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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What is the Campaign for Equal Justice?
A. The Campaign for Equal Justice is the Washington legal community’s collaborative annual fundraising drive for our state’s civil legal aid programs that raises undesignated operating support for civil legal aid programs throughout the state. So, your one tax-deductible annual contribution to the Campaign benefits more than 20 legal aid programs in our state. The Campaign is administered by Legal Aid for Washington Fund (LAW Fund). LAW Fund’s partner program, the Legal Foundation of Washington, distributes its proceeds in its annual grantmaking process (see below). The Campaign is based in large part on the success of Oregon’s collaborative Lawyer’s Campaign for Equal Justice, which historically raised twice as much money as Washington did from a pool of fewer than one-half the number of attorneys. Washington is quickly catching up, however! Before the Campaign was established, when local legal aid programs raised money independently, only 2-4% of the legal community was participating in giving to civil legal aid annually. Today, 28% of the statewide legal community participates in the Campaign thanks in large part to a formal collaboration established with the Washington State Bar Association in the fall of 2009.

Q. How does a unified Campaign raise more money for legal aid programs than if each program were raising its own funds?
A. There are several reasons why working as a team raises more money than going it alone:

• Creates consistent, recognizable message and identity One message and one visual identity create “brand awareness” for civil legal aid that results in greater visibility for legal aid. Speaking about civil legal aid in a unified voice reaches thousands more than individual programs can achieve on their own.
• Reduces donor confusion Many lawyers and judges were ‘let off the hook’ in the past by not knowing which program to support. With a singular fundraising approach, our cause is unmistakable. From Asotin County to Yakima County, regardless of location, the Campaign is the means by which the legal community supports civil legal aid.
• Attracts the attention and participation of VIPs. Working together helps attract volunteers that individual programs might have difficulty attracting to their cause independently, such as large firm managing partners like Susan Duffy of Davis Wright Tremaine, general counsel from Fortune 100 companies like Paula Boggs of Starbucks, Jennifer O’Connor of Puget Sound Energy, and luminaries like Bill Gates, Sr., John McKay, Justice Faith Ireland (Ret.), Bill Neukom, Hon. Slade Gorton, and Hon. Gary Locke. When such leaders actively support civil legal aid, it inspires the rest of us to do the same.
• Creates efficiencies LAW Fund administers the annual Campaign, so they produce and cover the costs of promotional materials, advertisements, reports to contributors, website with on-line giving capability, DVDs for presentations and annual mailings to the legal community. Thus, legal aid programs reduce time and resources doing the labor-intensive work of annual fundraising and can concentrate on serving clients. Additionally, LAW Fund works with local programs to manage networks of volunteers and administers and covers the cost of financial processing of all contributions, thank you letters and tax receipts for all donations.
• Builds a more stable base of financial support overall By working together we eliminate internal competition between legal aid programs that formerly competed for funding. By consolidating efforts, we approach prospective donors under one banner of the Campaign for Equal Justice. This is critical when the overall number of charitable organizations is expanding exponentially nationwide and creating greater market competition for charitable dollars. The average U.S. donor contributes to between 6 and 15 charities each year. Large charities are raising more money while support for small charities is declining. We have a greater chance of sustaining and growing our funding as a substantial team with statewide reach and support.
• Equalizes access to financial resources Willing and able donors are not equally distributed throughout the state, but our state’s poverty population is. The Campaign raises funds from areas with capacity so that resources can be allocated to areas where there is much less potential to raise funds but have disproportionate need.
• Increases the potential for large institutional contributions Major funders such as foundations, corporations and other organizations look for efficiencies and collaboration within communities to make sure resources are serving as many people in need as possible. This was critical when we approached the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2009 with a request for major support to help stabilize legal aid through the economic downturn.

Q. How did the Campaign for Equal Justice come into being?
A. The Access to Justice Board (ATJ Board) of the Washington State Supreme Court, which oversees our state’s civil legal aid efforts, recognized the success unified efforts were achieving in Oregon and nationwide. In 2000, the ATJ Board convened the “Resource Development Committee” (RDC) comprised of stakeholders across the state to explore the possibilities of collaborative fundraising. The RDC met monthly for three years to devise an equitable and effective strategy which culminated in the recommended plan for the creation of the Campaign for Equal Justice, which was adopted by the ATJ Board in May 2004. The ATJ Board designated LAW Fund to administer the effort since it was the legal community’s only agency with an existing infrastructure able to raise charitable support statewide for civil legal aid.

Q. When did the Campaign for Equal Justice begin?
A. After the recommendation was adopted by the ATJ Board in 2004, LAW Fund tested the model with the King County Bar Foundation and Eastside Legal Assistance Program to jointly raise contributions from King County law firms. The initial effort raised 33% more support than the programs raised separately the prior year. In 2005, the effort launched statewide with Bill Gates, Sr. and John McKay as inaugural co-chairs. After the first statewide effort, over $1 million was raised for civil legal aid and the number of donors doubled in a single year. In 2009, as legal aid faced an unprecedented IOLTA funding crisis, the WSBA took action and established a formal collaboration with LAW Fund to include an optional contribution to the Campaign for Equal Justice in its annual licensing fee renewal process, and participation in the Campaign jumped from 4% to 28% with an additional $370,000 raised for legal aid in a single year. In 2007-08, Hon. Slade Gorton and Hon. Gary Locke co-chaired the effort. In 2009-10 Paula Boggs and Bill Neukom served as co-chairs. Attorney General Rob McKenna and WSBA Immediate Past President Salvador Mungia co chair the effort for 2011-12.

Q. How are funds directed back to local programs?
A. The Legal Foundation of Washington (LFW) grants the charitable support raised through the Campaign back to programs through its annual IOLTA granting process. Programs receiving IOLTA grants use the mechanism of the Campaign for their annual fundraising efforts with individual donors outside of their event sponsorships.

Q. Do programs have to apply separately for Campaign proceeds?
A. No. Programs will find their yearly IOLTA grants supplemented with this charitable support. In a typical year, approximately 10% of a civil legal aid program’s LFW grant will be comprised of Campaign proceeds.