Black Liberation Fund
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 851622249
- IRS 990-EZ coverage
- 2024–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2024
- Location
- Summerville, SC, USA
- Phone
- 8033872552
- Rating
- 81
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Rehabilitation Services for Offenders
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $32,890
- Expenses
- $136,074
- Assets
- $175
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
4 people listed
People named in this filing
- LATISHA VINCENT-WATERS (Founder/Program Officer)
- DAKARI WATERS (CFO)
- Danielle Larkins (BOARD MEMBER)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Black Liberation Fund provides comprehensive support services to individuals harmed by the criminal justice system and survivors of violence through technology-enabled resources, education, and community engagement. The organization operates a community bail fund, reentry support services, and trauma-informed wellness programs serving substance abuse survivors, sexual assault survivors, domestic violence survivors, gun violence survivors, and formerly incarcerated individuals. Beginning in fiscal year 2025-2026, the organization transitioned to a digital-first service delivery model providing free access to legal resources (parole, pardon, expungement), recovery and trauma support, and educational technology empowerment workshops focused on resume development, digital literacy, and artificial intelligence tools.
What it reported doing in 2024
TRAUMA-INFORMED RECOVERY AND WELLNESS SUPPORT The organization expanded its mission in December 2024 to serve multiple survivor populations including substance abuse survivors, sexual assault survivors, domestic violence survivors, and gun violence survivors. Services included peer support payments, therapeutic animal program support, and direct assistance to individuals impacted by trauma and systemic violence. The program invested in developing comprehensive trauma-informed content and resource directories that will be accessible through the organization's digital platform beginning in fiscal year 2025-2026, providing 24/7 access to recovery resources, mental health provider connections, and crisis intervention pathways.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 99% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
STRONG - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. A relatively small share of total spending goes to programs and revenue has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 100
- Sustainability: 12
- Growth: 0
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 47.5%; rating input score 47
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -313.7%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 31.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: Limited
- Revenue growth: -58.2% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -24.6% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 47.5% of spending went to programs
- Governance: Filed governance answers
- Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $65K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
- Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 47/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 6/100.