Eye Bank for Sight Restoration Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
Points to look into
- Raising each dollar of donations cost 132 cents.
These come from the organization's own tax return. There may be a good explanation; ask the charity.
What it says it does
The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration (The Eye-Bank), the worlds first eye bank, is devoted to restoring sight through eye donations and cornea transplants, as well as providing ocular tissue for research into treatment and cures for other eye diseases. Public awareness about the need for eye donations is a key component of our efforts to restore sight to more than a thousand of individuals each year.
- Income
- $13.6 million
- Spending
- $10.4 million
- Spent on programs
- 80%
- Reserves
- 93.1 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- investment income, 54%
- Employees
- 65
- Volunteers
- 26
- Highest pay
- $376,467, ceo/exec. dir.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 85 out of 100.
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 93.1 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 3% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 23% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 16% on the year before.
Spending floor
0 of 1580% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 132 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100.
Independent board
25 of 2520 of 20 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (6)
- $5.2 million spent. The Eye-Banks state-of-the-art ocular laboratory operates 24/7 to recover, evaluate and distribute safe, quality donor eye tissue for cornea transplants and other ophthalmic surgeries. Staff receives continual education and training in the latest technological advances, including preparing partial thickness grafts which can be provided pre-loaded upon request for endothelial keratoplasty (EK) procedures.
- $973,841 spent. The Eye-Banks Ocular Tissue Research Program supplies donor eye tissue to medical scientists researching cures and treatment of eye diseases such as cataracts, glaucoma and diseases of the retina. The Eye-Bank also provides adult human Retina Pigment Epithelial (ah-RPE) cells to a growing number of researchers across the country who are conducting studies on the potential for transplanting RPE cells in the future. In 2024, The Ocular Tissue Research Program expanded its ability to fulfill requests for even more specific types of tissue for customized research. The Eye-Bank also hosted a third annual reception at the 2024 meeting of ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) which enabled us to meet in-person with researchers currently using our donor tissue and cultivate new opportunities for our Research Program to collaborate. In August, 2024, The Eye-Bank hosted its 7th Wing Chu, MD Cornea Fellow Day which provides a didactic session about eye banking and a wet lab for a DMEK surgical procedure to a group of cornea fellows in attendance. Throughout the year, The Eye-Bank routinely invites groups of ophthalmology residents from area hospital systems, to visit and tour the Ocular Laboratory which gives them an awareness of how quality tissue is provided for surgeries. Also in August, The Eye-Bank was inspected by the Eye Bank Association of America (EBAA) and achieved a three-year Accreditation Certificate, the highest ranking offered by the Association. EBAA Accreditation ensures safe, quality ocular tissue by confirming that its Medical Standards are consistently followed by all eye bank staff.
- $759,952 spent. The Eye-Banks Public Education Program offers resources and materials about eye donation to the general public including brochures and a newsletter, eye-to-eye, which is circulated to more than 15,000 transplant recipients, friends and supporters of The Eye-Bank and an effective website that also offers valuable information in Spanish as well as English about eye donation and cornea transplantation; how to write to your donor family; and how to enroll in the NYS Donate Life Registry. In addition, The Eye-Bank increased its presence on social media platforms with videos featuring transplant recipients as well as cornea surgeons and dedicated staff members which help to inform the public about the importance of eye donation.
- $745,858 spent. Through a long-established Professional Education Program and its team of regional hospital and community liaisons, The Eye-Bank provides information about eye donation and donor criteria to health care professionals at hospitals throughout The Eye-Banks service area, which includes New York City, Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. In 2024, The Eye-Bank continued to partner with Donate Life New York State and the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles in a pilot program to increase enrollments in the Donate Life Registry at DMV branch offices, an effort which relied on the hospital and community liaisons skilled outreach activities.
- $587,517 spent. The Eye-Banks Marketing Program continued to inform the public about the importance of eye donation and enrolling in the Donate Life Registry through its highly-successful multi-media advertising campaign that reaches a New York metropolitan audience via radio and newspapers as well as social media platforms and email marketing. Both media and digital marketing placement included Spanish language outlets. The 2024 ad campaign Be a Hero at the DMV reinforced the opportunity for New Yorkers to enroll in the Donate Life Registry while conducting transactions at the DMV and provided additional support to the Pilot Program established by Donate Life NYS to achieve this shared goal.
- $87,939 spent. The Young Ambassador Program invites cornea transplant recipients ages four to 17 to express themselves creatively through art and poetry and selected efforts are featured in The Eye-Banks annual Thanksgiving Card. The program also awards two annual $3,000 scholarships to qualifying student applicants pursuing higher education -- one for a successful public education project and one for a STEM research paper describing a way to increase eye donation.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 1945.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.