Foundation for Blind children's mission is to provide education, tools and services that enable all persons with vision loss to achieve greater independence. Our vision is a world where vision loss is a diagnosis, not a disability. Foundation for Blind Children values exceptional service, advocacy, great work environment, community partnerships and financial responsibility.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
85¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
$705K 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
FY2025
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2025, 1 tax year back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
2 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $97K a year · under 1% of revenue · last 5 filings
Worth a look: a surplus in 2 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
85%
of spending
Looks good: 85% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$705K
to officers and key staff · 7% of spending
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 7% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
9 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 8.6 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $13K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$1.9M
6% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 6% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
25
of 25 voting members
Looks good: 25 of 25 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$9.2M
Spent
$9.5M
To programs
85%
Net assets
$27.6M
By yearFY2021–FY2025
Revenue
$9.2M
FY2021
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2021$9.2M
FY2022$12.8M
FY2023$11.2M
FY2024$14.3M
FY2025$14.6M
Expenses
$9.5M
FY2021
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2021$9.5M
FY2022$10.7M
FY2023$12.6M
FY2024$15.0M
FY2025$13.8M
Net assets
$27.6M
FY2021
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2021$27.6M
FY2022$29.0M
FY2023$28.2M
FY2024$28.5M
FY2025$30.5M

From the FY2021 Form 990 (year ending June 2021) · 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 (FY2025) →

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Mar 1968.

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

Where the money goes

85 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 85% · $8.1M Management & general 10% · $990K Fundraising 4% · $402K

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

32 people listed on the 990; $705K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation · most recent filed roster (FY2020); the FY2021 filing did not itemize Part VII
$213,580Pt VII · Sec A
Optometrist
$148,605Pt VII · Sec A
$118,678Pt VII · Sec A
And Development Director
$107,474Pt VII · Sec A
Chief of Staff
$105,873Pt VII · Sec A
Controller
$10,523Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Assistant Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Marc Ashton’s $468K as CEO (through 6/28/24) is at the 81st percentile of top reported officer pay among 249 $10–100M diseases & disorders 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 · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2025FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Marc Ashton$468,472$240,216$241,312$224,468$213,580
Jared Kittelson$191,538—$143,675$125,528$118,678
Jared Kittelson Assoc CEO—$170,968———
Lisa Chiles————$148,605
Barbra Smith$137,514$124,739$113,319$120,229$105,873
Julie Oliver$129,178$117,424$106,131$103,533—
Christopher Hawk$118,316$103,058———
Joy Calles$115,119$103,559———

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 15aYes

Programs and updates

Empowering people with vision loss through education, tools, and services for independence.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $6.0M · in their own filed words · FY2020
01

Foundation for blind children's campus-based program serves grades pre-k through 4TH grade. Students learn skills aligned to the expanded core curriculum, which are the skills that a child with a visual impairment needs to access the same curriculum as their sighted peers.

$3.1Mprogram expense
02

Itinerant vision teachers travel throughout maricopa county teaching students in their homes, public, districts, charter and private schools. Our goals are to teach children who are visually impaired the compensatory skills that facilitate the same access to information as their sighted peers, help them to progress in their educational…

$1.5Mprogram expense
03

Adult services provide the rehabilitation and training necessary for young adults to transition effectively into college or work and for adults to learn new skills necessary for employment. FBC'S goal is to get blind adults to work.

$1.4Mprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

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

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$13K
Grants paid · 6 grants · $571K · 2021–2024
Unitemized GrantFY2024$191,005
Unitemized GrantFY2024$125,299
Unitemized GrantFY2023$78,672
Unitemized GrantFY2023$57,227
Unitemized GrantFY2022$75,563
Unitemized GrantFY2021$43,274

By the numbers

The FY2021 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$9.2M
Ln 12
Fees for servicesLn 2g$6.0M
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$3.1M
Investment incomeLn 3$168K
Money outPt IX
$9.5M
Ln 25
Programscol B$8.1M
Managementcol C$990K
Fundraisingcol D$402K
Owns and owesPt X
$27.6M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$6.8M
Total assetsLn 16$29.5M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.9M
PeoplePt VI, VII
32
listed · VII A
PaidVII A6
Voting boardVI 1a25
IndependentVI 1b25
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$3.1M
Government grantsLn 1e$1.4M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$429K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$181K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$6.0M
Investment incomeLn 3$168K
Other incomeLn 4–11$25K
Gains on assetsLn 7$13K
Total revenueLn 12$9.2M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$1.8M
SavingsLn 2$5.0M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$6.8M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$5.7M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$12.2M
Other assetsLn 15$185K
Total assetsLn 16$29.5M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.9M
Net assetsLn 32$27.6M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 5171
VolunteersI 6184
Fiscal year endsHeaderJune
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 FY21End FY21
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$6.6M$6.8M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$4.6M$5.7M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$12.5M$12.2M
Total assetsLn 16$28.7M$29.5M
LiabilitiesLn 26$1.9M$1.9M
Net assetsLn 32$26.7M$27.6M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$4K$4K
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$421K$144K$205K$72K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$5.2M$4.5M$418K$222K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$172K$138K$27K$8K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$447K$387K$45K$14K
Payroll taxesLn 10$377K$319K$40K$18K
Accounting feesLn 11c$41K$41K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$54K$54K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$332K$282K$44K$7K
Advertising and promotionLn 12$31K$31K
Office expensesLn 13$161K$123K$16K$21K
OccupancyLn 16$198K$174K$23K$1K
TravelLn 17$41K$41K$338$11
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$20K$14K$4K$1K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$1.5M$1.5M$25K$3K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$590K$538K$49K$3K
Total functional expensesLn 25$9.5M$8.1M$990K$402K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2025 Latest $14.6M$13.8M$854K$30.5M 990 PDF
FY2024 $14.3M$15.0M−$684K$28.5M 990 PDF
FY2023 $11.2M$12.6M−$1.4M$28.2M 990 PDF
FY2022 $12.8M$10.7M$2.1M$29.0M 990 PDF
FY2021 Viewing $9.2M$9.5M−$313K$27.6M 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 M · Noncash J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $9,225,861 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $2,636,635$3,060,012
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $5,588,621$5,973,320
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $166,729$167,583
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $76,423$24,946
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $8,468,408$9,225,861
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$4,110
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $6,232,898$6,587,276
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $2,799,869$2,947,518
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $9,032,767$9,538,904
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year −$564,359−$313,043
Part VI · Governance 25 of 25 board members independent, no flags
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body25
VI-1b Independent voting members25
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $9,225,861 across 11 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $40,585 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1a Federated campaigns$170,240
VIII-1c Fundraising events$180,563
VIII-1e Government grants$1,403,500
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$1,305,709
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$428,791
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$3,060,012
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $5,973,320$5,973,320
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $154,191$154,191
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax $13,392$13,392
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$15,639−$15,639
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $6,010,665 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $155,184$9,225,861
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $9,538,904 across 16 lines filed
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $4,110$4,110
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $144,275 · Management $204,722 · Fundraising $71,513$420,510
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $4,531,308 · Management $417,567 · Fundraising $221,726$5,170,601
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $138,019 · Management $26,546 · Fundraising $7,809$172,374
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $387,442 · Management $45,449 · Fundraising $14,323$447,214
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $318,528 · Management $39,647 · Fundraising $18,402$376,577
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $41,310$41,310
IX-11d Lobbying feesManagement $54,025$54,025
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $281,638 · Management $43,720 · Fundraising $7,125$332,483
IX-12 Advertising and promotionFundraising $31,490$31,490
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $123,214 · Management $15,904 · Fundraising $21,494$160,612
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $173,591 · Management $23,417 · Fundraising $1,042$198,050
IX-17 TravelPrograms $40,519 · Management $338 · Fundraising $11$40,868
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $14,448 · Management $3,674 · Fundraising $1,441$19,563
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $1,452,215 · Management $24,662 · Fundraising $2,518$1,479,395
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $537,753 · Management $49,317 · Fundraising $2,652$589,722
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $8,147,060 · Management $990,298 · Fundraising $401,546$9,538,904
Part X · Balance sheet $29,544,997 assets, 18 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $2,054,837$1,809,315
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $4,527,386$5,013,774
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $302,913$224,212
X-4 Accounts receivableStart of year $922,086$1,031,499
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $42,789$23,540
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $56,389$179,401
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $12,542,595$12,169,026
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $4,562,151$5,673,213
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $3,461,848$3,236,228
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $180,967$184,789
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $28,653,961$29,544,997
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $750,284$894,756
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $4,238$738
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $1,908,022$1,911,280
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $21,724,657$21,579,848
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $5,021,282$6,053,869
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $26,745,939$27,633,717
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $28,653,961$29,544,997
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $27,633,717 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$9,225,861
XI-2 Total expenses$9,538,904
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$313,043
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$26,745,939
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$948,184
XI-6 Donated services and use of facilities$452,637
XI-9 Other changes in net assets−$200,000
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$27,633,717

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

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