New York · Nonprofit
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC (New York) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,801,081 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HERKIMER AND ONEIDA COUNTIES INC ($808,256). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $30M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $1.8M
- Net assets
- $110M
What Central Association for the Blind Inc does
Mission
To assist people who are blind or visually impaired to achieve their highest level of independence by providing vision rehabilitation services and offering integrated competitive jobs throughout all levels of the association including information technology, contact center, social worker, adaptive technology instructor, maintenance and serving on the governing board of directors.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Central industries (ci) is the employment division of the central association for the blind and visually impaired (cabvi). Ci employs 190 people in an integrated and diverse competitive work setting comprised of 109 legally blind and 81 sighted individuals. Tasks include packaging, machine operation, call center services, data entry, warehousing services, customer service and assembly. Employees earn competitive wages and enjoy benefits such as paid time off, health insurance and a valuable retirement plan with up to 6% in company contributions. The products and services provided are sold to new york state and federal governments through the preferred source state program and the federal ability one program. Cabvi also pursues commercial contracts.
$7,482,570 spent$20,948,482 earned by the program53% of program spendingThe rehabilitation services division of cabvi served 2,185 individuals, assisting people all over new york state, live independently and safely. Services provided are:-orientation & mobility training to help individuals move safely through their environment,-assistive technology training helps people who are blind utilize computers and software,-social casework helps individuals deal with and accept blindness,-low vision exams help to determine what adaptive equipment can be helpful,-vocational training helps people who are blind find meaningful employment,-occupational therapy to help children with ocular muscle imbalance to strengthen their weak eye; to help adults adjust to the ocular implications from stroke or concussion,-vision rehabilitation therapy to assist adults and children in building independent living skills,-educational services with teachers of the visually impaired working closely with children with vision loss to ensure they achieve academic success alongside their sighted peers, -consumer engagement in clinical research projects that will help us to better understand the functional limitations of vision loss that could lead to scientific advancements in…
$4,840,046 spent$575,136 earned by the program35% of program spendingCabvi's third largest division is comprised of six base supply centers, which are office supply stores on military bases located in the northeast. Many of the products sold in these stores are products made by cabvi and other organizations for the disabled. These stores employ legally blind employees that serve customers.
$1,686,322 spent$1,733,538 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $14,008,938.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 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 $80M to $109M (+36%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 4% · 2018 3% · 2019 4% · 2020 10% · 2021 2% · 2022 2% · 2023 2% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
4% of CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (7% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 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
Edward P Welsh
President/CEO
Board chair
George Nehme
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $43k → $79k.
4 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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 CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND 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
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
62% 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 CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 75% · 2019 77% · 2020 69% · 2021 65% · 2022 34% · 2023 51% — growing more concentrated.
“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
39% of CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
50% of CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $832k 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
CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,580 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,580 health nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $134.5M on record — $134.5M federal, $7k state.
- Department of Homeland Security$114.9M
- Department of Transportation$9.4M
- Department of Veterans Affairs$4.8M
- Department of Defense$3.3M
- Department of Justice$1.7M
- Department of Commerce$439k
- (EE) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES$7k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND 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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND 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 CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC?
- CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC (New York) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,801,081 to it, the largest being THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HERKIMER AND ONEIDA COUNTIES INC ($808,256). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $1,801,081 in grants to CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC?
- THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF HERKIMER AND ONEIDA COUNTIES INC is the largest funder on record, with $808,256 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTRAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE BLIND INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Central Association for the Blind →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 26 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