NBA Foundation
Legal name: National Basketball Association Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 853122376
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Aug 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- New York, NY, USA
- Phone
- 5517869712
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Urban, Community Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $33,467,055
- Expenses
- $25,092,015
- Assets
- $21,264,315
- Liabilities
- $12,448,166
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MARK TATUM (PRESIDENT)
- KATHY BEHRENS (VICE PRESIDENT)
- RUTH JURGENSEN (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - FROM 10/29/24)
- GREG TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - UNTIL 5/1/24)
Highest reported compensation
- LAUREN SILLS (OPERATIONS LEAD): $318,847 total reported compensation
- GREG TAYLOR (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - UNTIL 5/1/24): $223,592 total reported compensation
- GENISHA METCALF (HEAD OF PARTNERSHIPS): $207,890 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The NBA Foundation is dedicated to creating economic opportunity and empowerment in the Black community through employment, career advancement, and entrepreneurship.
What it reported doing in 2024
To provide assistance through economic empowerment in under-resourced communities through employment and career advancement opportunities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 86% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 69
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 58
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 71%; rating input score 71
- Program expense ratio: 93.4%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Pass
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Pass
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 25%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.59; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 18.5% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -9% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 71% of revenue deployed · 93.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $23.4M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $319K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
- Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 120 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 113 filed related-organization links
- 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 5 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.