The IOLTA Grants Program funds nonprofit organizations in Massachusetts that provide civil legal services to low-income clients or improve the administration of justice.
Donor Name: Massachusetts Bar Foundation
State: Massachusetts
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/21/2025
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
These grants support the delivery of critical legal assistance to individuals and families working to overcome great obstacles related to housing instability, domestic violence, immigration, education access, health care access, economic insecurity, and more.
2025/2026 Statement of IOLTA Grant Funding Priorities
- Civil Legal Services to Low-Income Clients
- Programs that provide direct representation by attorneys (and 3:03 certified law students) to indigent clients in Massachusetts, including individuals and families from underserved communities, on civil legal matters relating to basic subsistence needs and access to the legal system. Strong pro bono involvement can strengthen these programs, although Trustees recognize that some legal services functions are difficult to direct to pro bono attorneys
- Programs that provide legal consultation and advice by attorneys (and 3:03 certified law students)
- Programs that provide assistance by paralegals and certified (SAFEPLAN or Board of Immigration Appeals) advocates, supervised by attorneys
- Administration of Justice
- Programs that provide independent judicial education
- Programs that directly impact the courts’ effectiveness, for example: mediation and conciliation programs that settle cases, consequently removing existing cases from court dockets
- Programs that address systemic problems in the Massachusetts court system and include a demonstrated interface with the courts, (for example, a lawyer for the day program that can help ease the strain pro se litigants place on the courts.)
- Programs that provide legal information and advice by non-attorney/non-legal professional advocates who are supervised by attorneys
- Training or educational programs that serve as a leveraging tool for pro bono resources. Competitive training programs will not only provide legal education to attorneys, paralegals, and other legal professionals serving low-income clients in particularly complicated and/or underserved areas of the law, but also include a mechanism to involve the newly trained legal professionals in the provision of related pro bono services for the agency at which they received the legal education or training.
Funding Information
For the 2025/2026 grant cycle, the MBF expects to make grant awards in the range of $6 million.
Grant Period
Grants are awarded for one year only from September 1 through August 31.
Eligibility Criteria
- The MBF awards IOLTA grants only to Massachusetts organizations. No funding is available for individuals. Priority is given to 501(c)(3) organizations, although other nonprofit organizations with charitable programs that fit the MBF’s guidelines may also receive funding
- Typically, grants are awarded to legal service and law-related agencies, as well as to various nonprofit organizations across the state. In rare cases, public agencies, established by governmental entities under statutory authorization, may receive funding for pilot programs that will ultimately receive public funding. No other type of entity is eligible for funding
- Please be advised that by Supreme Judicial Court rule, the MBF cannot support any social service components of an applicant’s proposed program. In addition, please note that the MBF’s Trustees are sensitive to the unlicensed practice of law or the appearance thereof. Funding requests for nonattorney positions must include detailed information regarding direct attorney supervision of those positions
- MBF funds may not be used for fundraising activities related to political, endowment, scholarship, and capital campaigns.
For more information, visit MBF.
