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Plinth

· Public charity

American Academy of Optometry

To maintain and enhance excellence in optometric practice.

$353k
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What you fundRead
02The needRead
03Your edgeRead
04Your fieldRead
01What you fund
01100% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year — across FY2017–2024.

Health$1.7MEmployment$550kEducation$50kInternational$35kScience & Tech$22kPhilanthropy$5k
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 4 grants below total $330,000 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $353,356 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $23,356 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $30k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $50k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$50,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$15M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION$250,000
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM$50,000
GP LENS INSTITUTE$15,000
CONTACT LENSE MANUFACTURER ASSOCIATION$15,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

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

show:

Dollar for dollar, your grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 97% of your dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%UMASS CHAN MEDICAL SCHOOL: $100k → 11%THE NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 16%VOLUNTEER OPTOMETRIC SERVICES TO HUMANITYINTERNATIONAL: $5k → 12%CONTACT LENSE MANUFACTURER ASSOCIATION: $15k → 13%SANFORD UNIVERSITY: $7k → 7%SUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: $100k → 10%SUNY STATE COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY NEW YORK: $50k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $100k → 16%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $281k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: $50k → 16%WORLD COUNCIL OF OPTOMETRY: $25k → 11%OPTOMETRY GIVING SIGHT: $5k → 7%AKRON'S CHILDREN HOSPITAL: $100k → 13%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 15%ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 8%CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CORPORATION: $50k → 16%VOSH INTERNATIONAL: $5k → 12%GP LENS INSTITUTE: $15k → 13%SUTHERN CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 10%SUNY STATE COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY NEW YORK: $50k → 17%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $278k → 13%UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: $50k → 16%THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 15%THE NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY: $50k → 16%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $250k → 13%CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CORPORATION: $50k → 16%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $119k → 13%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $94k → 13%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $71k → 13%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $66k → 13%AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION: $66k → 13%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

NY
MA
OH
CA
CO
NE
MO
MD
AL
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

78%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$1.8M · 8 repeat orgs$510k to everyone else

8 repeat relationships — 2 still active in FY2024, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
7

Total granted

$1.8M
$480k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+76%

Still filing today

63%
57%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $30k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthEducationPhilanthropyCommunity ImprovementOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • AA
    AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $1.2M · revenue +102%
  • CH
    Children's Hospital Corporation
    2× · 2021–2022 · $100k · revenue +41%
  • TN
    THE NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY
    2× · 2017–2018 · $100k · revenue +26%

Funded once

  • RO
    REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY
    one grant, 2019 · $100k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
    one grant, 2023 · $100k
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
    one grant, 2022 · $100k

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

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
American Academy of Optometry

To maintain and enhance excellence in optometric practice.

Education
2
World Optometry Foundation
Health
3
American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Inc

The american society of ophthalmic plastic and recontructive surgery (asoprs) was founded to establish a qualified body of surgeons who have training and experience in the highly specialized field of oculofacial plastic surgery. the…

—
4
Association for Ocular Pharmacology & Therapeutics

To serve as a global forum and network for the publication, dissemination and exchange of information and knowledge of eye diseases.

Health
5
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

American college of occupational and environmental medicine (acoem) provides leadership to promote optimal health and safety of workers, workplaces and environments by: educating health professionals and the public; stimulating research;…

Arts & Culture
6
Manhattan Eye & Ear Ophthalmology Alumni Foundation Inc
Health
7
Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary

THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY ("THE INFIRMARY") IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT TEACHING HOSPITAL CONDUCTING PATIENT CARE AND RESEARCH. THE INFIRMARY IS A TEACHING HOSPITAL OF HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL AND AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH.…

Health
8
California Optometric Association

The mission of the california optometric association is to support and advance the profession of optometry to assure quality health care for all californians.

—
9
American Board of Ophthalmology

None

—
10
American Society of Clinical Oncology Inc

See schedule o:asco is a professional oncology society committed to conquering cancer through research, education, and promotion of the highest quality patient care.

Health
11
American Academy of Ophthalmology Inc

The mission of the american academy of ophthalmology is to protect sight and empower lives by serving as an advocate for patients and the public, leading ophthalmic education, supporting research, and advancing the profession of…

—
12
Texas Ophthalmological Association

Education in advancing ophthalmological medicine

—

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Academy of Optometry Foundation Inc and the most unlike its peers is Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity Inc. 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

12 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 2017–2025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 12 of the 18 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
12/12
Grantees still filing
8/12
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION INC — $1,224,725 · HealthAMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION INCChildren's Hospital Corporation — $100,000 · HealthChildren's Hospital CorporationCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRON — $100,000 · HealthCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRONREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY — $100,000 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR…STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BINGHAMTON — $100,000 · OtherSTATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BING…UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS — $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTSUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON — $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HOUSTONTHE NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY — $100,000 · OtherTHE NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRYUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM — $100,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAMTHE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY — $100,000 · OtherTHE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITYWORLD COUNCIL OF OPTOMETRY INC — $25,000 · Other+2 more — $25,000 · OtherMARSHALL B KETCHUM UNIVERSITY — $100,000 · EducationASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES OF OPTOMETRY — $50,000 · EducationTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY — $6,572 · EducationGP LENS INSTITUTE — $15,000 · Community ImprovementOPTOMETRY GIVING SIGHT — $5,000 · Philanthropy
Health$1,424,725Other$750,000Education$156,572Community Improvement$15,000Philanthropy$5,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetAMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY FOUNDATION INC — $1,224,725 over 8y, 18% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation — $100,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF OPTOMETRY — $100,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCHILDREN'S HOSPITAL MEDICAL CENTER OF AKRON — $100,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMARSHALL B KETCHUM UNIVERSITY — $100,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES OF OPTOMETRY — $50,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetWORLD COUNCIL OF OPTOMETRY INC — $25,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetGP LENS INSTITUTE — $15,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetCONTACT LENS MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION — $15,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetVOLUNTEER OPTOMETRIC SERVICES TO HUMANITY INC — $10,000 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY — $6,572 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOPTOMETRY GIVING SIGHT — $5,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

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

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

AbbVie FoundationDonor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
AbbVie FoundationIL12.1× affinity4 shared granteesties to 3 of 3Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: AbbVie Foundation · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization American Academy of Optometry funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal, a single department, or state — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%1%5%11%20%your share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Children's Hospital Corporation — 10% of income from government
  • The New England College of Optometry — 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
typical government reliance, FY20–25

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 18 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

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

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports $96k of grant expense, but none of it to a named recipient. On a Form 990 that can mean grants abroad, filed by region only (Schedule F), grants under $5,000, which are not itemized, or a schedule referenced as an attachment the e-file does not carry. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder named its grantees.

Source object · view filing

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 camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home
State money flows
the interactive map of money crossing state lines