About District of Columbia Bar Foundation
To fund, support, and improve legal representation of people who are financially disenfranchised or who are otherwise underserved in the District of Columbia; to transform the civil legal aid network so all District residents have a fair and equal legal experience.
Focus Areas
Civil legal aidAccess to justiceHousing and eviction defenseLegal services for low-income and underserved residentsTraining and technical assistanceLoan repayment assistance for public interest attorneysCoordinated intake and referral systems
Who They Fund
underserved / low-income individuals and communitieslegal aid organizations and community legal clinicspublic interest legal practitioners
About District of Columbia Bar Foundation
The District of Columbia Bar Foundation backs civil legal help for District residents who are financially disenfranchised or otherwise underserved, with a clear emphasis on eviction defense, access to justice, and the network that delivers legal aid. Its recent grants show that this work is sustained at scale, with repeated awards to core DC legal service providers across multiple years. The Legal Aid Society of DC appears in both Access to Justice and Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program awards, including FY24 grants of $2,693,764 and $2,647,564. Neighborhood Legal Services Program is another recurring recipient, receiving more than one award under both program lines. Bread for the City also appears across years, reflecting support for organizations that combine direct legal services with broader community-facing work. The foundation’s grantmaking is not limited to one-off projects; it repeatedly funds the same organizations through annual cycles tied to defined program areas. That pattern fits a funder focused on maintaining legal representation, strengthening service capacity, and supporting coordinated delivery of civil legal aid for people in DC.
What District of Columbia Bar Foundation Funds
Eviction defense is a major thread in the foundation’s work. Through the Civil Legal Counsel Projects Program, it gave $2,647,564 to Legal Aid Society of DC for FY24 CLCPP GRANTS and $2,273,671 to Rising for Justice Inc for FY23 CLCPP GRANTS. It also supports housing-related access to justice through its Access to Justice Grants Program, including $2,693,764 to Legal Aid Society of DC for FY24 ATJ GRANTS and $859,627 to Washington Lawyers' Committee for FY24 ATJ GRANTS. Unrestricted operating support is part of the portfolio as well: the General Support Grants Program provides annual operating support to DC legal service providers. The foundation also funds workforce support through its Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which assists qualified legal aid attorneys working in the District.
How District of Columbia Bar Foundation Gives
Typical awards sit at $40,000 at the 25th percentile, $99,000 at the median, and $475,844 at the 75th percentile, while the recent grants list also shows much larger program awards in the seven-figure range. The pattern is recurring rather than one-off: the same DC legal service organizations appear in consecutive years and across multiple annual cycles. The foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it does not fund individuals. Its active programs include both restricted project support and unrestricted operating support, with unsolicited applications accepted in the listed programs.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$31.5M
Total Assets
$36.5M
Total Revenue
$44.5M
Total Expenses
$37.1M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $40K and $476K, with a median of $99K.
25th Percentile
$40K
Median
$99K
75th Percentile
$476K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
KIRRA JARRATT
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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