New York · Nonprofit
THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD
THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD (New York) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,740,941 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION TO PROMOTE OPEN SOCIETY ($635,804). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.9M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $797k
What The International Legal Foundation Ltd does
Mission
The ilf's mission is to make justice a reality for poor people by fighting to guarantee high-quality legal representation for everyone arrested or detained. Around the world, we provide criminal defense services and build sustainable, effective legal aid institutions.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Direct service - afghanistan, west bank, tunisia, and myanmar: see schedule oin 2024, the ilf defended, or supported the defense of thousands of poor and vulnerable people across multiple countries, securing life-changing outcomes for our clients while advancing systemic reforms that have strengthened the rule of law. Despite working in complex and often conflict-affected environments, ilf lawyers ensured that individuals arrested or detained especially women, children, and marginalized groups had access to justice.in myanmar, ilf lawyers achieved notable successes despite the challenging legal environment. In 2024, the ilf provided representation to individuals in more than 600 cases across the country. The ilf's specialized gender justice unit, supported by un women, represented 145 cases of women and girls, successfully securing pretrial release in cases where discriminatory practices often bar women from obtaining bail. The pretrial release successes are remarkable as in practice, courts in myanmar only agree to release people on minor offenses after they can furnish two guarantors and property documents. This unjust practice particularly impacts women who lack the means to…
$1,761,939 spentof which $343,351 as grants$2,400 earned by the program80% of program spendingAdvice and assistance - global: see schedule othe ilf provides in-depth mentoring, training, information, and technical assistance to legal aid providers, justice stakeholders, and local communities in all the countries where we work. Throughout 2024, the ilf continued to build the capacity of local lawyers to engage in impact litigation that curbs unlawful and arbitrary actions of authorities while pioneering a holistic model of legal aid with in-house social workers. This work was supported by day-to-day, case-by-case mentoring by 19 international fellows who provided 3,709.5 hours of mentoring. This innovative professional exchange has transformed local defense teams from passive participants in the justice system to proactive advocates for the rights and dignity of their clients. In addition to this work, the ilf has continued to share expertise and advance justice sector reform with international organizations, governments, and legal aid providers around the world. In december 2024, the ilf concluded a project with the georgia legal aid service (las) intended to improve the quality and accessibility of legal aid services. The project focused on the creation of specialized…
$245,858 spentof which $12,690 as grants11% of program spendingAdvocacy - national and international level: see schedule oin 2024, the ilf engaged in advocacy efforts at the international level to strengthen the right to legal aid for people arrested or detained and advance equal access to justice for all. To address the barriers to access to legal aid identified last year in research the ilf conducted with pro bono support from white & case and amazon, the ilf worked with these pro bono partners to draft a forthcoming toolkit that will help governments reform laws and policies that restrict eligibility for legal aid. This resource will provide practical guidance on how countries can draft laws, develop policies and implement practices that ensure individuals are guaranteed access to legal aid if they cannot afford a lawyer, in line with the un principles and guidelines on access to legal aid in criminal justice systems and best practices in the jurisdictions researched by white & case and amazon. It is expected that decision makers around the world will refer to this toolkit when writing or reforming their legal aid laws, advocating new policies, and determining how best to improve access to effective legal aid in practice.the ilf also…
$202,861 spent9% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,210,658.
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 2017 to 2018, from $7.0M to $2.9M (−58%).
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 93% · 2018 42% · 2019 58% · 2020 81% · 2021 67% · 2022 48% · 2023 19% · 2024 68%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Jennifer Smith
Executive director
Board chair
Robert Quaintance
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $14k → $338k.
2 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD’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 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
32% 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 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 65% · 2020 97% · 2021 100% · 2022 49% · 2023 59% — 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
17% of THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
79% of THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $11k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 5 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,608 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.1M on record.
- Department of State$5.1M
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 THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD: 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 INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD?
- THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD (New York) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,740,941 to it, the largest being FOUNDATION TO PROMOTE OPEN SOCIETY ($635,804). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $1,740,941 in grants to THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD?
- FOUNDATION TO PROMOTE OPEN SOCIETY is the largest funder on record, with $635,804 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL FOUNDATION LTD find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 13 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing