Lambda Legal

What it reported doing in 2025

Founded in 1972, lambda legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender, and queer/questioning people (lgbtq+), and people living with HIV (plwh) through impact litigation, education, and public policy work. Our attorneys work nationwide to advance protections from discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and HIV status, with a particular focus on those facing intersecting forms of marginalization, including people of color, low-income individuals, youth, seniors, and incarcerated people. Through strategic litigation and collaborative advocacy nationwide, we press for passage of laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status, and to defeat efforts to repeal or weaken such civil rights protections.headquartered in New York city, with regional offices in Washington, d.c., atlanta, chicago, dallas, and los angeles, lambda legal partners with state and local advocates across the country to shape and defend policies that promote lived equality. Our impact litigation and policy work protect the most vulnerable in our communities and prevent future discrimination. In compliance with IRS 501(c)(3) regulations, we work with allied lawmakers to critique, edit, and/or improve draft legislation at the state and federal levels that would impact our communities. In dozens of states each year, our attorneys also directly assist state-based and grassroots activists, providing legal expertise, suggested strategies, effective messaging, and expert witnesses, so these partners can make a real difference in the fight for lived equality.in 2025, more than 616 anti-lgbtq+ bills were introduced in state legislatures, many targeting lgbtq+ youth in the guise of "protecting family values": proposals to investigate families of transgender children; efforts to bar or criminalize healthcare for transgender youth; prohibit access to gender-appropriate facilities like restrooms; restrict transgender students' ability to fully participate in school and sports; or put more roadblocks in place for transgender people seeking identity documents with their name and gender. While only 74 of these discriminatory measures were enacted and 261 were defeated, the sheer volume of attacks forced us onto the defensive in many states. By december 31, 2025, our litigation docket had grown to 51 active cases. This continued to advance the two top programmatic priorities of our five-year strategic plan: (1) winning new protections for the most vulnerable in our community to secure full legal and lived equality, and (2) defending our community from attacks designed to roll back our rights.alongside this surge in legislative attacks, lambda legal's national legal help desk has served as a crisis hotline for lgbtq+ people and people living with HIV across all 50 states, the district of columbia, and puerto rico. In 2025, four full-time help desk attorneys fielded 7,280 inquiries, the second-highest annual volume received at the help desk since we started tracking annual numbers in 1996. As anti-lgbtq+, and particularly anti-trans, sentiment and legislation continue to surge, demand for accurate, accessible legal information has never been more important, especially for members of our community who are most marginalized people of color, transgender people, disabled people, or those who do not possess the education, resources, or social capital to protect themselves, their spouses, or their children. From this frontline vantage point, we not only support individuals; we gather data, spot trends, and feed insights back to our legal team. Help desk inquiries have helped shape community resources, identify plaintiffs, and inform litigation now underway.to expand the reach and scale of its litigation and policy work and to leverage the expertise of its internal subject matter experts, lambda legal recruits, organizes and oversee

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 42.2%; rating input score 42
• Program expense ratio: 62.9%; rating input score 63
• Fundraising efficiency: $6.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Pass
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Pass
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 38.7%; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.54; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 15.7%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 3.7% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 70th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings