Lions Club of Columbus

What it reported doing in 2025

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.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 33%; rating input score 33
• Program expense ratio: 37.2%; rating input score 37

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 11.3%; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.96; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings