Grants to USA nonprofit organizations to provide legal services to underrepresented communities. Funding is intended to increase the capabilities of nonprofit groups to address the need for improvement in the provision of legal services to underserved communities and thereby help break the cycle of poverty.
The Foundation primarily funds in California. National organizations may apply for grants for the following types of programs:
Programs that support increased Access to Justice
Leadership development programs
Hubs and “think tank” programs for civil legal aid
General Grantee Eligibility
All potential grantees must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or a public entity.
Grant Eligibility By Budget Size:
Type of Organization:
• Legal Services Organizations with Operating Budget Under $1M: LSOs with operating budgets less than $1M are welcome to request general operating support. In most cases, they are not eligible to receive program/project support.
• Legal Services Organizations with Operating Budgets Between $1M-$5M: LSOs with operating budgets between $1M and $5M are encouraged to request general operating support. They may request programmatic support, provided they explain the rationale for doing so. For example, an organization may opt to request a program/project grant for initiatives they wish to pilot, for capital projects, or as part of a funding initiative.
• Legal Services Organizations with Operating Budgets Over $5M: LSOs with operating budgets over $5M are welcome to request support for new/pilot programs or for existing programs with limited funding opportunities (e.g., inter-sectional work, impact litigation, research). These organizations are not eligible to receive funding for general operating support.
• Legal Service Programs Within Social Service Organizations or Law Schools With $5M+ Operating Budgets: As an exception to the above, legal service programs embedded within organizations with $5M+ budgets are eligible to request general operating support for the legal services program. Note that the Foundation does not fund CBOs that do not have a legal department and/or attorneys on staff.
Grant Eligibility by Fiscal Year
• The inclusion of an organization's current financial documents (990, audited financials, etc) is a required component of the grant application. In an effort to ensure organizations are able to meet this requirement, the Foundation has constructed the following guidelines:
• Legal Services Organizations with January-December Fiscal Year: LSOs operating under a Jan-Dec fiscal year are encouraged to request support in the Fall grant cycle.
• Legal Services Organizations with June-July Fiscal Year: LSOs operating under a June-July fiscal year are encouraged to request support in the Spring grant cycle.
• If you operate under an alternate fiscal year, are requesting support for a program where the above guidelines directly conflict with the funding needs of the program (e.g. need to secure funds in spring to launch summer program), or have questions regarding this requirement, please contact the staff.
Ineligible
BFF does not fund individuals, direct scholarships, or capital campaigns.
BFF will not support organizations that discriminate against a person or group on the basis of age, political affiliation, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation or religious belief.
Pre-Application Information
Deadlines:
BFF has two grant cycles per year, one in the spring and one in the fall. Important deadlines are as follows:
Fall 2025:
LOI submission window: April 7, 2025 - May 5, 2025
Application window opens: May 19, 2025
All materials must be received by June 26, 2025
Decision notification: September 2025
Spring 2026:
LOI submission window: October 27, 2025 - November 24, 2025
Application window opens: December 8, 2025
All materials must be received by January 26, 2026
Decision notification: March 2026
Process:
An invitation is required to submit a grant application.
Grant applications will be reviewed at the conclusion of each open submission period. Once reviewed, the Foundation will email the contact person identified in the application regarding next steps. Grant applications will be submitted through the online grantee portal
Most of the legal services grants are in the $10,000-30,000 range. A small number of grants exceed this amount.
Indirect Costs for Program Grants: It is the policy of the Foundation to provide a maximum indirect cost recovery of 25 percent of project costs on all project grants. This indirect cost policy applies only to project grants to nonprofit organizations with organizational budgets in excess of $5M. Organizations with budgets less than $5M will be handled on a case-by-case basis
