Michigan · Nonprofit
BLACK LEADERS DETROIT
BLACK LEADERS DETROIT (Michigan) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,929,481 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN ($708,500). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.2M
- Funders on record
- 28
- Grants received
- $4.9M
- Net assets
- $2.5M
What Black Leaders Detroit does
Mission
To provide financial support for diverse social and community impact projects originated and led by Detroiters of African descent.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Black Leaders Detroit (BLD)issued over $950,000 no-interest loans and $322,000 in grants, BLD helped provide a significant financial boost to Black owned businesses and nonprofits, which often struggle to access adequate funding. BLD proudly welcomed college interns to assist in the dynamic planning and development of our *Rising Black Leaders* programan entrepreneurial initiative designed to empower and invest in high school school scholars through transformative grants. We also celebrated the spirit of entrepreneurship in style with *Detroit Drip*, a high-energy grant competition that showcased and honored over 70 of Detroits most innovative fashion designers and retailers. BLD also spearheaded a series of activations throughout Detroit, promoting the importance of shopping local and supporting our vibrant Black business community. These initiatives are all part of our commitment to fueling creativity, innovation, and economic empowerment across Detroit.
$922,028 spentof which $322,637 as grants$2,083,363 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $922,028.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2023 to 2024, from $1.8M to $2.7M (+49%).
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.
100% of BLACK LEADERS DETROIT’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (16% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 5 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.
Chief executive
Leslie D Dandridge
CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $82k → $1.6M.
5 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 LEADERS DETROIT’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 LEADERS DETROIT has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
28% 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 LEADERS DETROIT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 61% · 2021 25% · 2022 24% · 2023 24% — diversifying over time.
“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.
How long its funders stay
100% of BLACK LEADERS DETROIT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
72% of BLACK LEADERS DETROIT's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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 LEADERS DETROIT runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,551 employment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,551 employment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like BLACK LEADERS DETROIT
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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 LEADERS DETROIT: 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 LEADERS DETROIT?
- BLACK LEADERS DETROIT (Michigan) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,929,481 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN ($708,500). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BLACK LEADERS DETROIT have?
- IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $4,929,481 in grants to BLACK LEADERS DETROIT, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLACK LEADERS DETROIT?
- COMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN is the largest funder on record, with $708,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLACK LEADERS DETROIT find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 28 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