Skip to the page content
Your donations
Passes our checks

Association of Legal Writing Directors

EIN 36-4102592 · Lawrence, KS

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthStrong100 out of 100GovernanceFair65 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

A professional organization that promotes leadership, scholarship, and continuing improvements in legal writing programs and pedagogy.

Income
$225,302
Spending
$167,827
Spent on programs
96%
Reserves
52.3 months of spending
Largest source of income
donations and private grants, 39%
Employees
0
Volunteers
110
Highest pay
$428, treasurer

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 84% of charities in its peer group (crime and legal services, under $250k).

  • Reserves

    35 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 52.3 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 2% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    15 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 26% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 106% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    15 of 15

    96% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 1 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Fair: 65 out of 100. Higher than 50% of charities in its peer group (crime and legal services, under $250k).

  • Independent board

    25 of 25

    14 of 14 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    0 of 8

    Reports no written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    0 of 7

    Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    0 of 10

    Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    0 of 5

    Reports no independent review process for its chief executive's pay.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (13)
  1. $76,723 spent. Held a 3-day conference attended by approximately 200 legal-writing professionals that featured approximately 40 presentations related to leadership, scholarship, and legal-writing pedagogy, an innovative teaching workshop, a leadership academy, and opportunities for new legal-writing directors to network.
  2. $17,440 spent. Published a new volume of Legal Communication & Rhetoric, the scholarly journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors.
  3. $15,375 spent. Provided Teaching Grants to twelve legal writing professionals to explore innovative teaching ideas and produce teaching tools, materials, and curriculum that will assist others in the field.
  4. $15,275 spent. Continued publication of the 7th edition of the ALWD Guide to Legal Citation, which is intended to improve the teaching and use of legal citation in legal documents, and began preparation of an updated 8th edition.
  5. $8,503 spent. The organization, jointly with the Legal Writing Institute, presented the Blackwell Award and held a reception for the recipient. The award is presented annually to a person who has made an outstanding contribution to improve the field of legal writing.
  6. $7,714 spent. Operated the organization's website, alwd.org, as a resource for its members and other members of the legal-writing profession.
  7. $6,655 spent. Provided Distinguished Speaker Grants to three law schools to bring in legal-writing scholars for presentations to their faculty and students.
  8. $5,352 spent. Sent a representative to meetings of the ABA's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar to provide the organization's views on standards affecting legal education, legal-writing programs, and the organization's membership.
  9. $3,667 spent. With the Legal Writing Institute and LexisNexis, provided Scholarship Grants to two legal-writing professionals to produce scholarly articles related to the doctrine, application, and pedagogy of legal writing.
  10. $1,158 spent. Conducted an annual surveys of legal-writing programs and professionals, the results of which are used to assess and improve legal-writing programs and the status and working conditions of legal-writing professionals.
  11. $1,000 spent. Presented diversity awards to two recipients. The awards honor persons inside or outside the organization who have made significant accomplishments in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The award reflects the organization's conviction that meaningful inclusion of diverse voices and experiences is necessary for improving legal education and the analytic, reasoning, and writing abilities of lawyers.
  12. $917 spent. Provided grants to two law schools to conduct a Scholars Forum in connection with legal-writing conferences. The fora are designed to provide legal-writing professionals with support and guidance in developing and completing scholarly articles.
  13. $585 spent. The organization's Publication's Committee held writing circles that provided an opportunity to legal-writing scholars to receive feedback from other legal-writing professionals on their works-in-progress.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since November 1997.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.