Grant Eligibility for Legal Services Organizations

Basic Criteria

Qualified recipients must:

• Be a not-for-profit Pennsylvania corporation.
• Be tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• Operate primarily within Pennsylvania.
• Have as their primary purpose* the provision of civil legal representation without charge.

An organization meets the primary purpose test if it expends at least 50% of its total audited resources (including the audited value of pro bono legal services) on the delivery of free civil legal representation to Pennsylvanians living at or below 187.5% of the Federal Poverty Level.
Qualified recipients must meet the IOLTA Board’s Organizational Performance Standards and Organizational Financial Health requirements.

Category Criteria

Statewide System Recipients must:

1. Operate to provide civil legal services to eligible clients and victims of abuse, and
2. Funds for such services must be:
   •  Appropriated by the General Assembly, and received directly or indirectly through a contractual arrangement with the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services; or
   • Operate to provide a full range of civil legal services to eligible clients and victims of abuse and be determined by the Pennsylvania IOLTA Board as the appropriate provider of such services for a particular service area.

Other Legal Services Recipients must:

1. Provide directly or administer the pro bono provision of specialized legal services primarily to disadvantaged individuals such as the elderly, disabled, homeless, seasonal Farmworkers and victim of crime or abuse, or
2. Provide for or administer the provision of a full range of direct pro bono legal services.