NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF)

What NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund does

The Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is a nonprofit civil rights law organization headquartered in New York, with an office in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall, who later became the first Black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite the shared name, LDF has been fully independent of the NAACP since 1957. It is a separate organization with its own tax ID, so a gift to one does not fund the other.

LDF describes its mission as defending the humanity and advancing the rights of Black people in America, using litigation, policy advocacy, research and organizing. Its current focus areas are criminal justice (policing, the death penalty and racism in courtrooms), economic justice (employment, housing and lending), education, and political participation (voting rights and redistricting). Its history includes Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 and later school-desegregation cases such as Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg in 1971.

Charity Navigator gives LDF four stars. It reported about $68 million in revenue for its fiscal year ending June 2025. Beyond one-time and monthly online gifts, LDF accepts stock, donor-advised fund grants, IRA charitable distributions, wire transfers and workplace giving.

Key facts

• Founded in 1940 under the leadership of Thurgood Marshall (LDF history page)
• Litigated Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which outlawed legally mandated segregation in public schools (LDF history page; Wikipedia)
• Fully independent of the NAACP since 1957, with its own EIN, 13-1655255 (Wikipedia; LDF Ways to Give page)
• Reported $68.5M revenue and $63.8M expenses for the fiscal year ending June 2025 (IRS 990 via ProPublica)

Before you give

• LDF is a separate organization from the NAACP (independent since 1957). To support LDF specifically, give to LDF using Tax ID 13-1655255.
• Accepts one-time and monthly gifts, stock/securities, donor-advised fund grants, IRA qualified charitable distributions, wire transfers, workplace/payroll giving, planned gifts, and tribute gifts (LDF Ways to Give page).