Massachusetts · Nonprofit
LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC
LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,707,385 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,752,657). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 62
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $6.1M
What Lawyers for Civil Rights Inc does
Mission
Lawyers for civil rights, inc. (the organization") is a nonprofit, nonpartisan legal organization that fosters equal opportunity, promotes economic justice and fights discrimination on behalf of low-income people. The organization engages in creative and courageous legal action, education, and advocacy in collaboration with law firms and community partners.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Lcr | bizgrow provides free legal assistance, business support, and technical assistance to low-income business owners ensuring they encounter fewer obstacles and more opportunities.our programs include free legal representation, technical assistance, and workshops for small business owners on subjects such as entity formation, contracts, taxes, leases, and intellectual property.programmatic highlights: bizgrow conference: the bizgrow conference is our flagship annual event. This free, one-day experience provides entrepreneurs and small business owners with workshops and legal consultations with attorneys who specialize in business issues.foodbiz 101: this accelerator helps aspiring food entrepreneurs turn their vision into reality. Each session is taught by an industry expert and covers a different topic, such as permitting, business planning, and marketing, as well as food-specific subjects, including recipe scaling and labeling. At the conclusion of the series, participants present their business pitches to a panel of experts and graduate ready to live out their dreams as new business owners. Bizgrow launch series: this seminar series provides a comprehensive overview of how to…
$410,050 spent15% of program spendingCase v. Parakeet communities (worcester superior court) class action lawsuit filed on behalf of mobile home park residents, challenging unfair and deceptive practices used by mobile home park owner. If we prevail, attorneys' fees are available.owens v. Edgar p. Benjamin healthcare center (suffolk superior court) lawsuit filed on behalf of family members of residents of nursing home, successfully seeking receivership of facility. Attorneys' fees received from receiver in 2025.hri v. Charlesgate realty et al. (suffolk superior court) source-of-income housing lawsuit against numerous boston-area landlords and brokers. Matter concluded in 2024; no attorneys' fees received.newsom v. Gadles (mcad) represent disabled veteran retaliated against by condo developer. If we prevail, attorneys' fees are available.guerrero v. U.s. Federal tort claims act claim filed on behalf of family unlawfully stopped on way to church on mothers day. If we prevail, attorneys' fees are available.pineda v. U.s. Federal tort claims act claim filed on behalf of detained lawful resident. If we prevail, attorneys' fees are available.ramirez sanan v. U.s. Federal tort claims act claim filed on behalf of family. If…
$1,270,480 spent$75,378 earned by the program46% of program spendingLawyers for civil rights, inc. (the organization") is a nonprofit, nonpartisan legal organization that fosters equal opportunity and fights discrimination on behalf of low-income people. The organization engages in creative and courageous legal action, education, and advocacy in collaboration with law firms and community partners.
$1,100,056 spent40% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,780,586.
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 $4.6M to $6.6M (+44%).
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: 2021 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS 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. 0 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
Ivan Espinoza Esq
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 28 funders, grant income rose $246k → $1.6M.
12 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 49% 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 LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 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
LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% 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
57% 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 LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 32% · 2019 23% · 2020 24% · 2021 16% · 2022 27% · 2023 33% — growing more concentrated.
“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
42% of LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
90% of LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC holds deeper cash reserves 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
Government funding LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $38k on record.
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$38k
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 LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
66%
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 LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS 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 LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC?
- LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,707,385 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($2,752,657). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC have?
- IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $10,707,385 in grants to LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC, 35 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,752,657 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS INC 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 62 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