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New York · Nonprofit

Western New York Law Center Inc

Western New York Law Center Inc (New York) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,235,795 to it, the largest being NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES INC ($1,880,451). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$4.5M
Funders on record
19
Grants received
$3.2M
Net assets
$641k
9/19 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 16%
01What it does

What Western New York Law Center Inc does

Mission

The Western New York Law Center, Inc. (WNYLC) is a nonprofit legal services provider. Founded in 1996, WNYLC's mission is to provide civil legal services to individuals and communities with limited access to legal representation. In furtherance of that mission, WNYLC provides direct legal assistance, legal education, and policy advocacy in areas where legal needs are unmet or underserved. WNYLC also supports legal services providers statewide by promoting effective, affordable use of technology to improve service delivery and expand access to justice.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. The Western New York Law Center, Inc. (WNYLC) is a nonprofit legal services provider. Founded in 1996, WNYLC's mission is to provide civil legal services to individuals and communities with limited access to legal representation. In furtherance of that mission, WNYLC provides direct legal assistance, legal education, and policy advocacy in areas where legal needs are unmet or underserved. WNYLC also supports legal services providers statewide by promoting effective, affordable use of technology to improve service delivery and expand access to justice.

    $3,999,875 spent$113,617 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $3,999,875.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($2.5M) Expenses 100 ($2.3M) Net assets 100 ($346k)2018 Revenue 112 ($2.7M) Expenses 119 ($2.8M) Net assets 95 ($327k)2019 Revenue 113 ($2.8M) Expenses 126 ($2.9M) Net assets 48 ($166k)2020 Revenue 111 ($2.7M) Expenses 116 ($2.7M) Net assets 55 ($189k)2021 Revenue 125 ($3.1M) Expenses 135 ($3.2M) Net assets 28 ($96k)2022 Revenue 131 ($3.2M) Expenses 129 ($3.0M) Net assets 68 ($234k)2023 Revenue 175 ($4.3M) Expenses 170 ($4.0M) Net assets 160 ($554k)2024 Revenue 185 ($4.5M) Expenses 191 ($4.4M) Net assets 185 ($641k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (185)Expenses (191)Net assets (185)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $1.1M to $2.0M (+81%).

$822k
$913k
$621k
$1.2M
$1.1M
$2.0M
$2.3M
$2.1M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 90% · 2018 91% · 2019 85% · 2020 89% · 2021 82% · 2022 87% · 2023 73% · 2024 84%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

97% of Western New York Law Center Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (93% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,392 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$123k
’17
−$18k
’18
−$146k
’19
$24k
’20
−$94k
’21
$208k
’22
$320k
’23
$87k
’24
1.0
months of
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

Karen Welch

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed799101191010
Joined·+2+0+1+3+2+1+5
No longer listed·0002405
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $126k → $683k.

2 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 Western New York Law Center Inc’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

Western New York Law Center Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

79% 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 Western New York Law Center Inc.

58%
largest funder
78%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 46% · 2019 40% · 2020 47% · 2021 66% · 2022 47% · 2023 84% — growing more concentrated.

“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

42% of Western New York Law Center Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 47% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

83% of Western New York Law Center Inc's grant income comes from New York funders.

MI
NY
PA
DE
DC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $166k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

Western New York Law Center Inc's funding base is broadening — from 4 funders to 8 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin2% · below the median
Months of reserve1.0mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,337 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like Western New York Law Center 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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 14%Fundraising 0%

Governance

8
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

99%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Western New York Law Center 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.

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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 Western New York Law Center Inc?
Western New York Law Center Inc (New York) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,235,795 to it, the largest being NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES INC ($1,880,451). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Western New York Law Center Inc have?
IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $3,235,795 in grants to Western New York Law Center Inc, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Western New York Law Center Inc?
NEIGHBORHOOD LEGAL SERVICES INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,880,451 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Western New York Law Center 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 Western New York Law Center →

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 19 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