California · Nonprofit
BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,594 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($134,368). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 87% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $835k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $161k
- Net assets
- $445k
What Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association does
Mission
The black entertainment & sports lawyers association, inc. (besla) was formed to provide seminars, conferences and educational materials on topics of interest to attorneys and law students specializing in the entertainment and sports industries. Besla members are attorneys from leading law firms, in-house counsel from major entertainment, new media, amateur and professional sports organizations, solo practitioners, law school professors, business executives in the music, sports, cable and broadcast television, film, video game, touring, marketing and branding, and publishing industries, including financiers, agents, and managers. Membership is also extended to law students, and part of our programming is specifically targeted to their training and growth through seminars, mentoring and scholarship opportunities. The organization has a network of 2,000 supporters throughout the continental united states, europe and the caribbean.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Besla held its 43rd annual conference in november. The annual conference is generally attended by well over 250 attorneys, executives, entertainers, and students to provide cle's and national training to industry professionals.in addition besla held regional conferences in atlanta, chicago, washington dc, los angeles, miami, and new york.
$697,154 spent$224,914 earned by the program93% of program spendingFor more than 25 years, besla has awarded financial scholarships to deserving law students that are seeking careers in the entertainment and sports industries. The scholarship program recognizes at least one scholarship annually to students enrolled in one of the four historically black law schools: florida a&m university school of law (orlando, fl), howard university (washington, dc), north carolina central university school of law (durham, nc), and thurgood marshall school of law (houston, tx). Besla also sponsors an annual essay competition available to all law students at such schools.
$49,500 spentof which $49,500 as grants7% of program spendingHbcu support
$5,907 spentof which $5,907 as grants1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $752,561.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $282k to $518k (+83%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
63% of BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Leron E Rogers
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $11k → $37k.
3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 87% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 84% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 55% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 80% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
87% of BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $21k that is directly attributable, 52% of it comes from funders outside California, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $140k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 21,616 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 21,616 human services nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION?
- BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $160,594 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($134,368). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 87% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $160,594 in grants to BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $134,368 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLACK ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS LAWYERS ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 6 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing