International Association of Lions Clubs
Public records raise at least one point you should look into before giving.
What it says it does
To provide benefits to those in our community with vision impairments who do not otherwise have the resources to help themselves. To provide support to community service organizations through monetary donations and physical assistance on joint projects. To support service organizations that fall within the 8 primary initiatives of the parent organization. Those are Vision, Diabetes, Hunger, Environment, Childhood Cancer, Youth, Disaster Relief, and Humanitarian Efforts.
- Income
- $23,481
- Spending
- $20,837
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2026, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. How we rate
Financial health
We do not score finances when yearly spending is very small or the return has too little detail. The ratios stop meaning much at that size.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2026, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. How we rate
Governance
This organization files the short tax form, which does not ask about boards, policies or audits. That is normal for a small charity and is not a mark against it.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2026, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. 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 (1)
- $7,757 spent. The organization donates substantially all of the income earned to a wide range of local, state, and national charitable organizations that provide benefits and support services for sight impaired individuals, as well as those with diabetic issues and other disabilities. In addition, the organization operated a program within the community to provide vision exams and glasses to needy individuals. The program is supported and funded by the Lions Club of Columbus, and reduced cost services are provided by partnering with local optometrists, ophthalmologists and optical centers. During the current fiscal year, the program paid local providers $1,590 for 16 individuals in urgent need of exams, glasses or glasses repairs in order to continue their education, work or to simply carry out daily functions. This included providing special frames and glasses for 2 disabled children whose needs exceeded what Medicaid was willing to pay. The organization donated to a group that provides outdoor camping experiences for disabled youth, a battered women's and children's shelter, two area homeless shelters, two local animal shelters, the local drug court, a regional food bank, a group that builds hand cranked mobility carts for the leg-disabled in some of the most poverty stricken third world countries and another organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of the urban tree canopy in the community. The organization has 20 collection boxes set up throughout the community for used glasses. These items are sorted, boxed and delivered to the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation for recycling and reuse as appropriate. During the current fiscal year, the organization has collected approximately 5,000 of these items and has also contributed monetary donations to the Foundation to support its eye surgery program in partnership with Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, GA. Used glasses cases in good condition, standardized used military glasses from our local military base, and all children's glasses are donated to a local ophthalmologist who makes several trips to Africa each year to perform eye surgeries and fit patients with glasses. The organization participated in a joint project with a local food bank to distribute boxes of food to those in need in the Chattahoochee Valley community and also volunteered at the food bank's biggest fund raiser, Empty Bowl. In addition to assisting local organizations and individuals as described above, this organization also made monetary donations to three national charitable entities who provide service dogs to those with visual, hearing or other physical impairments. The organization has the latitude to tailor its services and donations to support community organizations as described above, but at the same time the organization strives to include in its budget and volunteer efforts support of the 8 primary initiatives of the parent organization. In FYE 6/30/26, the organization donated a total of $13,080. $11,450 of this amount went to 19 organizations providing services under these initiatives, and $1,630 for vision assistance to local individuals in need.
Source: Form 990EZ for the year ending June 30, 2026, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. 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)(4) social welfare 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 October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Caution.
The IRS master file records contributions to this 501(c)(4) social welfare organization as not deductible.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, 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 June 2026.
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 March 1966.
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 October 21, 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.