The National Lawyers Guild Foundation is an affiliate of the National Lawyers Guild, a radical-left nonprofit association of attorneys, law students, legal workers, and jailhouse lawyers. Its primary purpose is to provide funding to the National Lawyers Guild’s national office and local chapters, as well as to provide fiscal sponsorship services.
Purpose and Programs
The National Lawyers Guild Foundation (NLG Foundation) is a nonprofit affiliated with the radical-left National Lawyers Guild. One of its primary roles is to make grants to the National Lawyers Guild’s national office, as well as to local Guild chapters and associated organizations. 1
The NLG Foundation operates the Guild Grants program, which “provides small grants to NLG chapters, committees, and projects to promote membership, strengthen programmatic work, and enhance coordination within the Guild.” 2 As of 2021, the maximum grant amount under this program was $7,500. 3
The NLG Foundation also provides fiscal sponsorship services to National Lawyers Guild chapters that do not have their own 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and to other associated organizations. According to the National Lawyers Guild’s website, current or former fiscally-sponsored projects of the NLG Foundation include: 1
- National Lawyers Guild New York City Chapter
- National Lawyers Guild Chicago
- National Lawyers Guild Detroit and Michigan Chapter
- National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles
- Portland National Lawyers Guild
- National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area
- Committee to Stop FBI Repression
- Lynne Stewart Defense Committee
- Committee to Save Mumia Abu-Jamal
- Military Law Task Force of the National Lawyers Guild
- Water Protector Legal Collective
Leadership
The National Lawyers Guild Foundation is governed by a board of directors that includes among its members the president, treasurer, and executive director of the National Lawyers Guild. 1
Bruce Nestor is president of the NLG Foundation. He is an attorney at the law firm of De Leon, Nestor & Torres, specializing in criminal defense and immigration matters. He served as president of the National Lawyers Guild from 2000 to 2003, and is also a former president of the Guild’s Minnesota chapter. He also formerly worked for the Legal Services Corporation of Iowa. 4
Financials
In 2023, the NLG Foundation reported total revenue of $1,085,452 and net assets of $4,671,815, while paying out $807,727 in grants.5 In 2022, it reported $655,517 in total revenue and $4,370,227 in net assets, while paying out $724,152 in grants.6 In 2021, it reported $1,100,197 in total revenue and $5,032,845 in net assets, while paying out $1,063,650 in grants.7 In 2020, it reported $2,881,959 in total revenue and $5,057,849 in net assets, while paying out $2,450,116 in grants.8
In 2019, the NLG Foundation reported total revenue of $726,899 and net assets of $4,468,568, while paying out $909,916 in grants. 9 In 2018, it reported total revenue of $2,513,776 and net assets of $4,485,887, while paying out $998,618 in grants. 10
From 2020 through 2023, the NLG Foundation made a total of $2,723,023 in grants to the National Lawyers Guild‘s national office. During that same period it made a total of $1,664,768 in grants to the Water Protector Legal Collective.11
From 2016 through 2019, the NLG Foundation made a total of $1,264,976 in grants to the National Lawyers Guild’s national office, and a total of $2,039,147 to the Water Protector Legal Collective. During that same period, it gave $95,799 to the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles, $2,666,675 to the National Lawyers Guild New York City Chapter (including $2,622,913 worth of securities transferred to the chapter’s 501(c)(3) affiliate), and $110,520 to the National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area. 12
Organizations that have provided funding to the NLG Foundation include the Tides Foundation ($1,230,500 from 2018-2021), the Entertainment Industry Foundation ($500,000 in 2020), the NoVo Foundation ($400,000 from 2022-2023), the American Online Giving Foundation ($381,467 from 2020-2024), Donor Advised Charitable Giving ($204,950 from 2020-2024), the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund ($183,215 from 2020-2023), the CS Fund ($125,000 from 2020-2024), and the Amalgamated Charitable Foundation ($111,900 from 2021-2023). Greater Horizons gave the NLG Foundation $2,935,163 from 2017-2018.13
References
- “National Lawyers Guild Foundation.” National Lawyers Guild. Accessed February 18, 2022. Available at: https://www.nlg.org/nlgf/
- “National Lawyers Guild 2020 Annual Report.” National Lawyers Guild. August 18, 2021. Available at: https://www.nlg.org/2020-annual-report/
- “NLGF 2021 Guild Grants Program.” National Lawyers Guild. Accessed February 18, 2022. Available at: https://www.nlg.org/nlgf/grants/
- “Bruce D. Nestor.” De Leon, Nestor & Torres. Accessed February 18, 2022. Available at: https://denestlaw.com/attorneys/bruce-d-nestor/
- Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). National Lawyers Guild Foundation Inc. 2023.
- Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). National Lawyers Guild Foundation Inc. 2022.
- Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). National Lawyers Guild Foundation Inc. 2021.
- Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). National Lawyers Guild Foundation Inc. 2020.
- Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). National Lawyers Guild Foundation Inc. 2019.
- Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). National Lawyers Guild Foundation Inc. 2018.
- Author’s calculations based on National Lawyers Guild Foundation IRS Form 990 filings from 2020-2023.
- Author’s calculations based on National Lawyers Guild Foundation IRS Form 990 filings from 2016-2019.
- Author’s calculations based on respective IRS Form 990 filings.