Skip to content
Pacific Legal Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Pacific Legal Foundation

Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) litigates nationwide to secure all Americans' inalienable rights to live responsibly and productively in their pursuit of happiness.

$145k
Granted FY2025still arriving
9
Grants FY2025still arriving
9
States reached
$25k
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, FY2023 to 2025.

Public Benefit$210kSocial Science$30kEmployment$25kYouth Development$25kCrime & Legal$15k
02FY2025 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$15,000
Median grant
9
States reached
$119M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Talent Market$25,000
The John Locke Foundation$15,000
Georgia Public Policy Foundation$15,000
Iowans for Tax Relief$15,000
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty$15,000
Mountain States Policy Center Inc$15,000
Pelican Institute for Public Policy$15,000
The James Madison Institute$15,000
Platte Insitute for Economic Research$15,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY23–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Platte Institute for Economic Research Inc: $15k → 12%Texas Public Policy Foundation: $15k → 10%Talent Market: $25k → 14%The James Madison Institute: $15k → 19%Iowans for Tax Relief Foundation: $15k → 5%Mackinac Center for Public Policy: $15k → 9%Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty: $15k → 17%The John Locke Foundation Inc: $15k → 8%Georgia Public Policy Foundation: $15k → 8%Pelican Institute for Public Policy: $15k → 23%Platte Insitute for Economic Research: $15k → 12%Talent Market: $25k → 14%The James Madison Institute for Public Policy Studies: $15k → 19%Iowans for Tax Relief: $15k → 5%The John Locke Foundation: $15k → 8%Pelican Institute for Public Policy: $15k → 23%Pelican Institute for Public Policy: $15k → 23%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

ID
MT
WI
MI
IA
NE
NC
DC
LA
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.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

61%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$185k · 5 repeat orgs$120k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 5 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
4

Total granted

$185k
$60k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-6%
+3%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 59% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $60k went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24’25
Public BenefitSocial ScienceYouth DevelopmentCrime & LegalOther
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

  • AF
    America's Future Foundation
    2× · 2024–2025 · $50k · revenue -35%
  • PI
    PELICAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
    3× · 2023–2025 · $45k · revenue +37%
  • TJ
    THE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC
    2× · 2023–2025 · $30k · revenue -8%

Funded once

  • FI
    FRONTIER INSTITUTE INC
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue -14%
  • IF
    IOWANS FOR TAX RELIEF FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue -59%
  • MC
    MACKINAC CENTER
    one grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue +3%
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 Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research Inc

To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research.

Social Science
2
Institute for Policy Innovation

It is the mission of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) to provide education, research, analysis and recommendations to policy makers, opinion leaders and the American people designed to help solve public policy problems through…

—
3
Frontiers of Freedom Institute

To educate the public on constitutional issues and public policy matters. We are dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, peace through strength, limited government, free enterprise, and the values embodied in the Declaration of…

Public Benefit
4
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc

The manhattan institute is a community of scholars, journalists, activists, and civic leaders dedicated to advancing opportunity, individual liberty, and the rule of law in america and its great cities.

Public Benefit
5
Technology Policy Institute
International
6
Institute for Political Innovation Inc

Advance and improve the representativeness of democracy for all constituencies across the united states.

Social Science
7
Institute for Progress

The institute for progress (ifp) is a non-partisan think tank focused on innovation policy. our organization works to accelerate and shape the direction of scientific, technological and industrial progress.

Social Science
8
Competitive Enterprise Institute

Competitive enterprise institute (cei) is a non-profit public policy organization dedicated to the principles of free enterprise and limited government. we believe that consumers are best helped not by government regulation but by being…

—
9
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
10
The Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy

Research and education on public policy issues.

—
11
Institute for Policy Studies

The institute for policy studies (the institute) is a 60-year-old organization that is dedicated to building a more equitable, ecologically sustainable, and peaceful society.

International
12
Institute for Public Accuracy

To teach and disseminate educational materials to the public.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Texas Public Policy Foundation; the most unlike its peers is America's Future Foundation. 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

13 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.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
6/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

PELICAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $45,000 · Public BenefitPELICAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICYFRONTIER INSTITUTE INC: $15,000 · Public BenefitFRONTIER INSTITUTE INCMACKINAC CENTER: $15,000 · Public BenefitMACKINAC CENTERMOUNTAIN STATES POLICY CENTER INC: $15,000 · Public BenefitMOUNTAIN STATES POLICY CENTER INCTEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $15,000 · Public BenefitTEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATIONTHE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 · OtherTHE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INCTHE JAMES MADISON INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES INC: $30,000 · OtherTHE JAMES MADISON INSTITUTE FOR P…IOWANS FOR TAX RELIEF FOUNDATION: $15,000 · OtherIOWANS FOR TAX RELIEF FOUNDATIONIOWANS FOR TAX RELIEF: $15,000 · OtherIOWANS FOR TAX RELIEFAmerica's Future Foundation: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentAmerica's Future F…PLATTE INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $30,000 · Social SciencePLATTE INSTITUTE…GEORGIA PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 · Social ScienceGEORGIA PUBLIC P…WISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY: $15,000 · Crime & Legal
Public Benefit$105,000Other$90,000Youth Development$50,000Social Science$45,000Crime & Legal$15,000

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 budgetAmerica's Future Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetPELICAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $45,000 over 3y, 0.6% of budgetTHE JOHN LOCKE FOUNDATION INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTHE JAMES MADISON INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES INC: $30,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetPLATTE INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH INC: $30,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetFRONTIER INSTITUTE INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetIOWANS FOR TAX RELIEF FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetIOWANS FOR TAX RELIEF: $15,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetWISCONSIN INSTITUTE FOR LAW & LIBERTY: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMACKINAC CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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.

State Policy NetworkDonors Trust IncThe Seminar Network I…Adolph Coors Foundati…The Lynde and Harry B…The Roe FoundationCharles Koch InstituteAtlas Economic Resear…Beth and Ravenel Curr…NetChoiceCharles Koch Foundati…Vanguard Charitable E…
State Policy NetworkVA24.2× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: State Policy Network · Donors Trust Inc · The Seminar Network Inc · Adolph Coors Foundation · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · The Roe Foundation · Charles Koch Institute · Atlas Economic Research Foundation · Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation · NetChoice · Charles Koch Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Pacific Legal Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Pacific Legal Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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 13 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 Pacific Legal’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