Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Aug 1996.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
88 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Who runs it and what they're paid
14 people listed on the 990; $1.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Lisa Schreibersdorf’s $390K as Executive Director is at the 81st percentile of top reported officer pay among 129 $10–100M civil rights & advocacy nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2024 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa Schreibersdorf | $390,198 | $363,885 | — | $341,974 | $349,962 | $295,200 |
| Lisa Schreibersdorf | — | — | $353,696 | — | — | — |
| Laura Saft | $300,578 | $245,027 | — | $260,774 | $248,400 | $238,300 |
| Laura Saft | — | — | $269,161 | — | — | — |
| Lauren a Shapiro | $254,606 | $234,020 | — | — | — | — |
| Kwame Millar | $242,778 | $222,860 | — | $206,024 | $195,888 | — |
| Kelli McTaggart | $238,667 | $214,100 | — | — | — | — |
| Chauncey R Walker | $237,478 | — | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Offers legal help and advocacy for low-income individuals.
This section is blank until Brooklyn Defender Services claims this page.
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In FY24 brooklyn defender services (BDS) provided comprehensive legal representation to 25,201 low-income brooklyn residents who were arrested, 2,335 parents in child welfare proceedings, 332 clients in detained immigration removal proceedings, and 2,371 clients facing barriers to civil justice.
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Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2024 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY24 | End FY24 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $2.6M | $3.4M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $2.3M | $1.9M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $53.0M | $43.8M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $56.9M | $42.2M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | −$3.9M | $1.6M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $7K | $7K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $661K | $661K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $53.5M | $48.2M | $5.3M | |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $2.7M | $2.4M | $269K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $8.5M | $7.6M | $898K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $4.2M | $3.8M | $463K | |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $222K | $222K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $372K | $372K | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $84K | $84K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $2.4M | $2.0M | $303K | $84K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $2.0M | $1.7M | $277K | $7K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $1.5M | $1.2M | $273K | $4K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $6.3M | $5.9M | $349K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $182K | $181K | $2K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $300K | $240K | $61K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $288K | $288K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $345K | $302K | $43K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $213K | $150K | $63K | |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $83.8M | $73.7M | $10.0M | $94K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 Viewing | $89.2M | $83.8M | $5.5M | $1.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $75.6M | $75.8M | −$224K | −$3.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $68.5M | $72.8M | −$4.3M | −$3.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $60.7M | $64.5M | −$3.8M | $816K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $61.5M | $60.9M | $627K | $4.6M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $89,249,810 across 6 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $83,753,003 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $43,814,123 assets, 15 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,620,129 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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