Mission:
The American Bar Endowment Charter is "For the advancement of jurisprudence and the promotion of justice and uniformity of judicial decision throughout the United States, exclusively through education and scientific research in the field of law..." The American Bar Endowment (ABE) holds one of the largest endowments for the purpose of funding research, public service, and education in the legal field.

Purpose of Site:
The ABE Web site provides information about the organization, its ties to the American Bar Association (ABA), and its grantmaking activities. The site also offers detailed information about group insurance products available to ABA lawyers, which generate funding for ABE's charitable works.

Background:
The ABA established the nonprofit endowment in 1942 to raise funds from American lawyers for legal research and education programs. In 1955, the Endowment began offering insurance to its members with plans to collect their annual insurance dividends as charitable donations. Today, the Endowment offers ABA members six group insurance programs to help fuel its charitable giving.

Each year, 35,000 lawyers donate about 90 percent of the total ABE insurance dividends, allowing the Endowment to support a wide variety of public service, research, and educational projects. Recipients of ABE grants include the ABA Center for Pro Bono, the Unified Courts Project, the ABA Center on Children and the Law, the Commission on Legal Problems of the Elderly, the Commission on Women in the Profession, and the Juvenile Justice Center.

Home Page:
The left side of the ABE home page features links to information about ABE, including its history, how it works, and an FAQ area; its various insurance products; and its newest giving option — the Charitable Gift Fund. Across the top of the page are links to a registration page for ABE updates and an archive of ABE newsletters. A site search tool is available on the lower right corner of the home page.

Outstanding Feature:
ABE's Charitable Gift Fund is designed to help lawyers better manage their charitable giving, and its online accessibility makes it even more attractive to donor attorneys. The Charitable Gift Fund section of the ABE site includes a toolbar across the top of the page with links to Highlights, How the ABE Fund Works, Financial Advantages, Account Application, Account Login, and Frequently Asked Questions. Users can apply online to set up a donor-advised account and then log in to their account to recommend grants, view up-to-date account information, and find details about investment performance.

Honorable Mention:
Each year ABE makes grants to support hundreds of research, public service, and educational projects in the field of law through the activities of the ABA Fund for Justice and Education and the American Bar Foundation. The grants page on the ABE Web site provides information about recipient organizations and their projects.