California · Nonprofit
SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION
SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION (California) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $522,500 to it, the largest being KIEVE FOUNDATION ($165,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4k
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $523k
- Net assets
- $36k
What San Jose Light Tower Corporation does
Mission
The mission of the San Jose Light Tower Corporation is to build an iconic landmark for san jose and silicon valley that is respected by people around the world and is the must-see place to visit in silicon valley by both locals and visitors.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
International ideas competition to identify a design for an iconic landmark to be installed in arena green in san jose, ca.
$45,004 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $45,004.
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 $96k to $649k (+576%).
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: 2019 25%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Steve Borkenhagen
Executive director
Board chair
Sean O'Kane
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income fell $100k → $50k.
3 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $244k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Silicon Valley Community Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION raised.
From the IRS filings of SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION’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 JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 75% · 2019 100% · 2020 49% · 2021 43% · 2022 53% · 2023 50% — 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
0% of SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 27% 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
74% of SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $40k 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
SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION's revenue fell 97% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 14,550 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2024
Organizations like SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
62%
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 SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION: 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 SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION?
- SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION (California) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $522,500 to it, the largest being KIEVE FOUNDATION ($165,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $522,500 in grants to SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION?
- KIEVE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $165,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SAN JOSE LIGHT TOWER CORPORATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Jose Light Tower →
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 11 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