Legal Foundation of Washington
Seattle, WA · EIN 91-1263533. Reported 170 grants totalling $82.9M to 79 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Legal Foundation of Washington, the IRS classifies it under crime & legal rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE I00J) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 79 distinct organizations, with 26% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 64% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is about the 57% median for grantmaking charities -- noticeably lower than the 67% private foundations manage. Organizations like this one rotate more of their list each year, which is where an opening for a newcomer tends to be.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $84,967. Half of what it reported fell between $40,000 and $360,000; the smallest was $7,163 and the largest $20.9M. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Work Center | Seattle, WA | $21.4M | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Columbia Legal Services | Seattle, WA | $18.0M | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Northwest Immigrant Rights Project | Seattle, WA | $6,669,999 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Teamchild | Seattle, WA | $2,850,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| King County Bar Foundation | Seattle, WA | $2,776,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association | Tacoma, WA | $2,325,417 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Benefits Law Center | Seattle, WA | $2,129,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Unemployment Law Project | Seattle, WA | $2,050,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Yakima County Volunteer Attorney | Yakima, WA | $1,422,737 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Northwest Justice Project | Seattle, WA | $1,400,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Skagit Legal Aid | Mount Vernon, WA | $1,351,999 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Eastside Legal Assistance Program | Bellevue, WA | $1,166,805 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Solid Ground Washington | Seattle, WA | $1,120,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Snohomish County Legal Services | Everett, WA | $1,053,443 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Law Advocates | Bellingham, WA | $936,965 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Chelan-Douglas County Volunteer Attorney Services | Wenatchee, WA | $882,944 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program | Vancouver, WA | $880,365 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sound Legal Aid | Olympia, WA | $832,955 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Legal Counsel for Youth and Children | Seattle, WA | $795,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Inland Empire Legal Aid | Spokane, WA | $771,146 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Tulalip Foundation | Quil Ceda Vlg, WA | $750,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Sage Indigenous Law Center | Spokane, WA | $675,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Washington State Native American Coalition Against Domestic | Sequim, WA | $675,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Communities Rise | Seattle, WA | $660,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Kitsap Legal Services | Bremerton, WA | $638,538 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Port Gamble S'klallam Tribe | Kingston, WA | $600,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Seattle Clemency Project | Kent, WA | $570,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Timberland Legal Aid | Longview, WA | $487,118 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Clallam County Pro Bono Lawyers | Port Angeles, WA | $482,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Lavender Rights Project | Seattle, WA | $460,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Benton-Franklin Legal Aid Society | Kennewick, WA | $459,581 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Way to Justice | Spokane, WA | $430,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Blue Mountain Action Council Inc | Walla Walla, WA | $406,184 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Colectiva Legal Del Pueblo | Burien, WA | $398,133 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Qlaw Foundation of Washington | Spokane, WA | $385,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Skokomish Indian Tribe | Skokomish, WA | $375,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Scholar Fund | Seattle, WA | $364,699 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation | Nespelem, WA | $340,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ufw Foundation | Los Angeles, CA | $210,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Center | Santa Fe, NM | $203,254 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Global Rights Advocacy | Seattle, WA | $200,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Catholic Community Services of Western Washington | Seattle, WA | $193,152 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Latino Community Fund of Washingtonstate | Seattle, WA | $175,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Disability Rights Washington | Seattle, WA | $145,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Manzanita House | Spokane, WA | $110,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Civil Survival Project | Seattle, WA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| National Association for the Advancement of Colored People | Baltimore, MD | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Our Sisters House | Tacoma, WA | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Tenants Union of Washington | Seattle, WA | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Carl Maxey Center | Spokane, WA | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Kind Inc | Washington, DC | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Northwest Consumer Law Center | Seattle, WA | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Church of the Brethren | Elgin, IL | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Northwest Health Law Advocates | Seattle, WA | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Central Washington Justice for Our Neighbors | Ellensburg, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Council on American-Islamic Relations of Washington State | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Institute for Black Justice | Tacoma, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Latinos En Spokane | Spokane, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mi Centro | Tacoma, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mi Chiantla | Olympia, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mockingbird Society | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pacific County Immigrant Support | Long Beach, WA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Rvc Seattle | Seattle, WA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| El Centro De La Raza | Seattle, WA | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Choose 180 | Burien, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ecologistics Inc | Los Osos, CA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Freedom Project | Renton, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mia Spokane | Spokane, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nuestra CASA | Sunnyside, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Unidos Nueva Alianza Foundation | Ephrata, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Washington Low Income Housing Alliance | Seattle, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Washington State Bar Foundation | Seattle, WA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Colectiva Legal Del Pueblo | Burien, WA | $38,273 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Entre Hermanos | Seattle, WA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| La CASA Hogar | Yakima, WA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Corporation of Gonzaga University | Spokane, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Korean Womens Association | Lakewood, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Washington St Atty Gen | Olympia, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sexual Violence Law Center | Seattle, WA | $7,163 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
46 of 79 (58%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Columbia Legal Services
CIVIL LEGAL SERVICES FOR LOW INCOME PEOPLE
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 65 of 79 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 45 | $43.1M | $236,645 |
| 2022 | 42 | $3,172,642 | $42,262 |
| 2023 | 47 | $29.4M | $296,000 |
| 2024 | 36 | $7,176,682 | $60,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
99% of its giving went to organizations in Washington. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $84,967 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Washington.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Legal Foundation of Washington's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 46 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 1 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 500 Union Street 1025, Seattle, WA, 98101.
EIN 91-1263533 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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