The Black Fives Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
461925488
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2023, Form 990-EZ 2024, Form 990-N 2020
Location
Greenwich, CT, USA
Phone
2034938600
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Education N.E.C.

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$120,168
Expenses
$145,095
Assets
$167,933
Liabilities
$29,629

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CLAUDE JOHNSON (PRESIDENT, E)

People named in this filing

  • CLAUDE JOHNSON (PRESIDENT, E)
  • CLAIRE FAY (SECRETARY)
  • MICHAEL KING (DIRECTOR)

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

The black fives foundation works to research, preserve, exhibit, and and promote the pre-1950 history of african americans in basketball to engage, teach, and inspire youth and others while honoring its pioneers and their descendants. We work with the pre-1950 history of african american basketball teams (the "black fives era") in order to: stimulate interest in history and the humanities, promote educational advancement, enrich appreciation of culture and the arts, encourage community-based youth programming, build fitness and health awareness, illuminate sports industry career opportunities, advocate for the recognition of the era's pioneers and their descendants, and, enable these efforts through innovative uses of technology as well as via traditional means.

What it reported doing in 2024

1. Education & leadership ambassador nil program - new in 2024. - the partnership with uconn's kamorea "kk" arnold marks the foundation's first formal nil (name, image, and likeness) collaboration with a student- athlete. - it introduced structured leadership and education component tied to the black fives academy, creating a new direct link between collegiate athletes and historical education. - no nil ambassador program existed in 2022-2023. 2. New York rens harlem court installation (howard bennett playground) - new in 2024. - while the foundation has organized exhibitions and pop-ups before, this was the first permanent public court installation and mural dedicated to a black fives team. - executed in partnership with nyc parks, slam, and puma new partner configuration. - this is also the first built-environment heritage project (physical infrastructure, not just exhibits). 3. Renaissance casino public historical marker initiative - new milestone achieved in 2024. Prior advocacy existed for commemorating the rens home court, but 2024 marked the first formal civic approval (community board 10 resolution) an official public-history step not previously reached. 4. Expanded broadcast integration and educational webinar - the basketball and dance: the business of black fives basketball webinar and broader educational rollout represented an expanded (new-format) element within the ongoing big east partnership. - prior years featured game-day branding and in-arena psas, but 2024 added live digital education integrating history and business themes. These sessions were streamed live and archived, introducing a multimedia education component. 5. Big east third-year renewal with 22 games (largest yet) - while the big east partnership began in 2022, 2024 represented the largest and most visible execution: - 22 total games (previous years had 1012). - added uniform lapel pins commemorating the New York rens centennial (19232023) a new symbolic element. - inclusion of womens coaches and players in conference-wide messaging was more formally structured than in 2023. 6. Significant growth in news coverage (+128%) - while not a program per se, the earned-media surge represents new scale and reach: - first year with over 500 mainstream news mentions. - reflects expansion into national television, digital news, and university media ecosystems that were not at comparable levels in 2023.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 67
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79.3%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 47%; 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: -20.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.16; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.18; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 13.2% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79.3% of revenue deployed · 47% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 1 filed program accomplishment · $68K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 4 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.