Georgia · Nonprofit
SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC
SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC (Georgia) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $26 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($26). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $26
- Net assets
- $5.1M
What Southern Light Rail Inc does
Mission
Organization's mission or most significant activities as an affiliate of the georgia institute of technology Southern Light Rail Inc (dba sounthern crossroads or sox) is to facilitate access to current and future highly integrated, digital communication services for education, research and economic development within the southeast region, across the united states and abroad. The organization provides the education and reseach community with connectivity services to various networks including the internet2 network and the energy sciences network. The organization also offers commodity internet access and network monitoring, engineering and technical support services to participants of the organization.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Southern light rail is designed to facilitate access to current and future highly integrated, digital communication services for education, research and economic development within the southeast, the united states and abroad. Currently, there are (28) single participants, (3) state aggregators, (2) federal agency participants and (1) non-profit genomic research agency. This is in addition to (130) network port connections to both participant and their affiliated organizations to enhance and catalyze innovative research and development into next generation network technologies,protocols, services and applications.
$3,350,304 spent$1,999,412 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $3,350,304.
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 2023 to 2024, from $5.0M to $5.4M (+9%).
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: 2018 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
43% of SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (51% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 9 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.
Board chair
Tim Lieuwen
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $5 → $16.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL 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.
Where its funders are
100% of SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $26 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 4,665 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,665 health nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $793k on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$697k
- Department of Agriculture$96k
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 SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL 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 Georgia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 11 related entities
- Georgia Institute of Technology · exempt
- Georgia Tech Research Foundation · exempt
- Georgia Tech Facilities Inc · exempt
- Georgia Tech Athletic Association · exempt
- Home Park Learning Center · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL 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 SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC?
- SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC (Georgia) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $26 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($26). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $26 in grants to SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC?
- AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $26 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Georgia. 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 Southern Light Rail →
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 1 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