Austin Lighthouse for the Blind
Legal name: Travis Association for the Blind
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 741143060
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Austin, TX, US
- Phone
- 512-442-2329
- Rating
- 80
- Verdict
- STRONG
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Eye Diseases, Blindness and Vision Impairments
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $45,691,034
- Expenses
- $41,458,696
- Assets
- $95,187,160
- Liabilities
- $30,593,313
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
19 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- JAMES MEEHAN (PRESIDENT/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JAMES MEEHAN (PRESIDENT/CEO): $429,255 total reported compensation
- MARGARET MORREALE (CFO): $306,892 total reported compensation
- ALONSO M PERALES (CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER): $264,638 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 opportunities for independence to people who are blind, visually impaired or deaf-blind by creating, sustaining, and improving career options.
What it reported doing in 2024
The association provides social services and vocational education by assisting the blind in solving problems that include, but are not limited to housing, AIDS, ssi, ssdi benefits, medical referral, referrals to other agencies, and adaptive equipment AIDS. The association assists those in need by purchasing glasses and reading AIDS. Computer classes are conducted on a regular basis. The association provides highly qualified instructors to teach mobility training and long cane travel and functions. The association operates manufacturing facilities that provide transitional and extended employment for the blind. The blind workers manufacture belts, key cases, award plaques, and hand soap and hand sanitizers, which it sells to federal, state, and local governments. Blind workers are employed in our warehousing and distribution center operations, fulfilling customer orders that are shipped to the federal government. These workers use a variety of technology to enable them to pick and pack orders, operate forklifts, and other material moving equipment.
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.
The verdict
STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Liabilities are high compared with assets and reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 81
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
- Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 23rd 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: 9.3%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.3; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.32; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 4.6%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 6.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
- Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 11 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $31.9M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $429K · 19 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $712K reported
- Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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.
- Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 44/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 54/100.