California · Nonprofit
APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC
APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC (California) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $20,000 to it, the largest being San Diego County Bar Foundation ($20,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.4M
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $20k
- Net assets
- $3.0M
What Appellate Defenders Inc does
Mission
Appellate defenders, inc. Is a non-profit law firm which administers the appointed counsel system for the california court of appeal, fourth appellate district, in california. The office operates under a contract with the california administrative office of the courts.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The central goals of the office are to improve the quality of indigent representation on appeal and to assist the court of appeal, fourth appellate district, in administering criminal and juvenile delinquency appeals by indigents and civil appeals by indigents in certain areas.
$4,268,591 spent$387,345 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $4,268,591.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $3.6M to $6.8M (+88%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 97% · 2018 95% · 2019 95% · 2020 95% · 2021 96% · 2022 96% · 2023 93% · 2024 91%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
91% of APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (93% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Hee Lynelle
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
From the IRS filings of APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
100% of APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC's grant income comes from California funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC?
- APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC (California) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $20,000 to it, the largest being San Diego County Bar Foundation ($20,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $20,000 in grants to APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC.
- Who is the largest funder of APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC?
- San Diego County Bar Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $20,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like APPELLATE DEFENDERS INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Appellate Defenders →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 1 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing