Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION
PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,440,702 to it, the largest being PENNSYLVANIA INTEREST ON LAWYER TRUST ACCOUNTS BOARD ($3,220,608). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $759k
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $3.4M
- Net assets
- $1.8M
What Pennsylvania Bar Foundation does
Mission
The mission of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation is to support programsthat increase the public's understanding of the law and promote equalaccess to justice. The foundation accomplishes its mission by making grants; administering a loan repayment assistance program for civil legal aid attorneys who help the poor for free; seeking financial support from individuals and organizations both within and outside of the legal community; and encouraging bar members to donate their time, talent and expertise in service to the public.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Loan repayment assistance program - in september of 2010, the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, in conjunction with the pennsylvania iolta board, launched a loan repayment assistance program for attorneys employed by iolta-funded organizations that provide free civil legal aid to indigent pennsylvanians. The program has two goals: 1) to assist legal aid attorneys in better managing their educational debt so they can afford to choose and remain in public service careers; and 2) to help civil legal aid organizations attract and retain skilled and talented lawyers in public service.
$426,897 spentof which $424,478 as grants$435,346 earned by the program83% of program spendingCivics and law related education program - law related education programs seek to help integrate civics into the classroom curriculum of all grade levels and subject areas. Two of the major programs designed to do this are the celebrate the constitution program and the law day program.the celebrate the constitution program is designed to teach students about the u. S. Constitution. The award-winning celebrate the constitution brings together k-12 students, lawyers and judges for mock constitution signing programs across pennsylvania. The annual program kicks-off in september during the national constitution week celebration and continues throughout the fall. All participating schools and county bar associations receive constitution-related materials for the signing programs. The law day program allows pennsylvania lawyers and judges to visit k-12 classrooms throughout the month of may to teach students about the law. Supporting materials, such as law-related lesson plans and souvenirs with lots of kid appeal, are distributed to lawyers, judges and schools across the commonwealth making the day not only instructive but also memorable and fun. Foundation funding supports the…
$9,690 spentof which $9,690 as grants2% of program spendingPba wills for heroes - the wills for heroes program supports the efforts of the pennyslvania bar association in the statewide program that provides wills for first responders at various clinics around the various counties of the commonwealth.
$9,096 spentof which $9,096 as grants2% of program spendingPro bono - $7,804elder law section - $5,000stoudt scholarships - $9,000named scholarships - $9,000high school mock trial - $5,000minority bar law day - $2,228unit county grant matching program - $5,500goffman award - $1,124birdsall impact grant- $2,000unit county conference of county bar leaders grant - $1,535environmental & energy law section - $4,021bednarik scholarship fund - $5,400bob & betsy fiebach scholarship - $500sell memorial - $1,752voices for justice - $5,000wayne county bar association - $2,166
$67,030 spentof which $65,906 as grants13% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $512,713.
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 $2.2M to $2.8M (+29%).
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.
26% of PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (94% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Chief executive
Matthew M Holliday
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income fell $477k → $448k.
1 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $12k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest York County Bar Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION’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
PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION 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
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 PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 86% · 2021 100% · 2022 81% · 2023 75% — 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.
Where its funders are
94% of PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $64 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
56%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Pa Bar Association · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION: 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 PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION?
- PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,440,702 to it, the largest being PENNSYLVANIA INTEREST ON LAWYER TRUST ACCOUNTS BOARD ($3,220,608). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $3,440,702 in grants to PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION?
- PENNSYLVANIA INTEREST ON LAWYER TRUST ACCOUNTS BOARD is the largest funder on record, with $3,220,608 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PENNSYLVANIA BAR FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 4 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