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Top Rated

Prevent Blindness

CharityWatch report issued
March 2021

Top-Rated Charity
B+
CharityWatch Grade
Our independent grade based
on a number of factors.
 
78%
Program Percentage
Amount spent on programs
relative to overhead.
 
$20
Cost to Raise $100
Amount spent to raise
$100 of contributions.

Contact Information

Prevent Blindness
225 W. Wacker Drive
Suite 400
Chicago, IL 60606

Other Names

National Society to Prevent Blindness

Tax Status

501(c)3

Stated Mission

To prevent blindness & preserve sight across all ages & multiple eye conditions; focuses on educating the public; promoting advances in public health systems of care; and advocating for public policy that emphasizes early detection & access to appropriate eye care.

View similar charities
Data based on Fiscal Year Ended 03/31/2020

Program Percentage: 78%

The percentage of Prevent Blindness's cash budget it spends on programs relative to overhead (fundraising, management, and general expenses).

$9,700,000

Calculated Total Expenses

(rounded)

 

Cost to Raise $100: $20

How many dollars Prevent Blindness spends on fundraising to raise each $100 of contributions.

$5,500,000

Calculated Total Contributions

(rounded)

Government Funding

25% to 49%

Percentage of cash revenue
coming from government sources

 

Financial Documents

Entity Document Type Tax ID
Prevent Blindness Georgia IRS Form 990 58-6050305
Prevent Blindness Texas IRS Form 990 74-6075105
Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate IRS Form 990 31-6063433
Prevent Blindness, North Carolina Affiliate IRS Form 990 56-6088141
Prevent Blindness Wisconsin IRS Form 990 39-6096227
Prevent Blindness Iowa IRS Form 990 42-6083207
National Society to Prevent Blindness IRS Form 990 36-3667121
National Society to Prevent Blindness & Affiliates Audited Combined Financial Statements Multiple
Entity: Prevent Blindness Georgia
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 58-6050305
Entity: Prevent Blindness Texas
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 74-6075105
Entity: Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 31-6063433
Entity: Prevent Blindness, North Carolina Affiliate
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 56-6088141
Entity: Prevent Blindness Wisconsin
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 39-6096227
Entity: Prevent Blindness Iowa
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 42-6083207
Entity: National Society to Prevent Blindness
Document Type: IRS Form 990
Tax ID: 36-3667121
Entity: National Society to Prevent Blindness & Affiliates
Document Type: Audited Combined Financial Statements
Tax ID: Multiple

Governance & Transparency

CharityWatch evaluates certain criteria related to a charity's Governance and Transparency. Donors may want to consider a charity's willingness to be open and transparent with CharityWatch to be a good litmus test for determining its commitment to public accountability.
This charity is Top-Rated
What does it mean to be Top-Rated?
 
Prevent Blindness
meets governance benchmarks.
 
Prevent Blindness
meets transparency benchmarks.
Transparency
Provides Financial Information
Audit Accessibility
Governance: Policies
Reports regularly & consistently monitoring & enforcing compliance with a written Conflict of Interest Policy
Reports required, annual disclosure by officers, directors, and key staff of interests that could give rise to conflicts
Reports having a written Whistleblower Policy
Reports having a written Document Retention and Destruction Policy
Governance: Financials
Reports providing copy of tax form to all board members prior to filing it with IRS
Reports that financial statements were audited by an independent accountant
Governance: Board of Directors
Reports at least 5 voting board members
51% or more of voting board members reported as independent
Reports documenting minutes of board and board committee meetings
Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy Opt-Out Policy  

  Name Title Compensation
1 Jeffrey P. Todd President/CEO $254,551
2 Kathy Nelson VP Field Relations $175,805
3 Karen Hartman VP/CFO $148,919
1
Name: Jeffrey P. Todd
Title: President/CEO
Compensation: $254,551
2
Name: Kathy Nelson
Title: VP Field Relations
Compensation: $175,805
3
Name: Karen Hartman
Title: VP/CFO
Compensation: $148,919

CharityWatch Analysts perform an in-depth analysis of charities' audited financial statements and IRS tax filings, and often review other documents such as state filings, annual reports, and fundraising contracts during their evaluations. Below are select notes that CharityWatch believes may be of interest to donors.

CharityWatch's rating of Prevent Blindness for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020 includes the financial activities of the National Society to Prevent Blindness (d/b/a Prevent Blindness), as well as the financial activities of the following Prevent Blindness Affiliates: (1) Prevent Blindness North Carolina; (2) Prevent Blindness Iowa; (3) Prevent Blindness Wisconsin; (4) Prevent Blindness Texas; (5) Prevent Blindness Georgia; and (6) Prevent Blindness, Ohio Affiliate. Intercompany transactions have been eliminated in the audit combination.

"The Affiliates share a portion of their public support with Prevent Blindness in accordance with their affiliation agreements and are controlled by their local Boards of Directors," according to Note 1 of the Prevent Blindness & Affiliates fiscal 2020 combined audit.

According to the Prevent Blindness & Affiliates audited Combined Statement of Activities and Changes in Net Assets for the year ended March 31, 2020, Prevent Blindness received in-kind contributions on which it placed a total value of $117,274.

[Note: CharityWatch generally excludes the value of in-kind (non-cash) donations of goods and services from its calculations of Program % and Cost to Raise $100. More information on how grades are calculated and the treatment of in-kind donations can be found on the Our Process page.]

According to the Prevent Blindness & Affiliates combined audit of March 31, 2020 (Note 11, Contingency, COVID-19):

"On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a global health emergency because of a new strain of coronavirus (the COVID-19 outbreak) and the risks to the international community as the virus spreads globally... In March 2020, the WHO classified the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic, based on the rapid increase in exposure globally.

"The full impact of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to evolve as of the date of this report [October 28, 2020]. As such, it is uncertain as to the full magnitude that the pandemic will have on Prevent Blindness' financial condition, liquidity, and future results of operations. Management is actively monitoring the global situation on its financial condition, liquidity, operations, suppliers, industry, and workforce. Given the daily evolution of the COVID-19 outbreak and the global responses to curb its spread, Prevent Blindness is not able to estimate the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on its results of operations, financial condition, or liquidity for the fiscal year 2021."


According to the Prevent Blindness & Affiliates combined audit of March 31, 2020 (Note 11, Contingency, CARES Act):

"On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The CARES Act, among other things, includes provisions relating to refundable payroll tax credits... It also appropriated funds for the SBA [Small Business Administration] Paycheck Protection Program loans that are forgivable in certain situations to promote continued employment, as well as Economic Injury Disaster Loans to provide liquidity to small businesses harmed by COVID-19. Refer to Note 12 [cited in a separate Analysts' Note, below] for information related to the SBA PPP loans received by Prevent Blindness."

According to the Prevent Blindness & Affiliates combined audit of March 31, 2020 (Note 12, Subsequent Events):

"Prevent Blindness has evaluated subsequent events through October 28, 2020, the date the [audited] combined financial statements were available to be issued.

"On April 15, 2020, the National Society to Prevent Blindness executed, in good faith, a PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loan totaling $421,700 with an interest rate of 1%. No payments are due on this loan for six months from the date of the loan. Interest will continue to accrue during the deferment period. Loan payments of principal and interest are due monthly over the remaining 18 months of the loan. The SBA [Small Business Administration] will forgive the loan if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. While the National Society to Prevent Blindness anticipates the full portion of the loan to be forgiven, the organization must comply with the stipulations of the loan and the SBA will have to authorize any forgiveness of part or all of the outstanding loan balances.

"On April 26, 2020, the Texas Society to Prevent Blindness, Inc. executed, in good faith, a PPP loan totaling $144,700 with an interest rate of 1%. No payments are due on this loan for six months from the date of the loan. Interest will continue to accrue during the deferment period. Loan payments of principal and interest are due monthly over the remaining 18 months of the loan. The SBA will forgive the loan if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest or utilities. While the Texas Society to Prevent Blindness anticipates the full portion of the loan to be forgiven, the organization must comply with the stipulations of the loan and the SBA will have to authorize any forgiveness of part or all of the outstanding loan balances.

"On June 25, 2020, the Texas Society to Prevent Blindness, Inc. executed an additional SBA PPP loan totaling $150,000 with an interest rate of 2.75%. Loan payments of principal and interest of $641 are due monthly and will commence 12 months from the date of the loan, with a maturity date of June 2050. The Texas Society to Prevent Blindness, Inc. may use proceeds of the loan solely as working capital to alleviate economic injury caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

"On June 26, 2020, Prevent Blindness Georgia received an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) in the amount of $150,000 from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Prevent Blindness Georgia is required to use all the proceeds of this loan solely as working capital to alleviate economic injury caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Installment payments, including principal and interest of $642 monthly, will begin 12 months from the date of the promissory note. The balance of principal and interest will be payable 30 years from the date of the promissory note. Interest will accrue at the rate of 2.75% per annum. This loan is collateralized by all assets of Prevent Blindness Georgia.

"Refer to Note 11 [cited, in part, in a separate Analysts' Note, above] for information related to the CARES Act that triggered the SBA PPP Loans.

"In June 2020, Prevent Blindness North Carolina was awarded a block grant from the State of North Carolina in the amount of $1,036,997."

According to the Prevent Blindness Iowa (PB Iowa) tax filing for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, PB Iowa reports for Business Transactions Involving Interested Persons that its board chair is "employed by bank we use," and a board member is "employed by 403b administer." The dollar amount associated with each of the transactions is reported as $0 (IRS Form 990, Schedule L, Part IV).


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