Help Me See Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
273207754
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Jersey City, NJ, USA
Phone
2122217633
Rating
73
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$19,712,106
Expenses
$17,117,870
Assets
$26,107,292
Liabilities
$3,520,650

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES TYLER UELTSCHI (CHAIR, TREAS. & INTERIM CEO)
  • BONNIE HENDERSON (CEO & PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DOUGLAS A MAY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $430,516 total reported compensation
  • AILEEN CHANG (GENERAL COUNSEL): $410,830 total reported compensation
  • DANIEL J THORPE (CHIEF OF MKT AND DEVELOPME): $395,216 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 97% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and the filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 55
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 51
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 72.3%; rating input score 72
  • Program expense ratio: 82.9%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.58 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
    • Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
    • Requires narrative reports: Fail
    • Conducts field audits: Fail
    • May suspend future funding: Fail
    • Requires financial reports: Fail
    • Conducts site visits: Fail
    • Requires grant agreements: Fail
    • May require repayment: Fail
  • Grant itemization coverage: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 13.2%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.53; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 21.2%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.5% per year; rating input score 100; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.4% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 72.3% of revenue deployed · 82.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $14.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $431K · 17 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 13 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.