Skip to content
Sightlife at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Sightlife

We serve as a global leader and partner to eliminate corneal blindness.

$10k
Granted FY2022
1
Grants FY2022
1
States reached
$5k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2022.

Health$234kEducation$108kHuman Services$18kRecreation & Sports$14kInternational$5k
02FY2022 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 1 grants below total $5,016, the rows itemized in this filing. The $9,588 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $4,572 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$5,016
Median grant
1
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC$5,016
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–21, $36k) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%VISION FOR INDEPENDENCE CENTER: $16k → 17%NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BLIND ATHLETES: $7k → 9%VISION FOR INDEPENDENCE CENTER: $7k → 17%NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BLIND ATHLETES: $7k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$343k · 7 repeat orgs$36k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +72% since the first grant, against +3% for those funded once.

7 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2022, 7 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

7
4

Total granted

$343k
$31k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+72%
+3%

Still filing today

71%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22
Human ServicesEducationRecreation & SportsHealthInternationalOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • KC
    KINDERING CENTER
    3× · 2017–2019 · $29k · revenue +92%
  • NA
    NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BLIND ATHLETES
    2× · 2019–2021 · $14k · revenue +187%
  • NS
    Northwest School for Hearing-Impaired Children
    2× · 2018–2019 · $12k · revenue +72%

Funded once

  • T1
    TYPE 1 UNITEDgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $8k · revenue +365%
  • LS
    LILAC SERVICES FOR THE BLIND
    one grant, 2020 · $8k · revenue -35%
  • NA
    NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BLIND ATHLETES
    one grant, 2017 · $8k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Day Out for the Blind of Spokane
—
2
Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Vista Center enables individuals who are blind or visually impaired to achieve their highest potential through evaluation, counseling, education and training which promotes independence and improves quality of life.

Health
3
The Blind Childrens Center Inc

The mission of the Blind Children's Center, Inc. is to prepare infants, toddlers and preschoolers of all abilities to thrive through inclusive, family-focused early childhood education, with a specialized focus on children who are blind or…

Education
4
Listen and Talk

Listen and Talk teaches deaf and hard of hearing children to communicate and learn through listening and spoken language.

Education
5
Hearing Speech and Deafness Center Dba Hearing Speech and Deaf Center

Hsdc is a western washington service hub for clients who are deaf, hard of hearing, or who face communication barriers. we envision an inclusive, accessible world, where everyone is understood and respected.

Health
6
Blindness-Learning in New Dimensions Inc

BLIND, Inc. was founded by blind Minnesotans who believe that, given the proper training and opportunity, blind people can lead normal, independent, and fulfilled lives. We believe that blindness is respectable and that with proper…

Health
7
The Support Sight Foundation

Empower and educate sight-impaired individuals and their families with disease education knowledge, tools and technology so they may live more independently and maintain a high quality of life.

Health
8
A Shared Vision Partners in Pediatric Blindness and Visual Imp

A Shared Vision educates, inspires, and empowers families to nurture the development of their young children who are blind or visually impaired. We provide early intervention vision services in families' homes and community settings…

Health
9
Visability

Provide innovative training and tools for people who are blind or visually impaired to help them achieve their goals and dreams

Human Services
10
Braille Institute of America Inc

To positively transform the lives of those with vision loss. (See Schedule O)

Human Services
11
Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences

Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences educates and trains health care professionals emphasizing service among rural and medically under-served communities throughout the Northwest.

Education
12
Washington Council of the Blind

Wcb is a consumer-based membership organization and nonprofit dedicated to promoting opportunity, equality, and independence in the blind community through education, public awareness, and advocacy. wcb has a diverse volunteer base across…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sight Connection; the most unlike its peers is Vision for Independence Center. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

10 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 10 of the 12 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
9/10
Grantees still filing
6/10
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND: $89,050 · OtherWASHINGTON STATE SCHOOL FOR THE BLINDSIGHT CONNECTION: $72,125 · OtherSIGHT CONNECTIONSpokane Central Lions Activities Foundation: $51,950 · OtherSpokane Central Lions Activities FoundationKINDERING CENTER: $28,540 · OtherKINDERING CENTER+1 more: $7,960 · OtherVision For Independence Center: $75,540 · Human ServicesVision For Independence Ce…NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BLIND ATHLETES: $13,800 · Human ServicesNORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR …Northwest School for Hearing-Impaired Children: $11,700 · EducationPACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $7,500 · EducationTYPE 1 UNITED: $8,000 · Recreation & SportsLILAC SERVICES FOR THE BLIND: $8,000 · HealthHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC: $5,016 · International
Other$249,625Human Services$89,340Education$19,200Recreation & Sports$8,000Health$8,000International$5,016

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetVision For Independence Center: $75,540 over 5y, 28% of budgetSIGHT CONNECTION: $72,125 over 4y, 2.8% of budgetSpokane Central Lions Activities Foundation: $51,950 over 4y, 11% of budgetKINDERING CENTER: $28,540 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BLIND ATHLETES: $13,800 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetNorthwest School for Hearing-Impaired Children: $11,700 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetLILAC SERVICES FOR THE BLIND: $8,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetPACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $7,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHIMALAYAN CATARACT PROJECT INC: $5,016 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Seattle FoundationAmerican Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Seattle FoundationWA12.7× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Sightlife funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sightlife. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%6%14%25%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 2%
  • Pacific University: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 12 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2022, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Sightlife’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home