Massachusetts · Nonprofit
BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION
BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION (Massachusetts) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $865,823 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($253,850). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $866k
- Net assets
- $16M
What Boston Bar Foundation does
Mission
The mission of the Boston Bar Foundation (bbf) is to promote justice by funding and promoting innovation in legal services, enhancing access to justice for the underserved, and supporting the public interest activities of the bar. As the independent, charitable arm of the boston bar association, the bbf's mission is inspired by the values of professionalism, service, compassion, and responsibility, values that all attorneys owe to themselves, to their peers, and to their community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The bbf makes grants, primarily to provide legal services for low income individuals and families in the greater boston area.
$2,350,521 spentof which $2,272,884 as grants86% of program spendingThe bbf also makes grants that support pro bono and public service projects that engage lawyers in our community.
$313,350 spentof which $303,000 as grants11% of program spendingScholarships through the voluntary lawyers project and boston foundation for asian community fund
$5,530 spentof which $5,347 as grants0% of program spendingThe bbf funds projects or studies that focue on unmet needs in the community, increasing access to justice for the underserved populations, mentoring young people and philanthropy.
$60,860 spentof which $58,850 as grants2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,730,261.
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 2023 to 2024, from $13M to $16M (+23%).
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.
87% of BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION’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 9 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $108k → $108k.
6 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $118k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Boston Bar Association). These are real filings, and they are not money BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION’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.
How concentrated its funding is
BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 29% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
88% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 56% · 2018 63% · 2019 40% · 2020 34% · 2021 21% · 2022 25% · 2023 23% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. 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.
How long its funders stay
70% of BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 77% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
78% of BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $190k that is directly attributable, 82% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $675k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. 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
BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 793 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Boston Bar Association · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION: 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 BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION?
- BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION (Massachusetts) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $865,823 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($253,850). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $865,823 in grants to BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $253,850 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BOSTON BAR FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 13 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