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Alcon Cares Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Alcon Cares Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$3.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
142
Grants FY2024still arriving
37
States reached
$910k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

International$8.2MHealth$1.8MHuman Services$1.8MReligion$490kEducation$117kPhilanthropy$75kScience & Tech$51kArts & Culture$34kOther$0
02FY2024 · 142 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k102 grants · $231k
  • $10k–50k33 grants · $697k
  • $50k–250k5 grants · $716k
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.5M
$2,877
Median grant
37
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
SURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC$909,835
CHRISTIAN OPHTHALMIC SURGERY EXPEDITION NETWORK$579,684
MERCY SHIPS FOUNDATION$227,915
GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION INC$179,941
MEDICAL MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL US$132,552
PROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC$113,041
EYE FOR GOD MINISTRIES$62,735
LIGA INTERNATIONAL INC$48,108
LUKE COMMISSION INC$47,294
HELP IS ON THE WAY MINISTRIES$47,262
INTERNATIONAL VISION VOLUNTEERS$45,613
BENEVOLENT MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL$40,093
I CARE SAN ANTONIO INC$37,847
CHILDRENS SURGICAL CENTRE$37,633
SOUTHERN EYE INSTITUTE$33,134
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY20–24, $588k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 34% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%GREAT FAITH VISION: $1k → 10%SERVE THE PEOPLE INC: $2k → 10%GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION INC: $180k → 10%THE HUGS PROJECT: $4k → 16%PEOPLE FOR GUATEMALA INC: $826 → 10%SCHOK AND AWE INC: $333 → 8%HAITI & AFRICA RELIEF TEAM: $1k → 21%TRAUMA INTERVENTION PROGRAM: $2k → 12%EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM MINISTRIES INC: $4k → 12%CARL AND ENGA MELBY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $1k → 6%HOPE FOR TOMORROW INC: $359 → 8%THE 3000 CLUB: $5k → 11%GLOBAL PRIMARY CARE INC: $14k → 16%SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA COMMUNITY BETTERMENT CORPORATION: $109 → 11%SERVE THE PEOPLE INC: $2k → 10%GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION INC: $85k → 10%HUGS PROJECT INCORPORATED: $2k → 16%PEOPLE FOR GUATEMALA INC: $455 → 10%EYE CARE GAMBIA: $9k → 15%HAITI AND AFRICA RELIEF TEAM INC: $605 → 21%CHILDREN OF THE NATIONS: $779 → 10%CARL & ENGA MELBY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $898 → 6%THE 3000 CLUB: $5k → 11%GLOBAL PRIMARY CARE INC: $4k → 16%THE GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION: $52k → 10%HUGS PROJECT INCORPORATED: $2k → 16%PEOPLE FOR GUATEMALA INC: $289 → 10%EYE CARE GAMBIA: $7k → 15%HAITI AND AFRICA RELIEF TEAM INC: $583 → 21%WECARE MISSIONS INC: $435 → 16%GLOBAL PRIMARY CARE INC: $4k → 16%SERVE THE PEOPLE: $1k → 10%THE GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION: $32k → 10%EYE CARE GAMBIA: $5k → 15%FRIENDS OF HONDURAN CHILDREN: $821 → 16%GLOBAL PRIMARY CARE INC: $3k → 16%THE GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION: $23k → 10%CORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK: $88k → 11%WECARE MISSIONS INC: $3k → 16%CORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK: $13k → 11%CORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK INC: $10k → 11%WE CARE MISSIONS: $2k → 16%CORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK: $5k → 11%CORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK: $2k → 11%INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN MISSIONS INC: $2k → 10%INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN MISSIONS INC: $2k → 10%INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN MISSION: $845 → 10%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
AZ
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

66%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.4M · 125 repeat orgs$4.3M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +24% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

125 repeat relationships: 89 still active in FY2024, 36 since wound down; 52 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

125
194

Total granted

$8.4M
$4.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+24%
+18%

Still filing today

72%
30%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $206k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24
InternationalHealthHuman ServicesReligionPhilanthropyEducationOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • SE
    SURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC
    2× · 2023–2024 · $1.8M · revenue +1%
  • CO
    CHRISTIAN OPHTHALMIC SURGERY EXPEDITION NETWORK
    5× · 2020–2024 · $1.5M · revenue +450%
  • MS
    Mercy Ships Foundation
    2× · 2023–2024 · $448k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • VQ
    VARIOUS QUALIFYING RECIPIENTS
    one grant, 2019 · $2.1M
  • SE
    SURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS
    one grant, 2020 · $148k
  • DIRECT RELIEF
    one grant, 2020 · $136k · revenue +20%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Eyecare for Humanity
—
2
Mission Vision Inc

Mission vision has both an international focus and community based focus in western pennsylvania. on an international scale, it facilitates training of health care professionals and missionaries, promotes wellness and education, and…

Health
3
Health Missions International Inc

To provide free healthcare services

International
4
Hope International

Provide free medical assistance to poor people in 3rd world countries

International
5
Hands of Healing Inc

Hands of healing is a medical mission group that provides medical, dental and vision care to below poverty, underserved populations, primarily in guatemala, because the need is so severe.

Health
6
Lifetime Wells Vision Inc

Provide eye examines and glasses for people in the remote area of Africa.

International
7
Eye Care International

The organization provides directly, or pays for, eye care services for the underserved population in El Salvador, including eye examinations, free eyeglasses, and eye surgeries.

Health
8
Doctors for You International Co Vistex

To provide sustainable, equitable and effecient health care services to the most vulnerable individuals and communities around the world.

Health
9
Volunteer Health Program Ltd

The volunteer health program, ltd. (vhp) is a nonprofit health care program, which focuses on primary medical and surgical eye care to underserved rural areas in the dominican republic.

Health
10
Vista Missions

Free vision & dental clinics to needy outside of usa

International
11
Voluntary Optometric Services to Humanity-Michigan

Eye care missions to the Island of Dominica, Kenya, Mexico, and Guatemala. These missions provided complete eye care, corrective lenses where needed, and sunglasses to all patients. Eyecare is not typically available to the less fortunate…

Health
12
Fundacion Elena Barraquer Inc
—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Unite for Sight Inc; the most unlike its peers is Prism Foundation. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

185 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 185 of the 371 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

10
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
55
Early backer (in before they grew)
177/185
Grantees still filing
104/185
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VARIOUS QUALIFYING RECIPIENTS: $2,068,789 · OtherVARIOUS QUALIFYING RECIPIENTSIndividual grant recipient: $636,990 · OtherIndividual grant recipientMEDICAL MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL US: $315,475 · OtherMEDICAL MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL USEYE FOR GOD MINISTRIES: $214,485 · Other+106 more: $2,248,066 · Other+106 moreSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC: $1,810,174 · InternationalSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNA…Mercy Ships International: $263,357 · InternationalMercy Ships InternationalPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $177,436 · InternationalBENEVOLENT MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL: $168,316 · InternationalDIRECT RELIEF: $136,024 · InternationalLiga International: $123,442 · International+38 more: $966,995 · International+38 moreCHRISTIAN OPHTHALMIC SURGERY EXPEDITION NETWORK: $1,517,671 · Human ServicesCHRISTIAN OPHTHALM…GUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION: $372,696 · Human ServicesGUERRERO CRYSTAL F…CORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK INC: $117,531 · Human ServicesCORNERSTONE ASSIST…+8 more: $85,989 · Human ServicesTHE ARMENIAN EYECARE PROJECT: $224,611 · HealthMEXICO MEDICAL MISSIONS: $49,846 · HealthVISION OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL INC: $46,301 · HealthVISION CARE USA INC: $42,824 · HealthCHILDREN'S SURGICAL CENTRE: $41,488 · HealthTHE BLINDNESS FOUNDATION: $39,658 · HealthADVANCED CENTER FOR EYECARE: $30,416 · HealthHEALTH TALENTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $29,085 · HealthEYECARE TO THE NEEDY INC: $28,760 · Health+19 more: $153,930 · HealthMercy Ships Foundation: $447,715 · PhilanthropyPort St Lucie Sunset Rotary Inc: $29,509 · Philanthropy+2 more: $29,925 · PhilanthropyEmory University: $50,120 · EducationSGUSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INC: $39,705 · EducationDEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF FOUNDATION: $71,628 · Public Safety & Disaster
Other$5,483,805International$3,645,744Human Services$2,093,887Health$686,919Philanthropy$507,149Education$89,825Public Safety & Disaster$71,628

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSURGICAL EYE EXPEDITIONS INTERNATIONAL INC: $1,810,174 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetCHRISTIAN OPHTHALMIC SURGERY EXPEDITION NETWORK: $1,517,671 over 5y, 4.3% of budgetMercy Ships Foundation: $447,715 over 2y, 5.3% of budgetGUERRERO CRYSTAL FOUNDATION: $372,696 over 5y, 64% of budgetMEDICAL MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL US: $315,475 over 4y, 5.5% of budgetMercy Ships International: $263,357 over 3y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ARMENIAN EYECARE PROJECT: $224,611 over 4y, 6.4% of budgetPROJECT ORBIS INTERNATIONAL INC: $177,436 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBENEVOLENT MISSIONS INTERNATIONAL: $168,316 over 4y, 28% of budgetDIRECT RELIEF: $136,024 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLiga International: $123,442 over 5y, 22% of budgetSERGE GLOBAL INC: $122,497 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetCORNERSTONE ASSISTANCE NETWORK INC: $117,531 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetSOUTHERN EYE INSTITUTE INC: $96,642 over 4y, 11% of budgetAMERICARES FOUNDATION INC: $86,950 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLESTONNAC FREE CLINIC: $79,036 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetDEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF FOUNDATION: $71,628 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetI CARE SAN ANTONIO INC: $71,159 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetCHRISTIAN EYE MINISTRY INC: $57,707 over 5y, 8.5% of budgetINTERNATIONAL VISION VOLUNTEERS: $54,782 over 3y, 8.9% of budgetWE CARE FOR UKRAINE DBA EYE CARE FOR UKRAINE: $54,675 over 1y, 28% of budgetEmory University: $50,120 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMEXICO MEDICAL MISSIONS: $49,846 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetThe Luke Commission: $47,294 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetVISION OUTREACH INTERNATIONAL INC: $46,301 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetVISION CARE USA INC: $42,824 over 3y, 9.7% of budgetHEALTH IN SIGHT MISSION OF ROATAN: $41,653 over 4y, 25% of budgetCHILDREN'S SURGICAL CENTRE: $41,488 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetSGUSOM ALUMNI ASSOCIATION INC: $39,705 over 4y, 42% of budgetTHE BLINDNESS FOUNDATION: $39,658 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF ASAPROSAR: $36,276 over 1y, 13% of budgetHELPS INTERNATIONAL: $34,402 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetINTERNATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE INC: $32,491 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetADVANCED CENTER FOR EYECARE: $30,416 over 3y, 27% of budgetCENTRAL GLOBAL VISION FUND INC: $29,623 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetHEALTH TALENTS INTERNATIONAL INC: $29,085 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetEYECARE TO THE NEEDY INC: $28,760 over 3y, 8.2% of budgetAmerican Friends of Jamaica Inc: $28,372 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetEYE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA INC: $27,862 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetSIGHT ORG: $25,516 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetGlobal Primary Care Inc: $25,186 over 4y, 53% of budgetWORLD BLINDNESS OUTREACH INC: $24,920 over 3y, 60% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $23,099 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetEYE CARE GAMBIA INC: $21,700 over 3y, 7.1% of budgetEye Health Institute Inc: $18,826 over 3y, 24% of budgetUNITE FOR SIGHT INC: $16,655 over 1y, 13% of budgetThe Muslim Society Of Delaware Valley: $16,148 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetWAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY BAPTIST MEDICAL CENTER: $16,060 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Kingsway Charities IncThe Alcon Foundation …American Society of C…Making a Difference F…Americares Foundation…Heart to Heart Intern…The Signatry Charitab…San Antonio Area Foun…Orange County Communi…Baker Hughes Foundati…Community Foundation …Direct Relief
Kingsway Charities IncTN27.7× affinity13 shared granteesties to 8 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Kingsway Charities Inc · The Alcon Foundation Inc · American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Foundation · Making a Difference Foundation · Americares Foundation Inc · Heart to Heart International Inc · The Signatry Charitable Trust · San Antonio Area Foundation · Orange County Community Foundation · Baker Hughes Foundation · Community Foundation of Greater Memphis Inc · Direct Relief

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Alcon Cares Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alcon Cares Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 270%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • University of Maryland Eye Associates Pa: 6% of income from government
  • Trustees of Boston College: 3% of income from government
  • Dean Mcgee Eye Institute: 1% of income from government
  • Americares Foundation Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
27get no government money at all
8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Alcon Cares Inc?

Find your warmest path to Alcon Cares Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 371 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Alcon Cares’ filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home