Sight.org exists to proclaim the gospel to the most unserved regions of Africa by combating blindness through surgery and prevention.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
70¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$61K paid to officers and key staff.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · Pay: Part VII

Before you give

FY2021 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
3 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $19K a year · 4% of revenue · last 5 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 3 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
70%
of spending
Fine: 70% of spending went to programs; 65% to 75%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$61K
to officers and key staff · 16% of spending
Fine: pay to officers and key staff is 16% of spending; 15% to 20%.
Pt VII · Sec A
5 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 5.1 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
3
named funders · $66K
Looks good: 3 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$24K
9% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 9% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
5
of 6 voting members
Looks good: 5 of 6 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$482K
+51% vs prior year
Spent
$380K
To programs
70%
Net assets
$233K
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$482K
FY2021▲ +51%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$319K
FY2021$482K
FY2022$402K
FY2023$454K
FY2024$634K
Expenses
$380K
FY2021▲ +34%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$283K
FY2021$380K
FY2022$412K
FY2023$532K
FY2024$590K
Net assets
$233K
FY2021▲ +83%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$128K
FY2021$233K
FY2022$224K
FY2023$146K
FY2024$189K

From the FY2021 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

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You’re viewing the FY2021 filing — not the latest on file. See the latest (FY2024) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Oct 2012.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

70 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 70% · $267K Management & general 14% · $55K Fundraising 15% · $58K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

7 people listed on the 990; $61K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Director
$60,975Pt VII · Sec A
Board President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Lewis Swann’s $65K as Executive Director is at the 60th percentile of top reported officer pay among 1636 $100K–1M international nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Lewis Swann$65,165$66,540$66,177$60,975$71,593

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Combats blindness in Africa through surgery and prevention to share the gospel.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $267K · in their own filed words · FY2021
01

In this year's fight against blindness, our medical team performed 1,300 sight-restoring eye surgeries in Togo. These surgeries included cataract removal that had developed to the point of blindness, pterygium, strabismus, and eye tumors-and the focused demographic included adults and children from rural regions of Togo without access to…

$239Kprogram expense
02

Since our work began in 2012, eye surgeries have proven to be an excellent conduit for sharing the gospel. Togo and the neighboring nation, Benin, are the birthplaces of the voodoo religion. As a result of voodoo beliefs, many of our patients believe they are blind due to being cursed.

$19Kprogram expense
03

Our farming instructor trained four students this year in modern organic farming techniques and made preparations to increase the student body through the development of drip irrigation. This training teaches farmers to produce much more food and increase nutrition significantly. The root cause of most eye diseases is malnutrition.

$9Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
Total grants receivedfrom 3 funders$66K
See all 3 funders →

By the numbers

The FY2021 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$482K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$482K
Money outPt IX
$380K
Ln 25
Programscol B$267K
Managementcol C$55K
Fundraisingcol D$58K
Owns and owesPt X
$233K
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$160K
Total assetsLn 16$258K
LiabilitiesLn 26$24K
PeoplePt VI, VII
7
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a6
IndependentVI 1b5
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$482K
Government grantsLn 1e$18K
Noncash giftsLn 1g$0
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$0
Total revenueLn 12$482K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$160K
SavingsLn 2$0
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$160K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$84K
Total assetsLn 16$258K
LiabilitiesLn 26$24K
Net assetsLn 32$233K
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 52
VolunteersI 65
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY21End FY21
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$69K$160K
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$85K$84K
Total assetsLn 16$154K$258K
LiabilitiesLn 26$22K$24K
Net assetsLn 32$132K$233K
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$66K$33K$13K$20K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$77K$45K$6K$27K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$467$467
Other employee benefitsLn 9$1K$1K
Payroll taxesLn 10$9K$4K$1K$4K
Management feesLn 11a$0$0$0$0
Legal feesLn 11b$0$0$0$0
Accounting feesLn 11c$16K$0$16K$0
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$46K$46K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$7K$7K
Office expensesLn 13$6K$3K$3K$539
Information technologyLn 14$5K$5K
OccupancyLn 16$3K$1K$2K
TravelLn 17$20K$17K$2K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$105$105
InterestLn 20$223$223
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$9K$9K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$102K$102K$145$0
All other expensesLn 24e$11K$5K$6K
Total functional expensesLn 25$380K$267K$55K$58K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest $634K$590K$44K$189K 990 PDF
FY2023 $454K$532K−$78K$146K 990 PDF
FY2022 $402K$412K−$10K$224K 990 PDF
FY2021 Viewing $482K$380K$102K$233K 990 PDF
FY2020 $319K$283K$36K$128K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $481,584 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $319,028$481,584
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $0$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $0$0
I-11 Other revenuePrior year −$41$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $318,987$481,584
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $105,418$153,284
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $37,342$226,370
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $142,760$379,654
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $176,227$101,930
Part VI · Governance 5 of 6 board members independent, 2 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body6
VI-1b Independent voting members5
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $481,584 across 9 lines filed
VIII-1a Federated campaigns$0
VIII-1b Membership dues$0
VIII-1c Fundraising events$0
VIII-1d Related organizations$0
VIII-1e Government grants$18,377
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$463,207
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$0
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$481,584
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $0$481,584
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $379,654 across 20 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $33,198 · Management $13,279 · Fundraising $19,919$66,396
IX-6 Pay of disqualified persons$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $44,538 · Management $5,680 · Fundraising $26,539$76,757
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $467$467
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $1,018$1,018
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $3,642 · Management $1,450 · Fundraising $3,554$8,646
IX-11a Management feesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $0 · Management $0 · Fundraising $0$0
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $0 · Management $16,312 · Fundraising $0$16,312
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $45,890$45,890
IX-12 Advertising and promotionFundraising $7,030$7,030
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $2,917 · Management $2,735 · Fundraising $539$6,191
IX-14 Information technologyManagement $4,780$4,780
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $1,337 · Management $1,985$3,322
IX-17 TravelPrograms $17,179 · Management $2,500$19,679
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsManagement $105$105
IX-20 InterestPrograms $223$223
IX-21 Payments to affiliatesPrograms $9,389$9,389
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $102,345 · Management $145 · Fundraising $0$102,490
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $5,021 · Management $5,938$10,959
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $267,164 · Management $54,909 · Fundraising $57,581$379,654
Part X · Balance sheet $257,569 assets, 11 lines filed
Asset lines not itemized here account for $13,742; see the IRS return.
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $68,712$160,247
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $24$0
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $84,773$83,580
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $153,509$257,569
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expenses$9,602
X-24 Unsecured notes and loans payableStart of year $21,958$14,486
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $21,958$24,088
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $17,254$25,515
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $114,297$207,966
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $131,551$233,481
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $153,509$257,569
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $233,481 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$481,584
XI-2 Total expenses$379,654
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$101,930
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$131,551
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$0
XI-6 Donated services and use of facilities$0
XI-7 Investment expenses$0
XI-8 Prior period adjustments$0
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$233,481

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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