Grant Criteria

Grants are made for the sole purpose of paying for litigation costs, including attorney time charges and litigation related expenses.

  • 1. Addresses a social justice issue consistent with the Center’s issue areas of interest.

    2. Significantly improves the well-being, social conditions, and/or civil liberties of disadvantaged persons and/or groups in the United States.

    3. Establishes a legal precedent of significant importance to social justice.

  • In addition to evaluating if the proposed case meets the three factors in “an ideal case for our funding,” the Center also considers the following in our assessment:

    1 . The applicant organization has a strong history of litigating high-impact social justice cases.

    2. The applicant organization has a demonstrated need for a grant from the Center, whether or not the applicant organization has or plans to have a litigation partner(s) for the case.

    3. If the applicant organization is receiving support from a law firm(s) or another social justice organization(s) in litigating the proposed case, the applicant organization’s partner(s) have a strong history of litigating high-impact cases.

    Click here to read the Scoring Criteria the Center uses in evaluating the Letters of Intent and Grant Applications.

Applications must be for a specific social justice legal case, including the filing of an appeal. Grant funds are to be used only for attorney time charges and litigation expenses related to the specific case for which an organization is applying to be funded. 

Further basic requirements, including the two-step application process, are outlined here.

The Center funds litigation matters that are consistent with our namesake Barbara McDowell’s past legal efforts and her beliefs regarding social justice. Read more about an ideal case for our funding and factors considered in our assessment, below.  

Questions on the grant process?