Skip to content

Massachusetts · Nonprofit

NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC

NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,949,054 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($423,147). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$4.3M
Funders on record
76
Grants received
$3.9M
Net assets
$9.7M
50/76 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 12%
01What it does

What National Braille Press Inc does

Mission

The guiding purposes are to promote the literacy of blind children through braille and to provide access to information that empowers blind people to actively engage in work, family, and community affairs.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Promotes literacy for young blind children through the readbooks programs.

    $98,547 spent
    3% of program spending
  2. Produces tests and textbooks for use in schools so visually impaired students can have the same materials as all other students.

    $584,927 spent$1,355,049 earned by the program
    18% of program spending
  3. Produces publications and books in braille to benefit visually impaired individuals who rely on these publications to keep abreast of current events and other information.

    $528,587 spent$244,216 earned by the program
    16% of program spending
  4. Promotes literacy for young blind children through the childrens braille book club program.

    $2,072,848 spent$1,053,395 earned by the program
    63% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,284,909.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($4.0M) Expenses 100 ($4.1M) Net assets 100 ($6.1M)2018 Revenue 115 ($4.5M) Expenses 99 ($4.1M) Net assets 111 ($6.8M)2019 Revenue 145 ($5.7M) Expenses 108 ($4.4M) Net assets 127 ($7.8M)2020 Revenue 127 ($5.0M) Expenses 111 ($4.5M) Net assets 124 ($7.6M)2021 Revenue 136 ($5.4M) Expenses 106 ($4.4M) Net assets 163 ($9.9M)2022 Revenue 131 ($5.2M) Expenses 112 ($4.6M) Net assets 168 ($10M)2023 Revenue 112 ($4.4M) Expenses 109 ($4.5M) Net assets 156 ($9.5M)2024 Revenue 107 ($4.2M) Expenses 109 ($4.5M) Net assets 162 ($9.9M)2025 Revenue 108 ($4.3M) Expenses 105 ($4.3M) Net assets 159 ($9.7M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (108)Expenses (105)Net assets (159)Peer revenue range

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 $7.8M to $10M (+31%).

$6.9M
$7.3M
$8.1M
$7.8M
$10M
$11M
$9.8M
$10M
$10M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

21% of NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$138k
’17
$476k
’18
$1.3M
’19
$481k
’20
$1.0M
’21
$577k
’22
−$66k
’23
−$245k
’24
−$51k
’25
3.8
months of
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

Brian Macdonald

President/CEO/clerk

Board chair

Danny Hirce

Chairperson

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed303029303127333232
Joined·+3+3+6+1+8+13+10+0
No longer listed·3450127110
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 34 funders, grant income rose $216k → $483k.

13 of 76 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 76 funders by total. 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

NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left

32% 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 NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC.

11%
largest funder
26%
top three
~24
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 18% · 2018 21% · 2019 35% · 2020 16% · 2021 8% · 2022 16% · 2023 21% — 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

42% of NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC draws 50% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 22 states in all.

WA
ID
IL
NY
MA
NV
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
TN
NC
DC
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $940k arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC is better cushioned than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−1% · below the median
Months of reserve3.8mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)1% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $121k on record.

State$121k
09
10
11
12
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
By state
  • MA$117k
  • VT$4k
  • DE$52

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 NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS 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 Massachusetts

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

76% of spending goes to programs.

Program 76%Management 13%Fundraising 11%

Governance

29
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

97%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC?
NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 76 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,949,054 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($423,147). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC have?
IRS filings report 76 organizations giving $3,949,054 in grants to NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC, 50 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $423,147 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like NATIONAL BRAILLE PRESS INC 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.

Play a game about who funds National Braille Press →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 76 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