Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Feb 1956.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
69 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
31 people listed on the 990; $1.0M paid to officers and key staff.
Mark Suchman’s $329K as Researcher (starting 07/2025)/Prior Exec. Director (thru 07/2025) is at the 98th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1147 $1–10M crime & legal 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 | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark Suchman | $328,502 | $106,799 | — | — | — | — |
| Bryant Garth | — | $282,063 | $133,196 | — | — | — |
| Ajay K Mehrotra | — | — | $254,716 | $267,165 | $242,813 | $230,612 |
| Shari Diamond | $217,225 | $212,489 | $208,263 | $204,263 | $202,995 | $201,285 |
| Elizabeth Mertz | $194,309 | $189,551 | $179,749 | $177,520 | $175,169 | $165,746 |
| Susan Shapiro | — | $165,097 | $159,174 | $155,930 | $154,304 | $147,852 |
| Terence Halliday | — | — | — | — | — | $158,052 |
| Ajay Mehrotra | $123,754 | $139,956 | — | — | — | — |
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 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Conducts innovative research to expand knowledge and advance justice through law.
Questions for American Bar Foundation
Your first name shows with your question. American Bar Foundation answers here, for everyone.
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The research programresearch work in progress is currently comprised of 34 projects in three broad categories of inquiry: I) learning and practicing law, ii) protecting rights, accessing justice, and iii) making and implementing law.
Academic affairs and fellowshipsthe foundation offers a series of annual residence fellowships to students of high scholarly achievement. These fellowships are awarded to postdoctoral and doctoral candidates and undergraduate students on a merit basis.
Fellows of the american bar foundationmembers of the practicing bench, bar, and legal academy are invited to participate in the affairs of the organization through nomination as fellows of the foundation.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $3.0M | $2.5M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $27.1M | $31.2M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $57K | $82K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $34.0M | $37.9M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $3.5M | $1.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $30.4M | $36.2M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $230K | $230K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $415K | $415K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $310K | $59K | $251K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $3.4M | $2.5M | $653K | $292K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $284K | $201K | $56K | $27K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $247K | $171K | $41K | $35K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $262K | $183K | $59K | $21K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $13K | $13K | ||
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $128K | $128K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $50K | $50K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $552K | $391K | $140K | $21K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $48K | $38K | $7K | $3K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $125K | $73K | $27K | $25K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $880K | $600K | $235K | $45K |
| TravelLn 17 | $4K | $3K | $1K | $30 |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $8K | $7K | $1K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $9K | $2K | $7K | |
| Payments to affiliatesLn 21 | $6K | $6K | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $13K | $9K | $3K | $1K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $49K | $49K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $233K | $138K | $22K | $73K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $112K | $88K | $19K | $5K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $7.4M | $5.1M | $1.8M | $554K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $9.0M | $8.7M | $312K | $40.1M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $9.2M | $8.4M | $766K | $37.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $8.8M | $8.1M | $695K | $34.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $8.5M | $7.9M | $631K | $33.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $9.4M | $7.4M | $1.9M | $36.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $9.9M | $6.9M | $2.9M | $30.4M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $9,357,330 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 24 of 25 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $9,357,330 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $7,419,588 across 22 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $37,925,650 assets, 17 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $36,201,003 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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