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Nonprofiteer
← DC BAR PRO BONO CENTER

Form 990 for tax year 2023

Filed by DC BAR PRO BONO CENTER.

Totals

Total revenue
$5,571,315
Total expenses
$5,476,140
Contributions and grants received
$5,272,631
Grants paid
$0
Program service revenue
$49,813
Investment income
$257,910
Other revenue
-$9,039
Total assets, end of year
$9,309,749
Total liabilities, end of year
$1,462,746
Net assets or fund balances, end of year
$7,847,003
Program services expenses (Part IX)
$4,132,431
Management and general expenses
$933,175
Fundraising expenses
$410,534
Program service expenses (Part III)
$4,132,429

Program services were 75.5% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

  • 1a · Federated campaigns

    $13,636

  • 1c · Fundraising events

    $950,821

  • 1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

    $4,308,174

  • 2a · Program service revenue: Other Fees & Services

    total $30,842 · related or exempt $30,842

  • 2b · Program service revenue: Admissions

    total $18,971 · related or exempt $18,971

  • 3 · Investment income

    total $80,993 · excluded $80,993

  • 7a · Gross sales of assets other than inventory

    securities $1,684,953

  • 7b · Less cost or other basis and sales expenses

    securities $1,508,036

  • 7c · Gain or loss

    securities $176,917

  • 7d · Net gain or loss

    total $176,917 · excluded $176,917

  • 8a · Fundraising events: gross income

    $65,094

  • 8a · Fundraising events: contributions included on line 1c

    $950,821

  • 8b · Fundraising events: direct expenses

    $74,133

  • 8c · Net income from fundraising events

    total -$9,039 · excluded -$9,039

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

  • 5 · Compensation of officers, directors and key employees

    total $1,134,432 · program services $874,951 · management and general $128,155 · fundraising $131,326

  • 7 · Other salaries and wages

    total $2,237,853 · program services $1,811,087 · management and general $337,021 · fundraising $89,745

  • 8 · Pension plan contributions

    total $224,664 · program services $181,947 · management and general $32,628 · fundraising $10,089

  • 9 · Other employee benefits

    total $409,497 · program services $325,177 · management and general $58,793 · fundraising $25,527

  • 10 · Payroll taxes

    total $273,410 · program services $217,904 · management and general $37,745 · fundraising $17,761

  • 11a · Fees: management

    total $88,059 · program services $86,936 · management and general $1,123

  • 13 · Office expenses

    total $82,763 · program services $23,861 · management and general $14,119 · fundraising $44,783

  • 14 · Information technology

    total $36,507 · program services $36,507

  • 15 · Royalties

    total $0 · program services $0 · management and general $0 · fundraising $0

  • 16 · Occupancy

    total $360,111 · program services $317,416 · management and general $22,420 · fundraising $20,275

  • 17 · Travel

    total $35,299 · program services $28,552 · management and general $5,906 · fundraising $841

  • 19 · Conferences, conventions and meetings

    total $30,941 · program services $22,686 · management and general $4,691 · fundraising $3,564

  • 24a · Other expenses: Food

    total $8,098 · program services $7,179 · management and general $919

  • 24b · Other expenses: Professional Fees

    total $161,442 · program services $34,771 · management and general $81,566 · fundraising $45,105

  • 24c · Other expenses: Other Fees, Admin Allocation

    total $329,933 · program services $156,191 · management and general $152,224 · fundraising $21,518

  • 24e · All other expenses

    total $63,131 · program services $7,266 · management and general $55,865 · fundraising $0

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

  • 1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

    beginning of year $137,038 · end of year $135,737

  • 3 · Pledges and grants receivable

    beginning of year $168,436 · end of year $152,790

  • 4 · Accounts receivable

    beginning of year $3,546,127 · end of year $2,029,510

  • 9 · Prepaid expenses and deferred charges

    beginning of year $3,500 · end of year $10,572

  • 10a · Land, buildings and equipment: cost or other basis

    $43,012

  • 10b · Land, buildings and equipment: accumulated depreciation

    $43,012

  • 11 · Investments: publicly traded securities

    beginning of year $3,426,965 · end of year $5,764,544

  • 12 · Investments: other securities

    beginning of year $1,187,867 · end of year $1,216,596

  • 17 · Accounts payable and accrued expenses

    beginning of year $401,491 · end of year $496,287

  • 19 · Deferred revenue

    beginning of year $831,621 · end of year $966,459

  • 27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

    beginning of year $5,715,117 · end of year $6,258,897

  • 28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

    beginning of year $1,521,704 · end of year $1,588,106

Mission and programs · 2023

Mission

The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center provides free legal services through pro bono lawyers to low-income individuals, nonprofit organizations and small businesses primarily in the District of Columbia. The Pro Bono Center also recruits and trains lawyers and law firms to provide business and transactional legal services to community-based non-profit organizations and small, disadvantaged businesses.

  • Legal Assistance for Low-Income Individuals: The D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center recruits, trains, and supports volunteer lawyers who provide legal information, advice, and/or representation in housing, family law, public benefits, personal injury defense, bankruptcy, employment, immigration, future planning and probate, and consumer law matters. In FY24, the Center provided ongoing full representation to 220 new clients on civil legal matters and same-day representation to 267 litigants in the Landlord Tenant Branch of D.C. Superior Court through its eviction defense program. The Center also provided legal advice and referrals at community-based clinics where 706 individuals received legal assistance on a range of civil legal issues and an additional 486 individuals received assistance on immigration matters. Through the Landlord Tenant Legal Assistance Network, the Center assisted an additional 2,430 individuals with housing matters; and through the Family Law Assistance Network, the Center assisted 407 individuals in Superior Court domestic relations proceedings. Finally, the Center maintains Superior Court-based resource centers to serve pro se litigants in landlord-tenant matters. In FY24, these centers served 1,494 people.

    Expenses $743,366 · Revenue $4,500

  • Nonprofit and Small Business (NPSB) Legal Assistance Programs: The NPSB Programs provide brief legal advice, legal training, and match nonprofit organizations and small business owners with pro bono counsel to meet their transactional and business law needs. In FY24, NPSB matched 24 nonprofits with ongoing pro bono counsel and provided 447 nonprofits with one-on-one brief advice via legal clinics and weekly "Office Hours" consultations. NPSB additionally served 658 small business owners throughout the year via its small business brief advice legal clinics. Finally, NPSB provided legal training to 1,893 nonprofit and small business representatives, and to the volunteer attorneys that assist them, on relevant business law topics.

    Expenses $647,085 · Revenue $7,325

  • Online and Other Projects: In FY24, the Pro Bono Center provided digital services that included LawHelp.org/DC, a website that provides legal and referral information to the general public; the Legal Information Help Line, which provides recorded legal information 24 hours a day in multiple languages; and Probono.net/dc, a free online resource for pro bono lawyers and legal services attorneys with more than 11,000 registered users. In FY24, there were over 1 million page views on LawHelp.org/DC and the Help Line answered more than 15,000 calls and emails.

    Expenses $649,134

As filed on the 2023 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

  • Robert Spagnoletti

    Executive Vice President

    Total calculated
    $575,448
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $488,222
    Other
    $87,226
    Hours/week
    3 + 32 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $0 + $485,237 related
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0 + $2,985 related
    Deferred
    $0 + $55,343 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $0 + $31,883 related
    Filer's total
    $0 + $575,448 related
  • Kelli Neptune

    Executive Director

    Total calculated
    $276,511
    From this org
    $219,958
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $56,553
    Hours/week
    35

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $218,992
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    $966
    Deferred
    $26,156
    Nontaxable benefits
    $30,397
    Filer's total
    $276,511
  • Darryl Maxwell

    Director

    Total calculated
    $232,094
    From this org
    $187,241
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $44,853
    Hours/week
    35

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $186,611
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    $630
    Deferred
    $21,528
    Nontaxable benefits
    $23,326
    Filer's total
    $232,095
  • Angela Boone

    Director

    Total calculated
    $174,462
    From this org
    $146,667
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $27,795
    Hours/week
    35

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $144,861
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    $1,806
    Deferred
    $14,981
    Nontaxable benefits
    $12,813
    Filer's total
    $174,461
  • Gabriella Lewis-White

    Director

    Total calculated
    $174,311
    From this org
    $142,250
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $32,061
    Hours/week
    35

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $141,883
    Bonus
    not reported
    Other
    $367
    Deferred
    $14,920
    Nontaxable benefits
    $17,140
    Filer's total
    $174,310
  • Jason Qu

    Senior Managing Attorney

    Total calculated
    $154,654
    From this org
    $138,565
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $16,089
    Hours/week
    35
  • Adrian Gottshall

    Director

    Total calculated
    $177,088
    From this org
    $132,610
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $44,478
    Hours/week
    35
  • Charles Lowery Jr

    President

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    3 + 10 related
  • Shaun Snyder

    President-Elect

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 5 related
  • Alicia Long

    Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 1.5 related
  • Mark Salzberg

    Treasurer-Elect

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 1.5 related
  • Lukman Azeez

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Rebecca Cady

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Patrick English

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Brian Flowers

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Elizabeth Gere

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Janene Jackson

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Ellen Jakovic

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Natalie Koss

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Andrea Mangones

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Fatema Merchant

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Steven Miller

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Roger Lu Phillips

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Ramya Ravindran

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Diane Seltzer

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Courtney Weiner

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related
  • Karen Newton Cole

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    0.3 + 0.75 related

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

None.

Answered no

  • 4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
  • 4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan
  • 4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement
  • 5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
  • 5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
  • 6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
  • 6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
  • 7 · Other non-fixed payments
  • 8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

The filer's explanations (Part III)

Part 1, Line 3
Establishment of compensation: All compensation is determined and paid by the District of Columbia Bar ("D.C. BAR"), a related section 115 organization that acts as the payroll agent for the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center. The D.C. Bar uses the following methods to establish the compensation of the Pro Bono Center's CEO/Executive Director: Compensation survey/study, independent compensation consultant, Form 990 of other organizations, and in consultation with the Board and/or Compensation Committee.

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

No itemized grants to organizations on this return.

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

  • District of Columbia Bar EIN

    115 · Mandatory Bar · DC

Provenance

Return type
form_990
Tax year
2023
Filed
15 May 2025
IRS schema version
2023v6.0
Source object
202521359349304717

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