Illinois · Nonprofit
BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC
BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC (Illinois) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,646,655 to it, the largest being BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION TRUST FUND ($1,006,476). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $13M
What Blind Service Association Inc does
Mission
The organization provides various services and assistance to the blind and visually impaired in the chicago area. It provides reading and recording services free of charge to its clients, in addition to a number of other successful and popular education, recreational and support groups.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Reading and recording:the purpose of the program is to provide one-on-one reading and recording of material so that blind and visually impaired people are able to maintain their independence whether at school, on the job or in their home.
$145,543 spent23% of program spendingPathways (youth program):the purpose of the program is to provide visually impaired and blind students with mentoring, academic track coaching, college readiness, computer training, a quarterly newsletter and a 6-week summer program called pathways. The purpose of pathways is to promote independence as these young people reach adulthood. They are taught daily living skills, participate in recreational and performing arts activities and learn cane travel as they visit various cultural sites in the city. Bsa also provides glasses and vision aids to those in need and grants $30,000 yearly in educational scholarships to legally blind college, graduate and vocational students.
$204,155 spent32% of program spendingSocial and cultural activities: the purpose of the program is to provide various activities to blind and visually impaired individuals. Activities offered include kitting club, tai-chi, pilates, book club, stress management, audio described films, current events, farmers market, supper club, arts and literature week, tours and outings, and a dedicated theatre program.
$106,683 spent17% of program spendingScholarship program:the purpose of the scholarship program is to provide grants of $40,000 yearly in educational scholarships to legally blind and low-vision college, graduate, and vocational students.
$40,037 spentof which $40,000 as grants6% of program spendingClient support services:the purpose of the program is to provide education, recreation, and support to blind and visually impaired adults. There are four separate support groups that individuals attend on a monthly basis. The purpose is to offer support to those who are trying to adjust to their eye condition. Education seminars are held one to two times per month in order to offer information to help blind and visually impaired people better adapt to their condition. In addition, the organization supports their clients with various clubs and social events that help them to remain active and connected to others. The organization also provides individual private braille lessons and adaptive technology support.
$102,449 spent16% of program spendingVision expo:the association's annual vision expo showcases the latest products, services, adaptive technologies, and resources currently available.
$34,106 spent5% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $632,973.
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 2020 to 2021, from $10M to $13M (+25%).
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.
22% of BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC’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. 1 of the last 5 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
Laura Stokes-Gray
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $509k → $207k.
3 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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 BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC’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
BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 61% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 98% · 2018 100% · 2019 80% · 2020 91% · 2021 90% · 2022 83% · 2023 91% — 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
71% of BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 80% 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
99% of BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $121k 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
BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,263 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
40% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
43%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC: 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 BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC?
- BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC (Illinois) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,646,655 to it, the largest being BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION TRUST FUND ($1,006,476). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $1,646,655 in grants to BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC?
- BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION TRUST FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,006,476 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLIND SERVICE ASSOCIATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Blind Service Association →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 10 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