Massachusetts · Nonprofit
BRICKS FOR THE BLIND
BRICKS FOR THE BLIND (Massachusetts) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $120,614 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($108,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $265k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $121k
- Net assets
- $183k
What Bricks for the Blind does
Mission
Bricks for the Blind (bftb) is a non-profit organization that brings the joy of building lego sets to blind people. By following bftb's free text-based instructions, people with visual impairments can build lego sets and enjoy hours of relaxation, independence, and empowerment.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Bricks for the Blind creates text based building instructions (tbi) for posting on a web site, and free downloads. These are free of charge so do not result in revenue. These downloads are fully funded by our grant. The organization produced 233 tbis during 2025, with a cost of approximately $190k.
$187,830 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $187,830.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 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 2023 to 2024, from $6k to $137k (+2085%).
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.
100% of BRICKS FOR THE BLIND’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 96% 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 BRICKS 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
BRICKS FOR THE BLIND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 90% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 BRICKS FOR THE BLIND.
“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.
Where its funders are
96% of BRICKS 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 $5k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 1 state.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $116k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
BRICKS FOR THE BLIND runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like BRICKS 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 BRICKS 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 BRICKS FOR THE BLIND?
- BRICKS FOR THE BLIND (Massachusetts) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $120,614 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($108,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BRICKS FOR THE BLIND have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $120,614 in grants to BRICKS FOR THE BLIND.
- Who is the largest funder of BRICKS FOR THE BLIND?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $108,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BRICKS FOR THE BLIND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 2023–2025), and the filings of 3 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