California · Nonprofit
Legal Aid Association of California
Legal Aid Association of California (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,610,652 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($964,550). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $662k
What Legal Aid Association of California does
Mission
The Legal Aid Association of California, the statewide membership of legal services nonprofits, serves its members through advocacy and other support in efforts to provide legal assistance to low-income Californians and ensure access to justice.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
LAAC Core Programs: During FY2425, LAAC provided many meetings and online trainings for the legal services community, including the third annual California Legal Aid Executive Director Retreat. LAAC also provided summer fellowships for law students through LAACs Dan Bradley Fellowship program. LAAC undertook several advocacy efforts to protect funding for civil legal services in California's state budget, including a successful campaign to fund civil legal aid in the Governor's Special Session. LAAC also supported a statewide resource and referral website at www.LawHelpCA.org. LAAC staff trained front-line helpers across the state on using LawHelpCA.org to help people in crisis access legal resources. Staff also recruited volunteer law students to help site users find the information they needed, as people in legal crisis often want a real person (not a bot) to help them.
$1,039,498 spentof which $16,000 as grants$94,686 earned by the program68% of program spendingLegal Services Funders Network: In 2022, LAAC became the fiscal sponsor of LSFN. LSFN is comprised of many types of foundations, law firms, law schools, individuals, government staff, and bar associations. For some, funding legal services is a primary focus. For others, funding legal services is a strategy used to help amplify the impact of grants in specific focus areas. Network members provide support to a range of organizations, including community-based direct legal services providers, those involved with public policy, advocacy and impact litigation, and those that provide infrastructure support to the legal aid field. LAACs fiscal sponsorship of LSFN involves processing fellowship stipends for LSFNs robust post-graduate fellowship program, placing law school graduates in legal aid organizations prior to their passing the California Bar Exam.
$338,073 spentof which $295,000 as grants$12,818 earned by the program22% of program spendingSelf-Represented Litigation Network (SRLN): In January 2023, LAAC became the temporary fiscal sponsor of the Self Represented Litigation Network. SRLN is a collaborative project of court staff, academics, judges, and other stakeholders dedicated to making the justice system more accessible to people who are self-represented in court. In 2025, SRLN's major projects transitioned to Stanford Law School, but LAAC continued to perform transition-related services this fiscal year.
$125,550 spent8% of program spendingCalifornia Access to Justice Commission (CalATJ): During FY2425, the Legal Aid Association of California continued the partnership with the California Access to Justice Commission (CalATJ). CalATJ is a separate, independent nonprofit made up of lawyers, judges, academics, and other stakeholders dedicated to making the civil justice system accessible to all. CalATJ is a small organization without its own staff, so they contract with LAAC through an MOU for staffing needs. For more information on CalATJ and our partnership, please visit www.CalATJ.org.
$19,938 spent$56,399 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,523,059.
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.
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 $448k to $638k (+42%).
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: 2019 35% · 2020 36% · 2021 34% · 2022 21% · 2023 25% · 2024 23% · 2025 23%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 8 funders, grant income rose $16k → $391k.
5 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 73% 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 Legal Aid Association of California’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
Legal Aid Association of California leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
82% 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 Legal Aid Association of California.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 80% · 2020 76% · 2021 73% · 2022 38% · 2023 45% — 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
75% of Legal Aid Association of California's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
73% of Legal Aid Association of California'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 $441k that is directly attributable, 77% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M 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.
Government funding Legal Aid Association of California receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $77 on record.
- Registration for Meetings&Conf$77
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 Legal Aid Association of California
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
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
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 Legal Aid Association of California: 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 Legal Aid Association of California?
- Legal Aid Association of California (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,610,652 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($964,550). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 73% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Legal Aid Association of California have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,610,652 in grants to Legal Aid Association of California, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Legal Aid Association of California?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $964,550 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Legal Aid Association of California 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 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