The Black Fives Community Fund benefits social, educational, cultural, and civic improvement in neighborhoods where teams of the Black Fives Era once played.
We’re very pleased to announce today the establishment of the Black Fives Community Fund, a new philanthropic initiative affiliated with Black Fives, Inc.
The Black Fives Community Fund is a formal entity, namely, a donor advised fund that is a component fund of the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region (“CFNCR”), a non-profit organization (Tax ID No. 23-7343119) based in Washington, D.C.
Accordingly, contributions to the Black Fives Community Fund are tax deductible.
The Black Fives Community Fund is a way for people to connect their interest in the pre-N.B.A. history of African Americans in basketball with meaningful social, educational, cultural, and civic improvement efforts in communities where the teams of the Black Fives Era originally played.
These locales include, though not exclusively, communities such as Harlem, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Los Angeles, as well as many other places where those teams once toured.
“Beyond the self-affirming history of the Black Fives Era, this fund now enables a formal way of giving back to those very neighborhoods which brought us the history in the first place,” says Claude Johnson, founder and president of Black Fives, Inc.
“We set it up as a donor advised fund because we wanted the ability to control the disbursements based on the recommendations that we advise, while allowing contributors to get all the tax benefits they deserve,” Johnson says.
“I’d like to add that we are very grateful for the corporate and private contributions we’ve received so far, even before making our announcement,” Johnson says. “In addition, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of our merchandise has always been allocated to non-profit causes, but this makes it official.”
The Black Fives Community Fund provides monetary awards and grants to non-profit organizations that:
Individuals may also receive such awards or grants, but not directly — it would have to be through an organization that is tax-exempt as described above.
Applications for awards and grants will be reviewed by a recommendation committee that includes some members of the Black Fives Advisory Board.
Though a certain preference in award and/or grant recommendations will be given to communities where African American basketball teams of the Black Fives Era once played, that aspect of the fund is not a rigid requirement.
“We chose the CFNCR because it is a well-established and highly-rated charity,” Johnson says. “It also helps that it is located in D.C., which is considered the ‘birthplace of black basketball,’ but the awards and grants could be made to anywhere in the country that we wish.”
For more information, updates, news, and upcoming events, please visit the Black Fives Community Fund web page.
How You Can Contribute
Your contribution to the Black Fives Community Fund is important to the programs and organizations we help support, and greatly appreciated by the individuals they serve.
You may make a donation via check or via an easy-to-use online remittance form.
By Check:
Checks may be made out to “The Black Fives Community Fund/CFNCR” and mailed to the following address:
The Black Fives Community Fund
c/o Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
1201 15th Street NW, Suite 420
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 955-5890
Fax: (202) 955-8084
Online:
Online remittances may be made by completing this online form. Please be sure to specify “Black Fives Community Fund” in the field entitled “Name of Fund I’m Donating To.”
Thank you very much for your kindness and generosity.
