Illinois · Nonprofit
JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION
JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION (Illinois) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,397,722 to it, the largest being NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION ($350,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $831k
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What Just the Beginning - a Pipeline Organization does
Mission
Just the Beginning - a Pipeline Organization ("jtb-apo") mission is to develop and nurture an interest in the law among students from all backgrounds across the country, lighting the spark to explore the legal profession and gain the skills they need to lead.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Summer judicial intership diversity program -summer judicial internship project (sjip) has placed over 1,000 judicial interns from underrepresented backgrounds in federal, appellate, district, bankruptcy, magistrate, and select state appellate judges' chambers across the country since 2011.
$242,222 spent$23,226 earned by the program50% of program spendingSummer legal institute (sli) is jtb's cornerstone youth program. During this one-week legal immersion program, scholars participate in interactive, legal-focused activities that enhance their reading, writing, critical thinking, professional etiquette, financial literacy, and public speaking skills.
$118,949 spent$11,149 earned by the program24% of program spendingOther programs including middle school law camps and national virtual programs.middle school law camp is a fun, educational, and interactive experience that provides an introduction to careers in law, the opportunity to build legal and professional skills, and connections with judges, lawyers, and other leaders in the legal profession. Connected, is a virtual version of the week-long legal immersion program, presented through the learning platform, jtb university. With a mix of video, live, and webinar presentations, connecteded is a unique learning experience facilitated by the organization's programming staff, volunteers from corporations, law firms, and courtrooms who actively engage with the organization's scholars.
$126,907 spent$12,078 earned by the program26% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $488,078.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $1.4M to $1.8M (+30%).
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: 2020 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 5 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
Antonette N Smith
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 9 funders, grant income rose $5k → $421k.
6 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION’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
JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
94% 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 JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 97% · 2019 88% · 2020 75% · 2021 87% · 2022 43% · 2023 59% — 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
25% of JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION draws 97% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $215k 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
JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION is better cushioned than half of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
54% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
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 JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION: 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 JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION?
- JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION (Illinois) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,397,722 to it, the largest being NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION ($350,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $1,397,722 in grants to JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION?
- NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $350,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like JUST THE BEGINNING - A PIPELINE ORGANIZATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Just the Beginning - a Pipeline Organization →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 21 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