Prevent Blindness Northern California

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
946139663
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2017
Forms available
Form 990 2017
Location
San Francisco, CA, USA
Phone
4155677500
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$556,090
Expenses
$1,291,606
Assets
$1,036,006
Liabilities
$42,746

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

4 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Seth Schalet (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • Seth Schalet (CEO): $155,640 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2017. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Prevent Blindness Northern California PBNC exists to screen for vision problems in pre-school aged children in the Bay Area, to connect and provide them with better vision care, and to improve their ability to learn and grow.

What it reported doing in 2017

SEE WELL TO LEARN - As Prevent Blindness Northern Californias flagship program, established in 2012, See Well to Learn employs an innovative, school based approach to accurately detect vision problems among low-income preschoolers throughout the Bay Area, at no cost to the students. The focus is on ensuring children receive the care they need for vision correction so they can enter kindergarten ready to learn and socially prepared for academic success. The program has served almost 53,000 low income preschoolers since 2012. See Well to Learn has 6 major components: Step 1: Vision Screening Services: Vision screening is performed by a certified vision screener at preschool sites, using advanced, scientifically validated screening technology with a device known as an Autorefractor. Step 2: Certified Eye Exams: Comprehensive eye exams are given for those children that fail the autorefractive Step 1 screening. Exams are performed onsite, at the schools onboard the Eye Bus by a licensed optometrist who is experienced at working with preschoolers. Step 3: Referrals to Advanced Vision Care: If necessary, for more serious vision conditions, connections are made to pediatric ophthalmology partnerships with UCSF, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, UC Berkeley School of Optometry and others. Step 4: Free Prescription Glasses: Free prescription glasses are provided for children who require them. Step 5: Follow-up Care: Follow-up vision checks are provided for children who are prescribed glasses and are at higher risk for serious ongoing vision problems. This helps ensure the programs efficacy and impact. Step 6: Ongoing Support: Ongoing support is provided for parents and teachers on compliance and treatment. This includes a culturally sensitive Health Educator to work with parents and teachers, events for children wearing glasses where parents can meet and support each other while their children can see and play with other children wearing glasses which normalizes the experience for all.

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 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and the required major-donor schedule is missing or incomplete.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 78
  • Transparency & Controls: 63
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Fundraising efficiency: $1.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: No; rating input score 0
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -132.3%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.1%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -25% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -37.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -52.1% per year; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 67.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 3 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $871K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $156K · 4 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2016 to 2017
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 4/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Major donor itemization scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 39/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.
  • High — Grant Readiness: California registration: this organization is recorded as not currently operating in California.