Illinois · Nonprofit
The Chicago Bar Association
The Chicago Bar Association (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,100 to it, the largest being WILLIAM M WEISS FOUNDATION ($5,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.0M
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $5k
- Net assets
- $11M
What The Chicago Bar Association does
Mission
Build underlying infrastructure to continue to offer substantive programs to benefit lawyers and introduce more opportunities for members to actively participate and contribute towards advancement of the profession.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
General Bar Activities - organize relevant events to foster the goals of the Association. Several award ceremonies are held during the year to honor outstanding contributions and achievements made towards the legal profession. To serve public interest, a number of television programs for local access are produced each year covering different topics of the law and other worthwhile related interests featuring renowned guests considered experts in their field.
$708,654 spent$3,782,413 earned by the program48% of program spendingContinuing Legal Education - on January 1, 2006, the Supreme Court of Illinois established minimum continuing legal education ("MCLE") requirements for Illinois attorneys under Illinois Supreme Court Rules 790-798. To help its members meet the plan's requirements, the Chicago Bar Association developed no-cost and low-cost programming by offering accredited committee meetings and discounted seminars. Additionally, it tracks and records members' attendance to its programs to make MCLE reporting easier.
$506,039 spent$726,934 earned by the program34% of program spendingLawyer Referral Service - as part of its community service, the Chicago Bar Association maintains a knowledgeable staff of phone interviewers to aid callers needing assistance in finding a suitable attorney. To meet the standards set by the American Bar Association, a panel of over 250 pre-screened, qualified lawyers experienced in almost every area of law are appropriately matched and referred for initial consultation at a predetermined low minimum fee.
$275,104 spent$459,448 earned by the program18% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,489,797.
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 2020 to 2021, from $11M to $13M (+19%).
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: 2022 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Elizabeth McMeen
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2020: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $100 → $5k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $592k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Chicago Bar Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money The Chicago Bar Association raised.
From the IRS filings of The Chicago Bar Association’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
The Chicago Bar Association leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% 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
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 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
The Chicago Bar Association draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 2 states in all.
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.
Organizations like The Chicago Bar Association
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Chicago Bar Assoc Judicial Evaluation · exempt
- CBA Media and Civic Education · exempt
- CBA Administrators Inc dba CBA Insur · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The Chicago Bar Association: 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 The Chicago Bar Association?
- The Chicago Bar Association (Illinois) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,100 to it, the largest being WILLIAM M WEISS FOUNDATION ($5,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Chicago Bar Association have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $5,100 in grants to The Chicago Bar Association.
- Who is the largest funder of The Chicago Bar Association?
- WILLIAM M WEISS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Chicago Bar Association find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 2 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