Skip to main content

Endowment Grant Application

The NCBF Endowment FY26 Grant application cycle — for the grant year July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026 — will open in the fall of 2024. Grant applications will due no later than 5pm, February 1, 2025. If you plan to apply for an NCBF Endowment Grant on behalf of an NCBA Section, Division or Committee, please contact your Communities Manager for additional information and guidance. Questions? Email us at [email protected].

In the FY25 (July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025) grant cycle, the NCBF Endowment had $133,165 in unrestricted funding available for grantmaking. The NCBF Endowment Committee reviewed 33 applications for funding and the NCBF Board of Directors awarded grants to 26 applicants. The average grant award was $5,122.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Direct Legal Services: The NCBF Endowment provides support for the provision of direct legal services by legal services attorneys to indigent communities in an effort to ensure access to justice for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
  • Volunteer Attorney Pro Bono Programs: The NCBF Endowment provides support for pro bono programs and activities that engage volunteer attorneys to provide free legal assistance to persons of limited means, in order to increase access to justice and demonstrate the value of our profession to society.
  • Public/Community Service: The NCBF Endowment provides support for community service projects that create opportunities for lawyers, paralegals, law students and other members of the profession to strengthen and improve communities throughout the state, in measurable ways.
  • Civics/Justice Education: The NCBF Endowment provides support for civic education programs that place an emphasis on the law, the justice system, and the legal profession in order to educate the public and to build confidence in the rule of law and our justice system.
  • Professionalism for Attorneys: The NCBF Endowment provides support for programs and activities that promote attorney competence or professionalism in order to cultivate a culture of service, invest in training of lawyer leaders, and use innovative approaches to bring North Carolina lawyers together to work alongside one another for the common good.
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion: The NCBF Endowment provides support for programs and activities that address inequities in access to legal services and participation in the legal profession experienced by historically excluded or disadvantaged individuals and communities in North Carolina.