The Initiative is a non-profit organization that provides start-up money for projects that protect the legal rights or interests of inadequately represented groups. The Initiative funds innovative projects that may have difficulty obtaining money from other sources due to the subject matter of the project or the approach taken by the project.  Please note that the Initiative seeks to fund individuals who are launching new projects, not to provide funding for ongoing work at existing organizations.  The Initiative will not fund any project that focuses on conducting academic research or serving the needs of an individual client.  Additionally, we will not fund a project for which the applicant will receive academic credit. We will consider proposals for work that will be performed outside the United States. We fund cutting-edge projects whose successful execution might be a model for other organizations seeking new and better ways to represent clients.

While the Initiative may choose to fund one project for the full $30,000 grant amount, in recent years, the Board has often chosen instead to award partial grants ranging from $9,000 to $21,000.

The Initiative conducts several activities every year to raise the money for these grants.  Annual fundraising events include the used book sale, the Public Interest Auction, and the Yale Law School Formal.  The Initiative also relies on donations from the legal community, Yale Law alumni, and Yale Law students to supplement its fundraising events.  Donations should be sent to P.O. Box 200100, New Haven, CT 06520, and checks should be made payable to "The Initiative for Public Interest Law at Yale."