LCI
Legal name: L C Industries Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 560686307
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Jul 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Durham, NC, USA
- Phone
- 9195968277
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Blind/Visually Impaired Centers
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $408,056,988
- Expenses
- $382,867,270
- Assets
- $267,889,557
- Liabilities
- $46,224,947
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Patrick K Lindsey (President/ CEO)
- Paige H Goss (Vice President of Finance)
- Scott M Schrantz (Senior Vice President of Operations)
Highest reported compensation
- Patrick K Lindsey (President/ CEO): $1,188,854 total reported compensation
- William Hudson (Treasurer/Secretary): $485,556 total reported compensation
- Marisa O Chrismon (Chief Human Resources Officer): $366,388 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
LCI provides meaningful employment opportunities for people who are blind and visually impaired. To further execute our mission, LCI regularly engages in philanthropy to aid in research of glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration. One of our largest efforts takes place with Durham’s own Duke University Eye Center. WE ARE HIRING! WANT TO HELP US BUILD A BETTER,. Many of our products are sold directly to the federal government. We were pioneers of “base supply centers,” stores on military bases that employ the blind and visually impaired and provide mission-critical supplies to our nation’s military. Support** Support We want to end blindness forever. To that end, we engage in philanthropic efforts for research into blindness and treatment for the visually impaired.
What it reported doing in 2024
The organization employed visually impaired individiuals who manufactured mattresses, mattress covers, file folders, wallet envelopes, mops, water cans, paper products and other plastics. The organization also operated retail stores that sell blind-made products. The organization's direct blind workforce at 6/30/25 consisted of 207 individuals.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Other-operating. 99% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 65
- Accountability: 83
- Sustainability: 54
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 90%; rating input score 90
- Program expense ratio: 94.9%; rating input score 95
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 97.9%; rating input score 98; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
- 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: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.2%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.7; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 1%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 22.6% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 14.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 90% of revenue deployed · 94.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 6 of 7 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $363.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.1M reported
- Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 10 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 12 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 3 filed related-organization links
- 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: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 27/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.