Connecticut · Nonprofit
CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION
CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION (Connecticut) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,519,528 to it, the largest being The Herbert & Nell Singer Foundation Inc ($1,808,694). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $39M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $2.5M
- Net assets
- $69M
What Connecticut Bar Foundation does
Mission
The Connecticut Bar Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 1952. The cbf's mission is to facilitate systemic change that advances civil justice for all, regardless of power or resources, to achieve a more just and equitable society. The cbf works to do this by stewarding funding, volunteers, programming, data, innovation, and collaboration to lead and partner in integrated approaches to improving the administration of civil justice. Specifically, the cbf administers several grant programs that fund the delivery of legal services for connecticut residents who cannot afford an attorney, including the interest on lawyers' trust accounts and the interest on trust accounts (iolta/iota) programs, the judicial branch grants-in-aid, the court fees grants-in-aid, and the state's right to counsel program. The foundation also funds scholarships, based on financial need, for connecticut students attending law schools in the state.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The revenue of the iolta/iota program is derived from interest earned on lawyers' trust accounts and interest on trust accounts, made available by participating attorneys through eligible financial institution remittances of interest earned on these accounts. The purpose of the program is to make funds available to provide for the delivery of civil legal services to low-income individuals and for law school scholarships based on financial need.
$8,393,774 spentof which $7,847,890 as grants$19,767,602 earned by the program30% of program spendingCourt fees grants-in-aid and judicial branch grant for civil legal representation - under the court fees grants-in-aid program, the judicial brance transfers the revenue from designated court filing fees to the cbf, which distributes the funds to current iolta/iota grantees for the purpose of funding the delivery of legal services to connecticut's low-income population. Judicial branch grant-in-aid is additional funding provided to cbf to supplement the court fees and iolta/iota programs.
$15,987,254 spentof which $15,497,052 as grants57% of program spendingRight to counsel, eviction/tro- the cbf is the administrator of the right to counsel (rtc) in eviction defense and temporary restraining order grant programs. The rtc eviction defense program funds legal aid organizations that provide access to free legal help for income-eligible tenants facing eviction or loss of their housing subsidy. The rtc temporary restraining order program funds legal aid organizations that provide legal representation for income-eligible individuals who are interested in applying for temporary restraining orders in the judicial districts of fairfield, hartford, new haven, stamford-norwalk, and waterbury.
$3,349,265 spentof which $2,997,220 as grants12% of program spendingIn 1994, the foundation established the james w. Cooper fellows as the result of a generous bequest. The fellows develop and sponsor projects and programs to promote a better understanding of the legal profession, the judicial system, and the role of law in society; to explore ways to improve the profession and the administration of justice; and to further the highest ideals of the legal system. Fellows programming addresses issues specific to access to justice to help create systemic change and remove barriers to equal justice.
$308,159 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $28,038,452.
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 2024 to 2025, from $55M to $72M (+32%).
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 84% · 2018 78% · 2019 71% · 2020 75% · 2021 75% · 2022 70% · 2023 48% · 2024 49% · 2025 49%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
50% of CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (95% 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $226k → $425k.
7 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 18 of 19 funders by total. 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
CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 72% of grant income and the top three 92%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
27% 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 CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 99% · 2018 99% · 2019 99% · 2020 86% · 2021 49% · 2022 45% · 2023 58% — 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
27% of CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% 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
CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION draws 82% of its grant income from funders outside Connecticut, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $299k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 165 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 165 crime & legal nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $41.5M on record.
- Pass thru Grant Non-State$40.3M
- Compens Damages-Physical Injur$694k
- Other Settlements-Non-Reprtble$490k
- Attorney Fees$50k
- Membership Dues$1k
- sponsorship$100
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like CONNECTICUT 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 Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
99% 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 CONNECTICUT 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 CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION?
- CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION (Connecticut) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,519,528 to it, the largest being The Herbert & Nell Singer Foundation Inc ($1,808,694). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $2,519,528 in grants to CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION?
- The Herbert & Nell Singer Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $1,808,694 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CONNECTICUT BAR FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 19 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing