Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
BLACK STUDENT FUND
BLACK STUDENT FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $744,807 to it, the largest being THE MC CUTCHEN FOUNDATION ($280,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $285k
- Funders on record
- 32
- Grants received
- $745k
- Net assets
- $12k
What Black Student Fund does
Mission
BSF is an educational equity organization advancing educational choice by affording underserved families access to independent schools and supporting their success. BSF has served tens of thousands of children; served more than seventy five BSF member schools K-12; and inspired replications across the Mid-Atlantic region. BSF is also a community resource collaborating with organizations advancing education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
For more than fifty years, BSF has provided financial support for families at BSF Member Schools. BSF provides small tuition scholarships, funding for participation in summer and school year academic enrichment, youth development program/activities and BSF provides emergency and essential services financial support to BSF families
$46,448 spentof which $17,960 as grants27% of program spendingThe BSF/LSF Annual School Fair is a forum for Washington metropolitan area families to learn about independent school education and to engage students, teachers and administrators from more than 70 local and national independent schools and educational programs. This event also includes: workshops, chat rooms, recorded content and a digital resources library. The event served more than 1200 families and included more than 50 schools and educational organizations
$67,091 spent39% of program spendingBSF Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) is a focused academic enrichment effort of BSF. BSF STEM is a series of connected programs and activities providing students with introductory and advanced STEM learning. With an anchor in math and coding, BSF Scholars and Affiliates participate in yearlong out of school learning; tech skill development and STEM awareness events
$41,287 spent24% of program spendingProvided cultural experiences including Juneteenth, Long Way Down, and the Higher Ground
$17,202 spent10% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $172,028.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $213k to $45k (−79%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 11% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Leroy Nesbitt Jr
Executive Director
Board chair
Joel Kanter
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $43k → $125k.
6 of 32 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% 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 STUDENT FUND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 32 funders by total. 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 STUDENT FUND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 38% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 62% · 2018 51% · 2019 57% · 2020 38% · 2021 31% · 2022 34% · 2023 40% — 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
40% of BLACK STUDENT FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 41% 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
BLACK STUDENT FUND draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $82k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.
Organizations like BLACK STUDENT FUND
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
57% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLACK STUDENT FUND: 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 STUDENT FUND?
- BLACK STUDENT FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 32 organizations whose IRS filings report $744,807 to it, the largest being THE MC CUTCHEN FOUNDATION ($280,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BLACK STUDENT FUND have?
- IRS filings report 32 organizations giving $744,807 in grants to BLACK STUDENT FUND, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLACK STUDENT FUND?
- THE MC CUTCHEN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $280,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLACK STUDENT FUND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Student →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 32 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