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Texas · Nonprofit

SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND

SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND (Texas) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,403,581 to it, the largest being FREEMAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION #2113 ($555,833). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$31M
Funders on record
30
Grants received
$2.4M
Net assets
$60M
21/30 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 1%
01What it does

What San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind does

Mission

San antonio lighthouse (vibrant works) is a not-for-profit corporation which provides vocational training and employment through the industrial division for individuals who are legally or totally blind.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. The vibrant works' industrial division provides employment for blind & vision impaired persons in the manufacturing and assembling of products. Vibrant works' is the third largest manufacturing operation in san antonio and the largest manufacturer of military apparel in the city. In addition to the textile production, vibrant works' manufactures office supplies, oil analysis kits and floorboards and blankets for boeing. As of year-end, vibrant works' employs over 500 employees and has won numerous awards for employment.

    $12,758,878 spent$11,696,054 earned by the program
    52% of program spending
  2. Vibrant works' community services division provides evaluation and training for the development of job skills, including assistive technology to enable the blind & vision impaired to obtain employment. Vibrant works' has recently added a low vision clinic and a blind youth education program. The rehab department served over 3,000 clients this past year.

    $2,671,369 spent$4,044,972 earned by the program
    11% of program spending
  3. Vibrant works' base service stores provide employment for blind and vision impaired persons while also providing a market for vibrant works' products. Vibrant works' has a total of 13 stores covering military installations throughout texas, oklahoma, and new mexico. The base service stores are also serviced by an e-commerce website.

    $8,119,386 spent$11,166,204 earned by the program
    33% of program spending
  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $1,041,865 spentof which $6,000 as grants$396,740 earned by the program
    4% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $24,591,498.

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 ($19M) Expenses 100 ($18M) Net assets 100 ($35M)2018 Revenue 104 ($20M) Expenses 108 ($20M) Net assets 103 ($36M)2019 Revenue 147 ($28M) Expenses 133 ($24M) Net assets 117 ($41M)2020 Revenue 194 ($37M) Expenses 147 ($27M) Net assets 133 ($47M)2021 Revenue 178 ($34M) Expenses 158 ($29M) Net assets 171 ($60M)2022 Revenue 138 ($26M) Expenses 144 ($26M) Net assets 167 ($59M)2023 Revenue 151 ($29M) Expenses 157 ($29M) Net assets 155 ($54M)2024 Revenue 175 ($34M) Expenses 176 ($32M) Net assets 169 ($59M)2025 Revenue 160 ($31M) Expenses 164 ($30M) Net assets 172 ($60M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (160)Expenses (164)Net assets (172)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 $58M to $75M (+29%).

$42M
$48M
$54M
$58M
$75M
$68M
$69M
$70M
$70M
'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: 2023 9% · 2024 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

5% of SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (21% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 3,400 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$960k
’17
$287k
’18
$4.0M
’19
$10M
’20
$5.2M
’21
$216k
’22
$324k
’23
$1.6M
’24
$809k
’25
0.5
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

Cindy Watson

President/CEO

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed282928282829282728
Joined·+5+2+4+4+9+6+9+8
No longer listed·434487107
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $159k → $368k.

7 of 30 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 SAN ANTONIO 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

SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% 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

81% 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 SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND.

23%
largest funder
46%
top three
~9
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 43% · 2019 27% · 2020 29% · 2021 22% · 2022 28% · 2023 29% — broadly stable.

“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

67% of SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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

79% of SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND's grant income comes from Texas funders.

OH
NE
VA
TX

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $730k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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

SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND's funding base is broadening — from 9 funders to 13 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin3% · below the median
Months of reserve0.5mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)6% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Government funding SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $234.1M on record.

Federal$234.1M
grants $600kcontracts $233.5M
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • Department of Defense$231.8M
  • General Services Administration$1.0M
  • Department of Health and Human Services$621k
  • Department of the Treasury$290k
  • Department of Homeland Security$171k
  • Department of Justice$103k

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 SAN ANTONIO 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 Texas

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

82% of spending goes to programs.

Program 82%Management 15%Fundraising 2%

Governance

20
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

78%

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

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SAN ANTONIO 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.

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 SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND?
SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND (Texas) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,403,581 to it, the largest being FREEMAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION #2113 ($555,833). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND have?
IRS filings report 30 organizations giving $2,403,581 in grants to SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND?
FREEMAN EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION #2113 is the largest funder on record, with $555,833 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SAN ANTONIO LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 San Antonio Lighthouse for the Blind →

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 30 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