Maryland · Nonprofit
AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND
AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND (Maryland) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $79,665 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($47,532). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.5M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $80k
- Net assets
- $47M
What American Brotherhood for the Blind does
Mission
Integrating the blind into society
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Braille publications and programs - conducted and participated in programs and initiatives emphasizing braille and tactile literacy, education, and independence including: the free braille books program which sends a new braille book to over 1,950 blind children each month; early pre-reading and tactile exploration program for blind children from birth through age eight; braille readers are leaders contest to improve reading skills and encourage more braille reading; distribution of electronic braille ready (brf) files for onsite production of hard copy braille; share braille.org an online community to connect people who have braille books that they no longer need with people who are looking for braille reading material; outreach to locate individuals in need of braille instruction; mass communication programs to raise public understanding and support for requiring adequate braille reading and writing instruction for blind children and youth in public and private elementary and secondary schools; and collaboration with other entities making similar efforts to make braille and braille instruction available to all blind persons. All blind persons and persons with visual disabilities…
$483,687 spentof which $67,269 as grants14% of program spendingTools for independence - gave white canes, slates and styluses for writing braille, and braille calendars at no charge to blind individuals upon request. Approximately ten thousand such items were distributed during the year.
$150,871 spent4% of program spendingSpecialized programs and services - conducted and participated in activities to eliminate massive systemic barriers to full participation by blind individuals embedded in education; employment; transportation; governmental services; commerce; recreation; housing; retail establishments; medical facilities; web-based and automated kiosk and touch-screen based information services; and all other forms of exclusion based on non-visually accessible information systems, devices, and tools and upon misunderstandings of the true nature of the problems caused by lack of eyesight and the resultant low expectations. These activities are multifaceted and include: direct services to blind individuals; support for parents of blind children; massive, broad-based communications to and interaction with individuals, governmental, educational, cultural, and business entities aimed at making widespread and permanent changes to public perceptions about blindness; leadership training; support for self-advocacy and self-organization groups; legal action to enforce existing laws and governmental regulations; support for creation and distribution of new tactile methods for access to information; efforts…
$2,864,784 spentof which $686,480 as grants82% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,499,342.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $41M to $34M (−17%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
56% of AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Mark Riccobono
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income fell $5k → $1k.
3 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
78% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 63% · 2019 98% · 2020 36% · 2021 63% · 2022 54% · 2023 70% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
22% of AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 45% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
78% of AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $18k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Maryland, across 15 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $62k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 6,891 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 35 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND?
- AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND (Maryland) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $79,665 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($47,532). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $79,665 in grants to AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $47,532 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 22 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing