Maryland · Nonprofit
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND (Maryland) receives grants from 129 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,292,082 to it, the largest being AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND ($1,413,496). 86 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $24M
- Funders on record
- 129
- Grants received
- $6.3M
- Net assets
- $42M
What The National Federation of the Blind does
Mission
Integrating the blind into society
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Blindness integration - seek to integrate the blind into society on a basis of equality through broad based interaction with blind persons, their families and members of the general public utilizing multiple venues, media and activities. All blind persons and persons with visual disabilities in the united states (approximately over 8.5 million as reported by the united states census department) are potentially benefited by these activities (see schedule o).
$5,261,206 spentof which $5,120 as grants31% of program spendingCivil rights, advocacy and self-organization - protect civil rights, strengthen self-organization, monitor and improve governmental and other services, advocate for and conduct projects to meet social, educational, economic and employment needs of the blind. All blind persons and persons with visual disabilities in the united states (approximately over 8.5 million as reported by the united states census department) are potentially benefited by these activities (see schedule o).
$6,822,197 spentof which $236,234 as grants40% of program spendingNonvisual access systems - develop, promote, evaluate and distribute nonvisual access technology, devices, methods and systems that remove vision based barriers preventing full participation by the blind in society. All blind persons and persons with visual disabilities in the united states (approximately over 8.5 million as reported by the united states census department) are potentially benefited by these activities (see schedule o).
$4,782,010 spentof which $433,310 as grants28% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,865,413.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2024 to 2025, from $36M to $43M (+19%).
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: 2020 15% · 2021 8% · 2022 10% · 2023 10% · 2024 7% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
89% of THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (7% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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
John Berggren
Executive director of operations
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 32 funders to 53 funders, grant income rose $216k → $674k.
16 of 129 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 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 129 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
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
74% 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 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 20% · 2019 19% · 2020 30% · 2021 27% · 2022 24% · 2023 26% — 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
37% of THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND draws 55% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 30 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,969 health nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,969 health nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.3M on record — $3.3M federal, $1.0M state.
- National Science Foundation$2.6M
- Department of Health and Human Services$378k
- National Archives and Records Administration$301k
- MD$751k
- VT$240k
- OK$24k
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 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 37 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF 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 THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND?
- THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND (Maryland) receives grants from 129 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,292,082 to it, the largest being AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND ($1,413,496). 86 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND have?
- IRS filings report 129 organizations giving $6,292,082 in grants to THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND, 86 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND?
- AMERICAN BROTHERHOOD FOR THE BLIND is the largest funder on record, with $1,413,496 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 129 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing