Restoringvision
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 454920275
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2014–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Phone
- 8334483744
- Rating
- 75
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $12,652,875
- Expenses
- $10,539,818
- Assets
- $16,859,955
- Liabilities
- $3,171,227
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- PELIN MUNIS (CEO)
- RAE ARNETTA MILLER (VICE PRESIDENT (TO 11/25))
- SHAUN STARKEY (VICE PRESIDENT, OPERATIONS)
Highest reported compensation
- PELIN MUNIS (CEO): $360,148 total reported compensation
- RAE ARNETTA MILLER (VICE PRESIDENT (TO 11/25)): $158,011 total reported compensation
- MARIO ENRIQUE ALVAREZ (DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY): $148,366 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To empower lives by restoring vision for millions of people in need.
What it reported doing in 2025
Restoringvision is a global nonprofit tackling the vision crisis head-on by addressing presbyopia, the age-related loss of near vision and the world's most common cause of vision impairment. Through vision screening and near-vision eyeglasses, the organization empowers people to work, learn, and participate fully in their communities. The organization also serves as a leading advocate for global eye health and access to eyeglasses, working alongside the united nations, world health organization, and international agency for the prevention of blindness. Since 2003, restoringvision has reached 40 million people in more than 150 countries, partnering with ngos, governments, and social enterprises to expand access to eye health. In 2025 alone, restoringvision reached 6.1 million people across 101 countries, helping individuals work, learn, and participate fully in their communities.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 91% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 72% of its reported program spending out as grants.
- 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. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 70
- Transparency & Controls: 63
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 57
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 63.6%; rating input score 64
- Program expense ratio: 75.7%; rating input score 76
- Fundraising efficiency: $65.77 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 57.3%; rating input score 57; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 16.7%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.6; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 7.9%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 63.6% of revenue deployed · 75.7% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $360K · 13 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $591K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 38 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 18 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 12 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: 7 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 57/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 44/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 53/100.