WBC's travel expenses have exceeded as much as $200,000 annually. One of Westboro's followers estimated the organization spends $250,000 a year on picketing. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is funded entirely from within the organization and accepts no outside donations. WBC has received money from lawsuits and legal fees, through the closely related Phelps Chartered law firm, when its protests have been unlawfully disrupted. For example, the firm sued the city of Topeka several times in the 1990s, and received $16,500 in legal fees for a court case won against a marine's bereaved father. Because the firm represents WBC in its lawsuits, it can use money from cases it wins to further fund the organization under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act of 1976. WBC is considered a nonprofit organization by the federal government, and is therefore exempt from paying taxes. All five of Phelps Chartered's lawyers are Phelps' children, and eleven of his thirteen children are lawyers. Members of the Phelps family are expected to give ten percent of their earnings to WBC.