Missouri Lions Eye Research Foundation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 431036995
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Kansas City, MO, USA
- Phone
- 8007532265
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $11,003,722
- Expenses
- $10,937,692
- Assets
- $14,406,648
- Liabilities
- $2,314,091
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
20 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- GEORGE WINKELER (PRESIDENT)
- RON CAMPBELL (VICE - PRESIDENT)
- TONY BAVUSO (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- TONY BAVUSO (CEO): $429,695 total reported compensation
- TINA LIVESAY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $261,955 total reported compensation
- PATRICK GORE (CHIEF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT): $207,137 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The vision of the organization is to be the global partnership model for how eye banking and charitable vision services can most effectively serve people and communities. The organization continues to be affiliated with the Missouri lions but maintains its own separate board of directors (directors). The organization conducts business in Missouri, Kansas and central Illinois. Support and revenues are predominantly earned from processing fees and public support.
What it reported doing in 2024
Eye bank operations - the organization conducts eye bank operations in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois to retrieve, process and distribute the highest quality donor eye tissue to corneal surgeons and their patients. Part of its eye bank operations includes its donor services center which is focused on providing the quality and care needed to help eye and tissue banks facilitate each donor's gift by speaking with medical facilities and approaching donor families for consent.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program 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.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 77
- Transparency & Controls: 68
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 43
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 86.6%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 87%; rating input score 87
- Fundraising efficiency: $0.22 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 17th 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: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: 91.3%; rating input score 91; 21st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th 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: 0.6%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.32; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.16; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 5.7%; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 86.6% of revenue deployed · 87% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $9.5M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $430K · 20 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $385K reported
- Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 7 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 4 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 1/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 45/100.