The New York Bar Foundation Grant program

The New York Bar Foundation solicits charitable contributions and provides funding to enhance the rule of law and the system of justice in New York. Grants are awarded in these four areas:

• Facilitating the delivery of legal services
• Improving the justice system and the law
• Enhancing professional competence and ethics
• Increasing public understanding of the law

The rule of law is a powerful concept that can bring people together in these fractious times. The basic idea is that governments guided by the Rule of Law provide a level playing field, evenhandedly applying a well-publicized set of laws, allowing fundamental rights to flourish, and providing other preconditions for justice to be done. The board of directors of the Foundation set a goal to improve rule of law adherence in New York State and sought to measure progress toward that goal. The board determined to focus on improving access to civil justice, an area of significant concern and need. 

In keeping with our Rule of Law theme, the Foundation’s grant making in the coming year prioritizes funding for civil legal services programs assisting with the essentials of life, namely:  

• child support;
• consumer debt;
• housing (including evictions, foreclosures, and homelessness);
• family matters (including domestic violence, children, and family stability);
• access to health care; access to education;  and,
• subsistence income (including wages, disability and other benefits).

Since the Foundation is one of few organizations that make law-related grants across the state, some of its grant making can be targeted specifically to the needs that have been identified locality by locality. For example: In Albany County: guardianship cases related to parents battling drug addiction; contested divorces; housing (landlord/tenant and foreclosure); immigration; access to public assistance; other drug addiction-related legal problems; and elder law. In Queens County: housing; family law; immigration. In Suffolk County: family law (divorce cases, post-judgment divorce issues, child support); immigration (deportation defense, citizen applications, education, and eviction); re-entry (for veterans/service members and formerly incarcerated individuals). The Foundation is also determined to reach rural areas of the state. It will also fund programs providing legal assistance for non-litigation civil matters related to housing, family law, immigration, and income maintenance. By better serving under-served people in these areas, we reinforce the rule of law as a unifying cornerstone of our democracy, improving individual lives as well as the health of the body politic. 

In an effort to streamline our process, we’ve migrated to an on-line system, offering you the opportunity to draft, save and submit your application at your convenience. Our system allows you to upload the documents that are necessary to submit your application with ease. All you need to do is create an account for your organization, and apply!

2021 Grant Applications will be accepted August 10 through October 15, 2020.  The deadline to submit an application for a grant to be used during 2021 is October 15, 2020.

** Please note, no paper applications will be accepted.

IMPORTANT LINKS

• The grant application is available here.
• Guidelines are available here.

Your gift matters.

Your gifts to The New York Bar Foundation make an important difference in helping to support charitable and educational law-related endeavors throughout New York State. Charitable contributions to The New York Bar Foundation are tax deductible, as allowed by law. Listed below are some of the ways that you can give:

Click here to make a credit card donation online.

GIFTS OF CASH
A gift of cash is the easiest way to give to The Foundation. Make your check payable to THE NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION and mail to:

The New York Bar Foundation
 One Elk Street
 Albany, NY 12207

Or call Foundation headquarters at 518/487-5651 to give your gift through your credit card. You may give an unrestricted gift to be used for general purposes or you may direct your gift to one or more of our Restricted Funds. Please click here to go to our Restricted Funds page for further information.

Charitable contributions of cash are fully income tax deductible up to a maximum of 50% of your annual adjusted gross income, with a five-year carryover of any unused deduction.

Learn more about Planned Giving here.

WHEN RENEWING YOUR NEW YORK STATE BAR ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP
The New York Bar Foundation is grateful to those members of the New York State Bar Association who contribute to The Foundation by including their gift when paying annual membership dues. All members of the New York State Bar Association are encouraged to include a charitable contribution to The Foundation when paying your membership renewal dues each year. Your voluntary tax-deductible charitable contributions help The Foundation to award grants throughout New York State to fund charitable and educational law-related programs that facilitate the delivery of legal services, improve the justice system and the law, increase public understanding of the law, and enhance professional competence and ethics.

IN MEMORY OF A LOVED ONE OR COLLEAGUE

You can give a charitable contribution to The New York Bar Foundation as a fitting and lasting tribute to a deceased loved one or colleague. The family of the deceased will receive an acknowledgement of your gift, although the amount of your contribution will not be specified. 

All lawyers, in whose name contributions are made, will be listed in a Foundation Memorial Book maintained at the New York State Bar Center in Albany. In addition, the names of deceased members, in whose memory bequests or contributions in the amount of $1,000 or more are made, will be permanently inscribed on a bronze plaque mounted in Memorial Hall facing the lovely courtyard at the Bar Center. 

Such gifts will also be acknowledged in the Foundation’s Annual Report.  

TO HONOR A LOVED ONE OR COLLEAGUE
Upcoming Birthday?  Graduation?  Wedding?  Firm Anniversary?

Oftentimes there are occasions when you would like to do “something special” to celebrate a special occasion for a loved one or colleague. Making a contribution to The New York Bar Foundation in honor of a friend, colleague or loved one on a special occasion is a fitting way to acknowledge the occasion and to support law-related charitable and educational programs. Examples of such occasions might include: the anniversary of a firm, the promotion of a colleague, receiving a special professional honor or passing the bar exam.

The honoree will receive an acknowledgement of your gift, although the amount of your contribution will not be specified. In addition, such gifts will be acknowledged in The Foundation’s Annual Report.  

THROUGH CORPORATE OR FIRM MATCHING GIFTS  

Corporate or Firm Matching Gifts are an important way for you to maximize personal contributions to The New York Bar Foundation and will increase the impact of your gift. By taking advantage of a company’s Matching Gift Program, you may be able to double or even triple the amount of your contribution. 

How to get your gift matched 
 Each company has its own guidelines for employees, spouses and retirees but most Matching Gift procedures are very simple and usually include the following steps:

1.Request a Matching Gift Program form from the Human Resources Department or other appropriate department at your company or firm.

2.Complete and submit the form to The New York Bar Foundation along with your gift. 
3.The Foundation verifies your gift and sends the form to the proper institution. 
4.The institution issues a Matching Gift contribution to The New York Bar Foundation.

Completed forms should be sent with your check to:
The New York Bar Foundation 
 One Elk Street
 Albany, NY 12207 
 

When attorneys participate in The Foundation's philanthropic programs, we all play a key role in ultimately having a significant impact on life in New York State.

The New York Bar Foundation is a philanthropic organization that provides financial support to law-related programs, scholarships and educational activities throughout New York State.

For its current three-year strategic plan, launched in June 2018 to coincide with the term of its incoming president, Lesley Rosenthal, the Foundation selected the Rule of Law as its guiding theme.

The rule of law is a powerful concept that can bring people together in these fractious times.  The basic idea is that governments guided by the Rule of Law provide a level playing field, evenhandedly applying a well-publicized set of laws, allowing fundamental rights to flourish, and providing other preconditions for justice to be done.

As part of its planning process, the board of directors of the Foundation set a goal to improve rule of law adherence in New York State and sought to measure progress toward that goal.  The board determined to focus on improving access to civil justice, an area of significant concern and need, according to the World Justice Project’s Rule of Law Index. The Foundation determined to locate and refer to data gathered in the state to help guide its path.  By better understanding the most urgent unmet civil legal needs, the Foundation could apply its resources where they would do the greatest good. 

In 2010, then-Chief Judge Jonathan Lippmann established the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services in New York, since renamed the Permanent Commission on Access to Justice. The Commission aims to help ensure low-income New Yorkers access to legal representation in civil matters, in part by evaluating the needs of New Yorkers throughout all four Judiciary Departments of the state.  Heeding the various studies, court data, and listening sessions compiled and analyzed by the Permanent Commission, the Foundation’s grantmaking can prioritizing funding for legal services programs assisting with the essentials of life, namely:

• child support;
• consumer debt;
• housing (including evictions, foreclosures, and homelessness);
• family matters (including domestic violence, children, and family stability);
• access to health care;
• access to education; and
• subsistence income (including wages, disability and other benefits).

Beyond the scope of the Commission’s focus, the Foundation is also determined to reach rural areas not included in the Commission’s community listening sessions, as well as non-litigation civil matters. For its 2017 fiscal year, IOLA reported that its grantees addressing such matters most frequently closed cases related to housing, family law, immigration, and income maintenance.

By concentrating on the essentials of life for which the vast majority of New Yorkers are still without representation, the Foundation can maximize its impact, helping make access to justice a reality for all New Yorkers and, thereby, enhancing understanding of and respect for the rule of law.

Click here to view the Rule of Law Report