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Maryland · Nonprofit

SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC

SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC (Maryland) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,801,554 to it, the largest being MARYLAND LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION ($4,123,688). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$2.5M
Funders on record
29
Grants received
$5.8M
Net assets
$954k
17/29 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 75%
01What it does

What Shore Legal Access Inc does

Mission

Shore legal access pro bono connects low income individuals and families who need civil legal services with volunteers attorneys and community resources.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Family law project- connects low income individuals who are involved in difficult family matters such as divorce and child custody with an attorney who can guide them through these legal processes and often provide representation in court.

    $471,023 spent
    22% of program spending
  2. Housing project -this project provides legal advice on a variety of financial problems faced by low-income individuals including foreclosure, consumer debt, bankruptcy, and various other real property issues. By helping resolve these matters, clients are better able to remain employed, remain in their homes and provide for their families.

    $684,423 spent
    32% of program spending
  3. Workforce program - slas workforce program is focused on improving the eastern shore workforce through criminal record expungement services, policy advocacy to advance systemic changes impacting the workforce, and employee development in support of public interest career pathways. This program supports paid internships, staff training, and outreach to the regions youth and students about professional opportunities in public interest law.

    $532,871 spent
    25% of program spending
  4. Program Service Expenses 449,170, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 0 OTHER LEGAL SERVICES AND SUPPORT PROGRAMS PROVIDED TO LOW INCOME INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES.

    $449,170 spent
    21% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,137,487.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($894k) Expenses 100 ($830k) Net assets 100 ($900k)2018 Revenue 95 ($849k) Expenses 115 ($955k) Net assets 88 ($794k)2019 Revenue 115 ($1.0M) Expenses 124 ($1.0M) Net assets 88 ($792k)2020 Revenue 135 ($1.2M) Expenses 144 ($1.2M) Net assets 90 ($806k)2021 Revenue 160 ($1.4M) Expenses 149 ($1.2M) Net assets 112 ($1.0M)2022 Revenue 171 ($1.5M) Expenses 166 ($1.4M) Net assets 124 ($1.1M)2023 Revenue 178 ($1.6M) Expenses 204 ($1.7M) Net assets 114 ($1.0M)2024 Revenue 213 ($1.9M) Expenses 251 ($2.1M) Net assets 98 ($883k)2025 Revenue 280 ($2.5M) Expenses 300 ($2.5M) Net assets 106 ($954k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (280)Expenses (300)Net assets (106)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $1.3M to $1.8M (+44%).

$909k
$821k
$837k
$936k
$1.1M
$1.3M
$1.8M
$1.6M
$1.7M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2019 27% · 2020 27% · 2021 2% · 2022 45% · 2023 31% · 2024 17% · 2025 27%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

99% of SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 11,793 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$64k
’17
−$106k
’18
−$1k
’19
$14k
’20
$197k
’21
$148k
’22
−$102k
’23
−$184k
’24
$12k
’25
3.7
months of
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

Meredith Girard

Executive director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed151315121213151515
Joined·+6+2+2+3+5+7+4+3
No longer listed·80534543
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $209k → $1.2M.

7 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC’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

SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

84% 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 SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC.

71%
largest funder
82%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 51% · 2019 33% · 2020 41% · 2021 37% · 2022 81% · 2023 83% — 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

44% of SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

94% of SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC's grant income comes from Maryland funders.

IL
CA
MD
DE
NC
DC
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Maryland out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $231k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC is better cushioned than half of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.

Operating margin0% · below the median
Months of reserve3.7mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)14% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $170k on record.

State$170k
Top programs
  • Grant$170k

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 SHORE LEGAL ACCESS 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 Maryland

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

86% of spending goes to programs.

Program 86%Management 10%Fundraising 4%

Governance

14
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MD

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SHORE LEGAL ACCESS 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.

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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 SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC?
SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC (Maryland) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,801,554 to it, the largest being MARYLAND LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION ($4,123,688). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC have?
IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $5,801,554 in grants to SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC?
MARYLAND LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,123,688 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SHORE LEGAL ACCESS INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Shore Legal Access →

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 29 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