Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $678,427 to it, the largest being THE SIDLEY AUSTIN FOUNDATION ($202,550). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $42M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $678k
- Net assets
- $21M
What The District of Columbia Bar Foundation does
Mission
The District of Columbia Bar Foundation was established to raise funds for organizations in the district that provide hands-on legal services to residents who are unable to afford legal assistance.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Access to justice grants:in 2007, the dc bar foundation (dcbf) began awarding access to justice grants when the council of the district of columbia designated dcbf as the organization responsible for providing oversight of the access to justice initiative. Atj supports legal assistance in three areas: (a) underserved areas, (b) housing-related matters, and (c) a shared legal services interpreter bank. Since 2007, the foundation has administered $137.6 million in atj funding to provide critical legal assistance to underserved dc residents with low income.
$20,246,957 spentof which $19,031,808 as grants56% of program spendingCivil legal counsel projects program grants:the council of the district of columbia established the civil legal counsel projects program (clcpp) grants through the expanding access to justice amendment act of 2017, which designates the dc bar foundation as the entity responsible for its implementation. Clcpp provides legal services to individual tenants or groups of tenants with low income to address eviction, rent increases, housing code violations, termination of an individual's participation in a housing subsidy program, and human rights violations. Since 2018, the foundation has administered $58.1 million in clcpp funding to provide civil legal services in support of individual and tenants and groups of tenants.
$10,319,439 spentof which $9,499,999 as grants29% of program spendingDc resource bridge:working in collaboration with the legal aid community, dc residents, and other stakeholders, the dc bar foundation (dcbf) created the dc resource bridge (dcrb) to coordinate trauma-informed intake and efficient referrals across the city's 50-plus free and low-cost legal service providers. Dcrb launched its phone hotline on september 22, 2025, following a five-year collaborative planning process involving legal services providers, funders, and system partners. In early 2026, it launched its online intake form, giving vulnerable dc residents a single point of entry to access civil legal aid. The program now connects residents in every ward in the city to free legal services in a timely manner. The dc social justice transformations network (dcsjtn), founded in 2020 by the dc bar foundation, brings together legal aid providers, social service organizations, community leaders, and other stakeholders to build a more coordinated, equitable, and user-centered system of support for dc residents. The network holds three convenings annually and works to foster collaboration, share resources, and address systemic barriers to social justice through collective action.
$1,646,476 spentof which $756,425 as grants5% of program spendingPrivate grants programthe dc bar foundation's private grants program was established in 1978 to provide critical operating support to dc legal services providers. These grants provide unrestricted funds to help cover overhead costs, such as rent and client record databases, which are not always covered by other grants these organizations receive. The private grants program is funded by private contributions and by revenue from the dc's interest on lawyers' trust account (iolta) program. Since 1978, the foundation has provided over $34 million in critical operating support to dc legal service providers. Expenses were $3,005,766 and grants awarded were $2,223,492 for the year.loan repayment assistance programsince 2007, dcbf has granted funds to pay down educational debt for attorneys working with legal aid providers in dc through the loan repayment assistance program (lrap). In 2025, lrap programs supported 104 individual attorneys across 27 approved grantee organizations. Expenses were $716,770 and grants awarded $608,020 for the year.
$3,819,638 spentof which $2,836,512 as grants11% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $36,032,510.
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 $14M to $30M (+113%).
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: 2017 78% · 2018 86% · 2019 78% · 2020 83% · 2021 89% · 2022 91% · 2023 78% · 2024 67%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (95% 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
Kirra Jarratt
Chief executive officer
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $90k → $96k.
5 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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: $129k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Greater Washington Community Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 25 of 26 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
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 30% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
58% 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 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 75% · 2018 98% · 2019 48% · 2020 53% · 2021 52% · 2022 53% · 2023 62% — 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
36% of THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION draws 77% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $83k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 254 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 254 crime & legal nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 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 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
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 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 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION?
- THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $678,427 to it, the largest being THE SIDLEY AUSTIN FOUNDATION ($202,550). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $678,427 in grants to THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION?
- THE SIDLEY AUSTIN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $202,550 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR FOUNDATION 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 26 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