $145k → 14%GARMENT WORKER CENTER: $100k → 14%GARMENT WORKER CENTER: $75k → 14%GARMENT WORKER CENTER: $30k → 14%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

ME
VT
WA
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
KS
AR
NC
DC
HI
LA
MS
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 45% of National Employment Law Project’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 9% of the giving stays in NY; by stated purpose, 3%.

National Employment Law Projectlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$19M · 55 repeat orgs$2.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +33% since the first grant, against +25% for those funded once.

55 repeat relationships: 20 still active in FY2024, 35 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

55
54

Total granted

$19M
$2.7M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+33%
+25%

Still filing today

95%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 88% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $81k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Crime & LegalCommunity ImprovementEmploymentHuman ServicesEducationCivil RightsOther
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

  • KI
    KOREAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS ADVOCATES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
    5× · 2017–2022 · $1.7M · revenue +274%
  • CHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION
    6× · 2017–2022 · $1.6M · revenue +494%
  • PW
    PILIPINO WORKERS CENTER OF SOUTHERN
    7× · 2017–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +29%

Funded once

  • TL
    THE LEGAL AID SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue +25%
  • CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGEgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $200k · revenue +232%
  • TB
    THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
    one grant, 2023 · $175k
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
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
2
Fuerza LaboralPower of Workers

Fuerza Laboral is a workers' rights center whose mission is to shift the balance of power in our economy in favor of workers by educating, training, and organizing workers to become community leaders; taking direct action to recover unpaid…

Education
3
Central Ohio Workers Center Inc

The Central Ohio Worker Center is a non-profit organization that educates, empowers, and advocates for and with low-wage and immigrant workers in Central Ohio.

Civil Rights
4
LaborLab

LaborLab is a nonprofit watchdog dedicated to safeguarding workers rights to organize, win strong contracts, and build lasting collective power. Through strategic research, educational resources, and corporate accountability, we empower…

Human Services
5
Center for Workers' Rights

The center for workers' rights strives to improve working conditions, reduce barriers to securing employment, and remedy workplace injustices for low wage workers in the greater sacramento area.

Employment
6
Philadelphia Area Jobs With Justice

Building support for the rights of working people through coalitions of labor and community and through public education.

Employment
7
Chicago Workers' Collaborative Nfp

Chicago Workers' Collaborative's mission is to promote full employment and equality for the lowest wage-earners, primarily temporary staffing workers, in the Chicago region through leadership and skills training, critical assistance and…

Education
8
Towards Justice of Colorado

Towards justice is a nonprofit law firm that seeks to advance economic equity and worker power through impact litigation, strategic policy advocacy, and collaboration with organizers and public agencies. we were founded in response to the…

Civil Rights
9
Colorado Jobs With Justice Inc

Advance workers rights & social justice through building sustained relationships and taking direct action to create concrete change in the lives of working families

Employment
10
Laborers International Union of State of Mi

Collective bargaining and representation

—
11
National Institute for Workers Rights

The national institute for workers' rights (the institute) mission is to advance workers' rights through research, thought leadership, and education for policymakers, advocates, and the public. the institute will achieve its mission…

Employment
12
Workers Center for Racial Just Nfp

The mission of the Workers Center For Racial Justice is to eliminate structural barriers to sustainable and living wage

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Centro De Los Derechos Del Migrante Inc; the most unlike its peers is Roc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

103 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. 103 of the 113 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)
27
Early backer (in before they grew)
101/103
Grantees still filing
65/103
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL LEGAL ADVOCACY NETWORK DBA GLOW: $1,001,650 · Crime & LegalNATIONAL LEGAL ADVOCACY NETWORK…CALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $640,000 · Crime & LegalCALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTAN…MISSISSIPPI WORKERS CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INC: $551,160 · Crime & LegalMISSISSIPPI WORKERS CENTER FOR …CABRINI GREEN LEGAL AID: $539,500 · Crime & LegalCABRINI GREEN LEGAL AIDAsian Law Caucus: $480,000 · Crime & LegalAsian Law CaucusTexas Fair Defense Project: $475,000 · Crime & LegalTexas Fair Defense ProjectGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $425,000 · Crime & LegalGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INCLegal Aid at Work: $410,000 · Crime & LegalLegal Aid at WorkCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $400,000 · Crime & LegalCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INCEAST BAY COMMUNITY LAW CENTER: $300,000 · Crime & LegalMake the Road New York: $261,000 · Crime & LegalJUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER OF LOUISIANA: $250,000 · Crime & Legal+6 more: $425,000 · Crime & Legal+6 moreKOREAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS ADVOCATES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,740,000 · Community ImprovementKOREAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS A…BUSINESS FOR A FAIR MINIMUM WAGE INC: $1,334,000 · Community ImprovementBUSINESS FOR A FAIR MINIMU…PILIPINO WORKERS CENTER OF SOUTHERN: $1,188,000 · Community ImprovementPILIPINO WORKERS CENTER OF…CENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE: $200,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $195,000 · Community Improvement+9 more: $415,000 · Community Improvement+9 moreBET TZEDEK: $735,000 · OtherBET TZEDEKTEMP WORKER JUSTICE: $382,000 · OtherTEMP WORKER JUSTICERESTAURANT OPPORTUNITIES CENTERS UNITED INC: $340,000 · OtherRESTAURANT OPPORTUNIT…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: $175,000 · OtherCHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSN FOR TUWU: $150,000 · OtherRAISE UP MISSOURI: $145,000 · OtherWECOUNT: $175,000 · OtherCOMMUNITY LABOR UNITED INC: $150,000 · OtherCENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY INC: $160,000 · OtherTHE PEOPLE'S LOBBY EDUCATION INSTITUTE: $150,750 · Other+36 more: $1,663,950 · Other+36 moreMAINTENANCE INDUSTRY LABOR-MANAGEMENT COOPERATION TRUST FUND: $770,000 · EmploymentMAINTENANCE…Warehouse Worker Resource Center: $322,500 · EmploymentWarehouse W…Fair Work Center: $263,000 · EmploymentFair Work C…CENTRO DE TRABAJADORES UNIDOS EN LUCHA: $217,427 · EmploymentCENTRO DE T…ALIGN THE ALLIANCE FOR A GREATER NEW YORK INC: $183,500 · EmploymentALIGN THE A…Miami Workers Center Inc: $175,000 · EmploymentMiami Worke…MISSOURI JOBS WITH JUSTICE: $140,000 · EmploymentMISSOURI JO…+4 more: $141,000 · Employment+4 moreCHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION: $1,550,000 · HealthCHINESE P…THE BEACON OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON: $260,000 · HealthTHE BEACO…+1 more: $22,500 · HealthMIXTECO INDIGENA COMMUNITY ORGANIZING PROJECT: $590,000 · Human ServicesGarment Worker Center: $350,000 · Human ServicesNew York Taxi Workers Alliance: $141,000 · Human ServicesCOLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $117,500 · Human ServicesNORTH SHORE WORKER'S COMMUNITY FUND INC: $100,000 · Human ServicesHAWAII APPLESEED CENTER FOR LAW AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE: $100,000 · Human Services+6 more: $194,100 · Human ServicesCINCINNATI INTERFAITH WORKERS CENTE: $233,000 · EducationWORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT: $233,000 · EducationGOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY: $190,000 · EducationPROGRESSIVE MARYLAND EDUCATION FUND INC: $165,000 · Education+5 more: $110,000 · Education
Crime & Legal$6,158,310Community Improvement$5,072,000Other$4,226,700Employment$2,212,427Health$1,832,500Human Services$1,592,600Education$931,000

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 budgetKOREAN IMMIGRANT WORKERS ADVOCATES OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,740,000 over 5y, 22% of budgetCHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION: $1,550,000 over 6y, 6.9% of budgetBUSINESS FOR A FAIR MINIMUM WAGE INC: $1,334,000 over 7y, 73% of budgetPILIPINO WORKERS CENTER OF SOUTHERN: $1,188,000 over 7y, 8.6% of budgetNATIONAL LEGAL ADVOCACY NETWORK DBA GLOW: $1,001,650 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetMAINTENANCE INDUSTRY LABOR-MANAGEMENT COOPERATION TRUST FUND: $770,000 over 7y, 6.4% of budgetBET TZEDEK: $735,000 over 5y, 2.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA RURAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE INC: $640,000 over 5y, 1.4% of budgetMIXTECO INDIGENA COMMUNITY ORGANIZING PROJECT: $590,000 over 5y, 4.4% of budgetMISSISSIPPI WORKERS CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS INC: $551,160 over 5y, 73% of budgetCABRINI GREEN LEGAL AID: $539,500 over 2y, 12% of budgetAsian Law Caucus: $480,000 over 6y, 4.9% of budgetTexas Fair Defense Project: $475,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetGEORGIA JUSTICE PROJECT INC: $425,000 over 2y, 13% of budgetLegal Aid at Work: $410,000 over 3y, 2.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $400,000 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetGarment Worker Center: $350,000 over 4y, 13% of budgetRESTAURANT OPPORTUNITIES CENTERS UNITED INC: $340,000 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetWarehouse Worker Resource Center: $322,500 over 3y, 6.2% of budgetEAST BAY COMMUNITY LAW CENTER: $300,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetFair Work Center: $263,000 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetMake the Road New York: $261,000 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetTHE BEACON OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON: $260,000 over 2y, 4.7% of budgetJUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY CENTER OF LOUISIANA: $250,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetCINCINNATI INTERFAITH WORKERS CENTE: $233,000 over 3y, 30% of budgetWORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT: $233,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetCENTRO DE TRABAJADORES UNIDOS EN LUCHA: $217,427 over 6y, 5.5% of budgetTHE LEGAL AID SOCIETY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE: $200,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $195,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetGOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY: $190,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetALIGN THE ALLIANCE FOR A GREATER NEW YORK INC: $183,500 over 3y, 10% of budgetWECOUNT: $175,000 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetMiami Workers Center Inc: $175,000 over 3y, 3.2% of budgetPROGRESSIVE MARYLAND EDUCATION FUND INC: $165,000 over 4y, 15% of budgetCENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY INC: $160,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE PEOPLE'S LOBBY EDUCATION INSTITUTE: $150,750 over 4y, 6.0% of budgetMASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES ACTION NETWORK INC: $150,000 over 2y, 9.2% of budgetNew York Taxi Workers Alliance: $141,000 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetMISSOURI JOBS WITH JUSTICE: $140,000 over 4y, 6.2% of budgetA STRONG ECONOMY FOR ALL COALITION: $120,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetCOLORADO PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE: $117,500 over 3y, 6.9% of budgetNORTH SHORE WORKER'S COMMUNITY FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetMAINE PEOPLE'S RESOURCE CENTER: $95,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetPennsylvania United: $75,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: $70,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetYoung Workers United: $65,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetPHILADELPHIA LEGAL ASSISTANCE CENTER INC C/O THE ORGANIZATION: $62,000 over 1y, 1.3% 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.

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…New Venture FundThe Ford FoundationWindward FundWK Kellogg FoundationBorealis PhilanthropyCommon Counsel Founda…Solidago FoundationHopewell FundTides FoundationCenter for Popular De…Tides Center
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC56.9× affinity39 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · The Ford Foundation · Windward Fund · WK Kellogg Foundation · Borealis Philanthropy · Common Counsel Foundation · Solidago Foundation · Hopewell Fund · Tides Foundation · Center for Popular Democracy Inc · Tides Center

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 National Employment Law Project funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from National Employment Law Project. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 90%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • The Education & Training Institute Inc: 19% of income from government
  • Centro De Los Derechos Del Migrante Inc: 4% of income from government
  • North Shore Worker's Community Fund Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Greater Boston Legal Services Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Community Labor United Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
9get no government money at all
26report 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.

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 113 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on National Employment Law Project’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