Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND
COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,259,611 to it, the largest being THE FEINBERG FOUNDATION ($235,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.1M
- Funders on record
- 28
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $2.0M
What Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind does
Mission
To provide blind and visually impaired people in the metropolitan washington area, and nationwide where appropriate, with programs, services and information that advance their opportunity to attain independent and fulfilling lives.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Government:Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind's (clb) employment and training department ensures that all consumers who are visually impaired or blind who want to be employed have the skills, resources and necessary training to obtain a job and achieve success in the workplace. Clb hires individuals who are blind and visually impaired to provide employment through our contract with the federal government.
$3,733,682 spent$5,230,344 earned by the program84% of program spendingRehabilitation department:clb offers comprehensive rehabilitation services to help individuals who are blind and visually impaired reassert control and independence in their lives. Consumers develop skills that allow independent living at home, school, work, and in the community.
$327,871 spent7% of program spendingProgram support:this department provides administrative support to all of the programs to include information and referral, intake and entry in a consumer database, assignment of authorizations, consulting assignments, transportation requests, and other adminstrative duties as needed.
$250,197 spent6% of program spendingLow vision program:Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind empowers individuals with vision loss to maximize their remaining sight and maintain independence. Our low-vision eye care specialists assess functional vision and identify challenges in everyday activities such as reading, mobility, and personal care. Based on each patient's unique needs, we provide access to clinical evaluations, optical aids (including enhanced lenses, magnifiers, and adaptive lighting), and electronic technologies that support continued work, learning, and safe independent living. When appropriate, the low vision clinic also connects patients to rehabilitation services to further strengthen their skills and confidence.
$113,998 spent$243,754 earned by the program3% of program spendingChildren's programs:these programs start at birth to help build the skills and self-confidence necessary for future independence. Programs include annual events, braille book club, holiday activities, reading rally, summer camps, early intervention services, teen groups and parent workshops.
$19,681 spent0% of program spendingTechnology training:Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind provides assistive technology training to help individuals with vision loss communicate effectively, access information, and perform daily tasks independently. Consumers receive personalized assessments to identify the tools and features best suited to their needs, followed by hands-on instruction to build confidence and proficiency. Training includes the use of adaptive software and devicessuch as screen readers, magnification programs, and wearable technology to reduce barriers, increase productivity, and support a successful adjustment to blindness.
$5,944 spent0% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,451,373.
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 2017 to 2018, from $3.6M to $2.6M (−28%).
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 2% · 2018 6% · 2019 5% · 2020 13% · 2021 2% · 2022 2% · 2023 3% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
9% of COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Anthony J Cancelosi
President and CEO
Board chair
Amy Dufrane
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $89k → $159k.
9 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE 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
COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
54% 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 COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 29% · 2019 40% · 2020 63% · 2021 20% · 2022 31% · 2023 31% — 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
48% of COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $374k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND's funding base is broadening — from 9 funders to 11 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $32.9M on record — $32.7M federal, $201k state.
- Department of Defense$22.3M
- Department of State$4.0M
- Department of the Interior$3.5M
- Department of Veterans Affairs$1.5M
- Department of Education$945k
- Department of Justice$425k
- MD$200k
- VT$511
- CT$500
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 COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 26 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE 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 COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND?
- COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,259,611 to it, the largest being THE FEINBERG FOUNDATION ($235,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND have?
- IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $1,259,611 in grants to COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND?
- THE FEINBERG FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $235,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLUMBIA LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 Columbia Lighthouse 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 28 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