Lighthouse International

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
131096620
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
2127696200
Rating
55
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
International Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$4,852,526
Expenses
$743,290
Assets
$35,263,476
Liabilities
$-35,729,188

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CALVIN W ROBERTS MD (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • CALVIN W ROBERTS MD (PRESIDENT & CEO): $1,305,428 total reported compensation
  • PAUL D MISITI (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $554,703 total reported compensation
  • LAUREN DOODY (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $323,369 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To provide exceptional services that inspire people who are visually impaired to attain their goals.

What it reported doing in 2024

Research support - the research institute translates scientific findings and technological advances into practical solutions for people living with vision loss today. The pisart award in vision science, awarded annually, recognizes an early-career vision clinician-scientist whose contributions to vision science have the potential for substantial influence. Lighthouse international is engaged in more then 10+ ongoing research initiatives, collaborating with university researchers on a wide range of topics including vision rehabilitation and assistive technologies.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 96% 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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 41
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 25.5%; rating input score 26
  • Program expense ratio: 80.7%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 87.5%; rating input score 88; 19th 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: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 84.7%; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 47.44; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 73.5%; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -25.1% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -11.7% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -2% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 25.5% of revenue deployed · 80.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $600K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.3M · 15 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 5 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 26/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 0/100.