Legal Services: I & R Grants; Sector Support Grants

Legal Services: I & R Grants; Sector Support Grants is sponsored by Bigglesworth Family Foundation. Funds legal services organizations providing direct legal assistance and sector support to underserved communities, with eligibility tied to organizational budget size.

Legal Service Application Process | bigglesworth Grant Application Process | Legal Services As a small foundation, we strive to ensure that our funds are allocated in a manner that is “right sized”. As a result, we have developed the following set of criteria with regards to types of applicants, geography and sector impact .

General Grantee Eligibility: All potential grantees must be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or a public entity. 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.

Grant Eligibility By Budget Size: 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 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, we do 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 our grant application.

In an effort to ensure organizations are able to meet this requirement, we've 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 our Fall grant cycle.

Legal Services Organizations with July-June Fiscal Year: LSOs operating under a July-June fiscal year are encourage to request support in our 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 us. BFF does not fund individuals, direct scholarships or capital campaigns.

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 handeled on a case-by-case basis.

Geographical Limitations: We primarily fund 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 Most of our legal services grants are in the $10,000-30,000 range. A small number of grants exceed this amount.

BFF has two grant cycles per year, one in the spring and one in the fall.

Important deadlines are as follows: 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 LOI submission window: April 6, 2026 - May 7, 2026 Application window opens: May 18, 2026 All materials must be received by June 26, 2026 Decision notification: October 2026 LOI submission window: October 26, 2026 - November 23, 2026 Application window opens: December 7, 2026 All materials must be received by January 25, 2027 Decision notification: March 2027 Self-reports for grants awarded in Spring 2025 are due November 10, 2025 Self-reports for grants awarded in Fall 2025 are due April 24, 2026 Self-reports for grants awarded in Spring 2026 are due November 9, 2026 Self-reports for grants awarded in Fall 2026 are due April 19, 2027 Grant Types: Legal Services General Operating Support Grants Grants for general operations are generally made to legal services organizations who provide unique services within their communities.

This includes funding to legal service providers who are based in “legal deserts”. General Operating Support Grants Our I & R Grants target projects and programs that are both innovative and replicable. We support these grants to allow legal services leaders to test models that have the potential to help their individual organizations and when replicated, to help their peer organizations.

This includes, but is not limited to strategy-focused projects designed to enhance the effectiveness of an organization to answer questions posed by either the organization or by the legal services sector. 'Hubs', Recruitment & Retention and Advocacy " Hubs ": Organizations that do not generally provide direct legal services programs, but provide technical assistance and substantive back-up to the direct services programs.

They provide support service to legal services offices in the following areas: training, technical assistance, research and advocacy. Examples include: Recruitment & Retention Grants: In an effort to support the legal services sector and ensure a strong and consistent pipeline of new legal services staff, we support grants that focus on recruitment & retention of legal services professionals.

Examples of such grants include: Public Services Loan Forgiveness Programs Loan Assistance Repayment Programs Advocacy Grants : We fund advocacy work that supports to the legal service sector. However, do not fund lobbying efforts on new laws, legislation or for candidates. 'Hubs', Recruitment & Retention and Advocacy 3.

Submit Letter of Inquiry Access grants seek to strengthen an organization's ability to efficiently deliver services to clients. Ranging from $1,000-$3,500, these grants facilitate access to existing tools that might otherwise might be out the organization's financial reach, that have a direct benefit to the organization or the clients they serve.

In an effort to be responsive to the needs of our grantees, OD Access Grants are reviewed within 30 days of the date the application is submitted. To learn more about these grants and apply, please visit the Access Grant area of our site. Letter of Inquiry for Legal Services Once you've reviewed the type of grants we provide and their guidelines, we invite you to submit a Letter of Inquiry.

LOIs are required for all organizations seeking support in a given cyle, including organizations funded in a previous cycle. LOIs will be reviewed at the conclusion of each open submission period. Once reviewed, feedback will be provided and invitations to submit complete grant applications will be sent, if applicable.

Grant Application for Legal Services An invitation is required to submit a grant application. ​​ ​ ​ ​ Grant applications will be reviewed at the conclusion of each open submission period. Once reviewed, we will email the contact person identified in the application regarding next steps.

Grant applications will be submitted through our online grantee portal. If approved for funding, within 6-8 months of the grant's distribution, you will be required to submit a report on the status of the funded project or the impact general operating support has had on your organization's work. ​​