New York · Nonprofit
VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC
VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC (New York) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,216,965 to it, the largest being BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION A ($2,083,839). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $566k
- Funders on record
- 53
- Grants received
- $7.2M
- Net assets
- $3.4M
What Volunteers of Legal Service Inc does
Mission
To provide low-income new yorkers with access to justice through high-quality, free civil legal services. We partner with community-based organizations and volunteer attorneys at law firms and corporations to offer community legal education, legal advice, and representation that meets community needs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Immigration project - the organization offers immigration legal services support for immigrant students and young adults to help them pursue higher education, employment, and permanent residency so that they can pursue their dreams and advocate for themselves, their families, and the community.
$124,428 spent$3,000 earned by the program30% of program spendingSenior law project - the organization helps low-income individuals age 60+ by providing essential life planning documents. These documents enable older adults to maintain income and avoid homelessness, ensure that their dying wishes are fulfilled, and enable their caregivers to provide the care and services necessary to access health care and age in place.
$76,897 spent$3,333 earned by the program19% of program spendingIncarcerated mothers law project - the organization provides incarcerated mothers with legal advice, information, and advocacy in connection with family law matters.
$76,186 spent18% of program spendingMicroenterprise project - the organization helps existing and aspiring small business owners and microentrepreneurs access high-quality free legal services.
$72,694 spent18% of program spendingBenefits law project - the organization helps new yorkers seeking public benefits with legal assistance through a hotline and representation.
$45,634 spent11% of program spendingChildren's project (other projects) - the organization helps under-resourced families resolve legal problems that may impact a child's health and/or ability to succeed in school.
$17,464 spent$10,000 earned by the program4% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $413,303.
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 2022 to 2023, from $2.7M to $4.0M (+50%).
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 15% · 2018 39% · 2019 38% · 2020 16% · 2021 25% · 2022 24% · 2023 26% · 2024 11% · 2025 20%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
94% of VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (94% for the typical peer).
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
Abja Midha
Executive director
Board chair
Antony L Ryan
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 31 funders, grant income rose $188k → $879k.
13 of 53 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 53 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
VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
53% 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 VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 76% · 2019 30% · 2020 29% · 2021 34% · 2022 54% · 2023 11% — 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
63% of VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% 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
87% of VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC'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. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,547 crime & legal nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE 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
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 VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE 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 VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC?
- VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC (New York) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,216,965 to it, the largest being BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION A ($2,083,839). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC have?
- IRS filings report 53 organizations giving $7,216,965 in grants to VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC, 40 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE INC?
- BROOKLYN LEGAL SERVICES CORPORATION A is the largest funder on record, with $2,083,839 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VOLUNTEERS OF LEGAL SERVICE 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.
Play a game about who funds Volunteers of Legal Service →
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 53 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