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California · Nonprofit

CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS

CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,698,144 to it, the largest being IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER ($729,808). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$2.9M
Funders on record
22
Grants received
$3.7M
Net assets
$4.4M
17/22 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 26%
01What it does

What California Changelawyers does

Mission

To build a better justice system for all californians.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. California Changelawyers runs two grant programs, the legal empowerment fund and the legal aid fund. The legal empowerment fund harnesses the power of lawyers for good. The legal aid fund supports organizations that are closing the access to justice gap by providing legal assistance to those californians who cannot afford attorneys. In 2024, California Changelawyers distributed $675,850 in grants through these two funds.

    $776,246 spentof which $675,850 as grants
    53% of program spending
  2. California Changelawyers awards next gen scholarships to first- and third-year law students who are overwhelmingly the first in their family to attend law school. By supporting the brightest change makers of tomorrow as they begin their pursuit of a legal career, we eliminate the roadblocks that exist in achieving success. In 2024, California Changelawyers distributed $359,352 in scholarships and similar aid.

    $459,474 spentof which $359,352 as grants
    31% of program spending
  3. The california immigration legal fellowship is a first of its kind program in state history which expands access to counsel in the most underserved rural regions of the state. The legal fellowship is a three-year capacity building and professional development program for recent law graduates to become deportation defense practitioners. The current cohort of seven fellows are placed across 6 host organizations, some of which have never provided deportation defense services to their communities. The program aims to increase the number of qualified immigration attorneys defending california residents against family separation.

    $231,699 spentof which $56,366 as grants
    16% of program spending
  4. Other programs support the alumni leadership council, which assists California Changelawyers in its work by providing feedback on initiatives.

    $2,041 spentof which $662 as grants
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,469,460.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($2.2M) Expenses 100 ($1.8M) Net assets 100 ($2.7M)2019 Revenue 97 ($2.1M) Expenses 99 ($1.8M) Net assets 98 ($2.7M)2020 Revenue 80 ($1.8M) Expenses 101 ($1.8M) Net assets 106 ($2.9M)2021 Revenue 128 ($2.8M) Expenses 120 ($2.1M) Net assets 119 ($3.2M)2022 Revenue 157 ($3.4M) Expenses 115 ($2.1M) Net assets 148 ($4.0M)2023 Revenue 139 ($3.0M) Expenses 192 ($3.4M) Net assets 138 ($3.7M)2024 Revenue 132 ($2.9M) Expenses 123 ($2.2M) Net assets 164 ($4.4M)
2017201920202021202220232024
Revenue (132)Expenses (123)Net assets (164)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $3.3M to $3.8M (+14%).

$3.1M
$3.0M
$3.3M
$3.8M
$4.2M
$4.3M
$4.5M
2017201920202021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 18% · 2022 12% · 2023 17% · 2024 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

62% of CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 184 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$400k
’17
$356k
’19
−$45k
’20
$638k
’21
$1.4M
’22
−$385k
’23
$691k
’24
11
months of
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

Christopher Punongbayan

Executive director

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2017201920202021202220232024
Listed38353530282121
Joined··+3+2+3+2+4
No longer listed··37594
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $441k → $556k.

7 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 21% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS’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

CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left

60% 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 CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS.

20%
largest funder
48%
top three
~9
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 39% · 2019 43% · 2020 47% · 2021 76% · 2022 45% · 2023 32% — broadly stable.

“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

53% of CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 77% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

99% of CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS's grant income comes from California funders.

IL
CA
DC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $790k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 174 social science nonprofits its size.

Operating margin24% · top quartile
Months of reserve10.5mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)4% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 174 social science nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

67% of spending goes to programs.

Program 67%Management 18%Fundraising 16%

Governance

17
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

54%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Calbar Connect · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS: 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.

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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 CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS?
CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,698,144 to it, the largest being IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER ($729,808). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS have?
IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $3,698,144 in grants to CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS?
IMMIGRANT LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER is the largest funder on record, with $729,808 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CALIFORNIA CHANGELAWYERS 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.

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 22 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