Minnesota · Nonprofit
LEGALWISE
LEGALWISE (Minnesota) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $183,553 to it, the largest being MITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW ($172,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2026
- $650
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $184k
- Net assets
- $0
What Legalwise does
Mission
The mission of the Legalwise is to create a space where new lawyers learn from experienced lawyers and each other to build low bono, community centered and culturally sensitive law practices that serve clients who face barriers to accessing legal assistance.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990-EZ.
Program
The mission of the Legalwise is to create a space where new lawyers learn from experienced lawyers and each other to build low bono, community centered and culturally sensitive law practices that serve clients who face barriers to accessing legal assistance.
$26,358 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2026 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $26,358.
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 2019 to 2020, from $23k to $58k (+152%).
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.
77% of LEGALWISE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (99% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 10 reported years ran a deficit.
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
Carla Tourin
Executive director
Board chair
Peter Knapp
Chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $25k → $35k.
From the IRS filings of LEGALWISE’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
LEGALWISE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 94% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 LEGALWISE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 85% · 2020 88% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
97% of LEGALWISE's grant income comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
LEGALWISE's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 48 crime & legal nonprofits under $100k, FY2026
Organizations like LEGALWISE
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
86%
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 LEGALWISE: 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 LEGALWISE?
- LEGALWISE (Minnesota) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $183,553 to it, the largest being MITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW ($172,500). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LEGALWISE have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $183,553 in grants to LEGALWISE, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LEGALWISE?
- MITCHELL HAMLINE SCHOOL OF LAW is the largest funder on record, with $172,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LEGALWISE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. 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 Legalwise →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 3 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