Surgical Eye Expeditions International Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
Surgical Eye Expeditions INTERNATIONAL, INC. is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization that provides medical, surgical, and educational services by volunteer ophthalmic surgeons with the primary goal of restoring sight to blind individuals worldwide.
- Income
- $14.9 million
- Spending
- $15.6 million
- Spent on programs
- 89%
- Reserves
- 8.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 97%
- Employees
- 27
- Volunteers
- 1,450
- Highest pay
- $244,570, ceo
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: 86 out of 100. Higher than 78% of charities in its peer group (international, $10m to $100m).
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 8.5 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 4% of what it owns.
Living within its means
8 of 15Spending exceeded income by 5% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 1% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1589% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 7 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. Higher than 35% of charities in its peer group (international, $10m to $100m).
Independent board
25 of 2514 of 14 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 (4)
- $13.1 million spent. INTERNATIONAL VISION PROGRAMSEE International transforms lives by restoring sight to those in need. SEE envisions a world where everyone has access to vision care, regardless of who they are, where they live, or their ability to pay.Over the past 50 years, SEE has restored sight to more than half a million people around the world. In 2024, we normalized back from the COVID barriers of International travels by supporting 127 short term international programs (STIP), led by our volunteer network of doctors continuing in the mission of restoring sight. Our SEE volunteer teams, and international provider partners, performed more than 59,000 major eye surgeries and over 78,000 eye exams, in 34 countries.Care is provided at no cost to the patient. With immense gratitude for our valued donors, crucial volunteer medical teams, and global partners, SEE can continue to be an active organization in restoring sight globally and transforming lives, one surgery at a time. When preventable blindness is left untreated, independence is lost not only by the afflicted individual, but also by his or her family and caretakers. A 10 15-minute surgery can change many lives, and SEE is committed to continue to reach those who need it most.
- $528,640 spent. SANTA BARBARA VISION CARE PROGRAMSEE serves its local community through its SEE Vision Care Program (SVC). In 2024, following a rebrand and a move to a new site location in Goleta, California over 7,000 residents of the central coast received free eye care from the program. Since the inception of the program, we have served more than 90,000 low-income, uninsured, or underinsured Santa Barbara County and Ventura County residents.In 2024, the SVC program reinforced the newly reinstated partnership with largest school district, to serve the state mandated grades with eye screenings. This partnership continued to prove the great need of the students in our service area. Our efforts to grow the local program continued with the addition of a Mobile Unit, bringing care to patients in need in Ventura County while moving our Goleta clinic to a space that allows for growth.The SVC program offers safety-net vision care services throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. In addition to providing eye exams, no-cost glasses, and eye drops, we offer specialty care services, that can include surgery through a network of local volunteer eye surgeons, for residents that have no other means of receiving the needed eye care.
- $308,728 spent. EDUCATION DIVISIONSEE offers hands on training on Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (MSICS); a low-cost, low tech form of cataract extraction that saves time, money, and energy, most commonly used in third world and remote areas, globally. Additionally, due to the nature of cataracts in areas where we work (hard, dense, and mature), surgeons are unable to use the same measures to remove the cataract that they would in the US. In 2006, we offered educational opportunities to ophthalmologists and residents in their final years of school through our training and in 2024, wecontinued focused efforts of supporting the training of international residents and community health care workers. We primarly focus training of the following, yet have expanded our training reach to support non-surgeons with a whole person mindset in eye care:- Level 1 MSICS courses: lecture and wet lab for those new to the technique. - Level 2 MSICS courses: supervised hands-on surgery in the field.We supported the training of 240 board-certified and resident trainees in 2024, and trained an additional 283 technicians, nurses and assistants. Throughout 2024, SEE continued to support the Vision 2020 LINKS-USA program which matches international needs with institutional expertise to create stronger vision care systems. The RIIO and Wills Eye Hospital LINKs project displayed great success leading to a second 3rd year cycle of SEE support in 2022, and finalizing in early 2025. SEE also continued to work with the second LINKS program between Emory University and Addis Ababa University through 2024.SEE's strategic vision of focusing most of our efforts internationally, was practiced in great depth and with more intention in 2023 and only carried forward successfully in 2024, more than doubling our training efforts. We found success in this change to reach the longer-term goal of supporting the build of sustainable eye care models, globally.
- $2,068 spent. United States Domestic ProgramSEE's Domestic Programs provide essential and transformative eye care to low-income, uninsured patients right here in the United States. The program offers safety-net vision care services throughout the country for individuals who would not otherwise be able to receive the care they need. SEE has been able to assist thousands of patients of all ages to receive free comprehensive eye exams, glasses, medications, and eye surgeries since launching support of domestic programs. In2024, SEE supported over 500 people through our partnership with Federally Qualified Health Centers, with eye care supplies. SEE also continues to support eyecare needs, like our local program through our partnership in Brownville, Texas with Federally Qualified Health Center, Brownsville Health Center where 12 surgeries to non-insured or under-insured residents was performed.
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 June 2000.
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.