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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
2/6 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 7%
01What it does

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

  1. 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 program
    93% of program spending
  2. For 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 grants
    7% of program spending
  3. Hbcu support

    $5,907 spentof which $5,907 as grants
    1% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $752,561.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($336k) Expenses 100 ($380k) Net assets 100 ($192k)2018 Revenue 109 ($365k) Expenses 93 ($351k) Net assets 102 ($195k)2019 Revenue 114 ($382k) Expenses 109 ($415k) Net assets 90 ($173k)2020 Revenue 54 ($182k) Expenses 26 ($99k) Net assets 138 ($264k)2021 Revenue 145 ($487k) Expenses 124 ($471k) Net assets 147 ($282k)2022 Revenue 217 ($730k) Expenses 137 ($520k) Net assets 244 ($468k)2023 Revenue 219 ($735k) Expenses 218 ($827k) Net assets 201 ($384k)2024 Revenue 249 ($835k) Expenses 204 ($774k) Net assets 232 ($445k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (249)Expenses (204)Net assets (232)Peer revenue range

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%).

$198k
$195k
$173k
$264k
$282k
$518k
$434k
$445k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

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).

This organization
Typical peer · 23,870 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$44k
’17
$13k
’18
−$32k
’19
$84k
’20
$16k
’21
$210k
’22
−$92k
’23
$61k
’24
5.0
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1515161817222224
Joined·+0+5+2+2+5+0+3
No longer listed·0403001
03Who funds it

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.

84%
largest funder
94%
top three
~1
effective funders

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.

MA
CA
MO

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’18
’22
California out of state home

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.

04Its place in the field

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.

Operating margin7% · above the median
Months of reserve5.0mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)14% · above the median

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

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

91% of spending goes to programs.

Program 91%Management 9%Fundraising 0%

Governance

24
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

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

NY

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.

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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