Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,136,807 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($1,940,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.3M
- Funders on record
- 36
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $3.8M
What Nacdl Foundation for Criminal Justice does
Mission
To preserve and promote the core values of america's justice system guaranteed by the constitution - among them due process, freedom from unreasonable search and seizure, fair sentencing and assistance of effective counsel - by educating the public and the legal profession to the role of these rights and values in a free society. The foundation supports the work of the national association of criminal defense lawyers toward these ends.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Fourth amendment center: the nacdl fourth amendment center ("the center") was established to safeguard the fundamental values embodied in the fourth amendment to protect individuals from unreasonable government surveillance, searches, and seizures in the digital age. New technologies, such as gps tracking devices; automated license plate readers, biometric surveillance, including facial recognition technology; and a wide range of technologies that foster the collection of bulk data threaten to undermine basic privacy rights. The center builds on nacdl's steadfast commitment to limit unreasonably intrusive government conduct through the unique capacity of the nation's defense bar to challenge the limits of government conduct in the context of criminal investigations and prosecutions. The center maintains an infrastructure to provide the following core resources to criminal defense lawyers and their clients: (1) advanced education on emerging issues at the intersection of technology, privacy, and constitutional rights; (2) a dynamic toolkit of resources to help lawyers identify opportunities to challenge government surveillance; and (3) a tactical litigation support to assist in…
$1,168,841 spentof which $1,168,841 as grants43% of program spendingFirst step act resource center: this project is designed to provide training and resources to defense counsel, recruit pro bono counsel, submit amicus curiae briefs, and educate policymakers to ensure that the first step act provides the broadest possible relief to long-serving federal prisoners. This includes efforts to secure re-sentencing or compassionate release and to ensure that earned time credits, which can reduce a prisoner's time in custody, are available as broadly as possible.
$329,261 spentof which $329,261 as grants12% of program spendingArnold ventures counsel at first appearance: the early and continuous access to counsel in virginia project evaluates the logistical and practical impacts of providing access to counsel starting at initial appearance. The work includes a fourjurisdiction randomized control trial (rct) pilot that will collect data on the short- and longer-term effects of access to counsel for individuals who are in custody at initial appearance. Areas of study include effects on pretrial release, appearance rates, case outcomes, and client satisfaction and perceptions. The pilot will be complimented by a community engagement campaign that will elevate directly impacted voices and experiences along side the pilot project data to create and share educational resources on the value of early access to counsel.
$320,986 spentof which $320,986 as grants12% of program spendingGeneral support; clemency project; return to freedom; federal trial penalty; state criminal justice advocacy; criminalization of reproductive health; trial penalty
$903,897 spentof which $903,897 as grants33% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,722,985.
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 $2.3M to $4.1M (+77%).
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 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE’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. 4 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
Lisa M Wayne
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $949k → $1.7M.
12 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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 NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 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
NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 47% · 2018 68% · 2019 40% · 2020 37% · 2021 34% · 2022 34% · 2023 35% — 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
53% of NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE'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
NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $862k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE 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
Organizations like NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
40%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 34 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE: 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 NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE?
- NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,136,807 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($1,940,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE have?
- IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $12,136,807 in grants to NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE?
- THE FORD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,940,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NACDL FOUNDATION FOR CRIMINAL JUSTICE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 36 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