Foundation for Vision Research

Tax-deductible

Grand Rapids, MI501(c)(3)Since 2016Medical ResearchEIN 81-5141432

To fund research devoted to the vision sciences including investigation for better understanding of the causes of vision loss. To conduct research to further understand vision loss and develop treatments to address those conditions. To receive and administer funds and assets for charitable, educational and scientific purposes as set forth in section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986, as amended (the "code"), or any corresponding provision of any subsequent federal tax laws, including the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt organizations under code section 501(c)(3). To conduct educational events directed to health care professionals and the public to bring attention to vision threatening eye diseases and provide information as to potential preventative measures.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
98¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$170K 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

FY2024 · 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
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $187K a year · 29% of revenue · last 5 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
98%
of spending
Looks good: 98% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$170K
to officers and key staff · 23% of spending
Top officer’s pay higher than 62% of similar orgs
Worth a look: pay to officers and key staff is 23% of spending; over 20%.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
19 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 18.6 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $10K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$1K
0.09% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
2
of 6 voting members
Worth a look: 2 of 6 voting members are independent, under half.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$931K
+35% vs prior year
Spent
$743K
To programs
98%
Net assets
$1.4M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$931K
FY2024▲ +35%
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$522K
FY2021$637K
FY2022$734K
FY2023$652K
FY2024$691K
FY2024$931K
Expenses
$743K
FY2024▲ +22%
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$326K
FY2021$404K
FY2022$423K
FY2023$539K
FY2024$609K
FY2024$743K
Net assets
$1.4M
FY2024▲ +17%
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$472K
FY2021$705K
FY2022$1.0M
FY2023$1.1M
FY2024$1.2M
FY2024$1.4M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jan 2018.

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

Where the money goes

98 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 98% · $728K Management & general 2% · $15K

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

Who runs it and what they're paid

7 people listed on the 990; $170K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
$89,763Pt VII · Sec A
Executive Di
$80,354Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Board Member
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Dr Thomas M Aaberg JR’s $90K as President is at the 62nd percentile of top reported officer pay among 328 $100K–1M medical research 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 · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Dr Thomas M Aaberg JR$89,763$77,448$39,423——
Kathryn E Aaberg$80,354$70,225$60,094——
Barbara N Hart———$54,569$51,993

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.

See Foundation for Vision Research executive salaries →

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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 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Funds research and education to understand and treat vision loss.

Provided by the organization

This section is blank until Foundation for Vision Research claims this page.

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1 program service account for $728K of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

In furtherence of its exempt purpose the foundation continues vision research to better understand the causes of vision loss and to develop treatments to address those conditions.

$728Kprogram expense

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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 1 funder$10K

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$931K
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$863K
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$46K
Investment incomeLn 3$22K
Money outPt IX
$743K
Ln 25
Programscol B$728K
Managementcol C$15K
Owns and owesPt X
$1.4M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$1.2M
Total assetsLn 16$1.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1K
PeoplePt VI, VII
7
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a6
IndependentVI 1b2
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$46K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$863K
Investment incomeLn 3$22K
Total revenueLn 12$931K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$1.2M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$1.2M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$34K
Other assetsLn 15$63K
Total assetsLn 16$1.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1K
Net assetsLn 32$1.4M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 510
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$1.0M$1.2M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$41K$34K
Total assetsLn 16$1.2M$1.4M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1K$1K
Net assetsLn 32$1.2M$1.4M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$170K$170K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$348K$348K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$43K$43K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$34K$34K
Payroll taxesLn 10$40K$40K
Management feesLn 11a$2K$2K
Legal feesLn 11b$546$546
Accounting feesLn 11c$13K$13K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$6K$6K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$2K$2K
Office expensesLn 13$4K$4K
Information technologyLn 14$2K$2K
OccupancyLn 16$59K$59K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$9K$9K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$8K$8K
InsuranceLn 23$4K$4K
Total functional expensesLn 25$743K$728K$15K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 $691K$609K$82K$1.2M 990 PDF
FY2023 $652K$539K$113K$1.1M 990 PDF
FY2022 $734K$423K$312K$1.0M 990 PDF
FY2021 $637K$404K$233K$705K 990 PDF
FY2020 $522K$326K$195K$472K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $931,107 across 5 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$45,778
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$45,778
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $863,179$863,179
VIII-3 Investment incomeRelated to mission $22,150$22,150
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $885,329$931,107
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $743,053 across 16 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $170,117$170,117
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $347,753$347,753
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $42,935$42,935
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $34,123$34,123
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $39,507$39,507
IX-11a Management feesManagement $1,500$1,500
IX-11b Legal feesManagement $546$546
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $12,662$12,662
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $5,806$5,806
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $2,236$2,236
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $3,618$3,618
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $2,005$2,005
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $58,558$58,558
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $9,378$9,378
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $8,268$8,268
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $4,041$4,041
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $728,345 · Management $14,708 · Fundraising $0$743,053
Part X · Balance sheet $1,413,174 assets, 10 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $1,022,685$1,152,530
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $98,913$164,120
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $40,908$34,020
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $50,000$62,504
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $1,212,506$1,413,174
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $1,122$1,233
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $1,122$1,233
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $1,211,384$1,411,941
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $1,211,384$1,411,941
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $1,212,506$1,413,174
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,411,941 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$931,107
XI-2 Total expenses$743,053
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$188,054
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$1,211,384
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$12,503
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$1,411,941

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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