New York · Nonprofit
TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC
TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC (New York) receives grants from 67 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,160,581 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($2,146,000). 41 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 67
- Grants received
- $8.2M
- Net assets
- $0
What Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc does
Mission
The transgender legal defense and education fund is committed to ending discrimination based on gender identity and expression, and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, test-case litigation, direct legal services and public policy efforts.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The impact litigation program seeks to expand and safeguard legal protections for transgender and non-binary people in federal and state courts as well as administrative agencies throughout the country. The primary focus of the program is to secure comprehensive protections for transgender and non-binary people by establishing precedents in health care, employment, education, and public accommodations among other issues.
$1,292,690 spentof which $10,000 as grants$8,500 earned by the program26% of program spendingThe trans health project takes a comprehensive, systematic approach to expanding access to transgender-related health care by educating affected individuals about their legal rights; cultivating a robust movement to achieve health care equity; expanding enforcement of existing legal protections; and driving clinical policy changes among insurance carriers.
$679,520 spent13% of program spendingThe name change project provides pro bono legal name change services to low-income transgender and non-binary people through partnerships with some of the most prestigious law firms and corporate law departments. For many transgender people, securing a legal name change is a significant step towards ensuring their legal identities match their authentic selves. Tldef provides its clients with access to pro bono legal representation to navigate the process and successfully secure a legal name change.
$475,379 spent9% of program spendingThe public education program leverages tldef's staff expertise on a range of issues to empower transgender and non-binary people who are often routinely subject to discrimination. Tldef seeks to build the competency and expertise of individual attorneys, law firms, and business leaders committed to better serving transgender and non-binary people through "know your rights" workshops, corporate trainings, and continuing legal education opportunities. Tldef dissolved as of 9/30/2024 and transferred its remaining assets to a4tef.
$2,608,118 spentof which $2,236,449 as grants52% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,055,707.
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 2023 to 2024, from $4.8M to $0 (−100%).
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 9% · 2018 34% · 2019 25% · 2020 21% · 2021 32% · 2022 9% · 2023 24% · 2024 23%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
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
Andrea Marra
Executive director
Board chair
Jay Austin
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 34 funders, grant income rose $72k → $2.8M.
21 of 67 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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: $410k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Advocates for Trans Equality Education Fund). These are real filings, and they are not money TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC raised.
From the IRS filings of TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 67 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
TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 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 TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 70% · 2018 61% · 2019 29% · 2020 27% · 2021 21% · 2022 16% · 2023 55% — 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
52% of TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
54% of TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.8M that is directly attributable, 66% of it comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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.
Organizations like TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 14 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND 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.
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 TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC?
- TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC (New York) receives grants from 67 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,160,581 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($2,146,000). 41 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC have?
- IRS filings report 67 organizations giving $8,160,581 in grants to TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC, 41 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $2,146,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like TRANSGENDER LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATION FUND INC 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 67 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