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The International Retinal Research Foundation Inc at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The International Retinal Research Foundation Inc

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
9
Grants FY2024still arriving
8
States reached
$525k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Education$12MHealth$6.5MScience & Tech$2.1M
02FY2024 · 9 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k4 grants · $115k
  • $50k–250k1 grant · $78k
  • $250k+4 grants · $1.5M
$77,500
Median grant
8
States reached
$20M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY$525,000
UAB DEPT OF OPHTHALMOLOGY$450,000
THE RETINA SOCIETY$275,000
THE MACULA SOCIETY$270,000
RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS$77,500
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA$35,000
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON$35,000
STANFORD UNIVERSITY$35,000
SIGHT SAVERS AMERICA$10,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 82% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $100k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $35k → 22%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $70k → 8%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - IRVINE: $35k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - BERKELEY: $35k → 10%LASKER FOUNDATION: $330k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $135k → 14%UAB CENTER FOR LOW VISION REHAB: $500k → 16%WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $35k → 11%ROBERT MACHEMER FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $200k → 8%EMORY EYE CENTER: $35k → 14%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 19%THE MACULA SOCIETY: $270k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $35k → 9%JOHN HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $100k → 19%HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: $100k → 16%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $35k → 8%LASKER FOUNDATION: $285k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $35k → 14%ROBERT MACHEMER FOUNDATION: $50k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $200k → 8%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 19%THE MACULA SOCIETY: $70k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $35k → 9%JOHN HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: $100k → 19%MARIANA SILVEIRA: $37k → 16%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $35k → 8%FIGHT FOR SIGHT: $23k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $38k → 8%THE MACULA SOCIETY: $70k → 17%UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $35k → 9%MARIANA SILVEIRA: $36k → 16%STANFORD UNIVERSITY: $35k → 8%FIGHT FOR SIGHT: $23k → 17%BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: $35k → 16%THE RETINA SOCIETY: $275k → 16%THE RETINA SOCIETY: $75k → 16%THE RETINA SOCIETY: $75k → 16%RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $163k → 17%RYO TERAS MD PHD: $35k → 16%RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $153k → 17%SCHEPENS EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $35k → 16%RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $103k → 17%RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $103k → 17%RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $100k → 17%RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $78k → 17%COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: $35k → 17%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

WA
IL
MI
NY
MA
IN
OH
PA
CA
UT
MO
VA
MD
NM
TN
NC
AL
GA
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.

92%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$18M · 23 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

23 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 16 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
21

Total granted

$18M
$1.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+27%
+44%

Still filing today

43%
19%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 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
HealthEducationOther
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

  • Vanderbilt University
    8× · 2017–2024 · $11M · revenue +74%
  • RT
    RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS INC
    7× · 2017–2024 · $700k · revenue +27%
  • RS
    RETINA SOCIETY INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $425k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • UC
    UAB CENTER FOR LOW VISION REHAB
    one grant, 2020 · $500k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $250k
  • EU
    ERASMUS UNIVERSITY
    one grant, 2019 · $104k
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
Doheny Eye Institute

To further the conservation, improvement and restoration of human eyesight" (mrs. doheny - 1947).

—
2
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
3
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology

Arvo advances research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders.

—
4
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Associates Inc

MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR ASSOCIATES, INC. ("MEEA") IS A SPECIALTY PHYSICIAN GROUP PRACTICE. IT PROVIDES CARE FOR PATIENTS OF THE MASSACHUSETTS EYE AND EAR INFIRMARY, INC. ("MEEI"), A RELATED ORGANIZATION. THE PRACTICE SPECIALIZES IN…

Health
5
The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute
—
6
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
7
Stony Brook Ophthalmology University Faculty Practice Corporation

Provide clinical instruction to and supervision of medical school students, interns and residents and, incident thereto, rendering professional services.

Health
8
Marshall B Ketchum University

To educate caring, inspired health care professionals who are prepared to deliver collaborative, patient-centric health care in an interprofessional environment.

Education
9
Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation

The vitreoretinal surgery foundation strives to promote education and research related to retinal and macular diseases. we support research by funding awards for young investigators with a potential for a career devoted to retinal disease…

Education
10
New York University

Nyu is a private university with approximately 60,000 matriculating students in 20 schools and institutes. nyu's primary missions are education, research and scholarship, and patient care.

Education
11
Drexel University

Drexel university fulfills its founder's vision of preparing each new generation of students for productive professional and civic lives while also focusing its collective expertise on solving society's greatest problems. drexel is an…

Education
12
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…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Schepens Eye Research Institute Inc; the most unlike its peers is University of Michigan. 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

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

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 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 18 of the 47 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/18
Grantees still filing
15/18
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Vanderbilt University: $10,534,994 · EducationVanderbilt University+6 more: $383,600 · EducationUAB DEPT OF OPHTHALMOLOGY: $3,503,000 · OtherUAB DEPT OF OPHTHALMOLOGYLASKER FOUNDATION: $615,000 · OtherLASKER FOUNDATIONUAB CENTER FOR LOW VISION REHAB: $500,000 · OtherUAB CENTER FOR LOW VISION REHABUNIVERSITY OF UTAH: $437,300 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF UTAHTHE MACULA SOCIETY: $410,000 · Other+28 more: $2,649,266 · Other+28 moreRESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS INC: $699,500 · HealthRETINA SOCIETY INC: $425,000 · Health+5 more: $104,275 · Health
Education$10,918,594Other$8,114,566Health$1,228,775

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 budgetVanderbilt University: $10,534,994 over 8y, 0.3% of budgetRESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS INC: $699,500 over 7y, 3.4% of budgetRETINA SOCIETY INC: $425,000 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetTHE MACULA SOCIETY: $410,000 over 3y, 13% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $175,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $170,000 over 2y, 51% of budgetTHE ROBERT MACHEMER FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 2y, 100% of budgetFight for Sight Inc: $78,750 over 5y, 7.4% of budgetChildren's Hospital Corporation: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIGHT SAVERS OF AMERICA INC: $12,775 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetNATIONAL SOCIETY TO PREVENT BLINDNESS: $11,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY SERVICES VISION REHAB: $10,500 over 2y, 2.6% of budgetAMERICAN ACADEMY OF OPTOMETRY: $3,600 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetRESEARCHAMERICA: $500 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.

  • Who funds Vanderbilt University ↗
  • Who funds RESEARCH TO PREVENT BLINDNESS INC ↗
  • Who funds RETINA SOCIETY INC ↗
  • Who funds THE MACULA SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds University of Michigan ↗
  • Who funds THE ROBERT MACHEMER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Fight for Sight Inc ↗
  • Who funds Children's Hospital Corporation ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA ↗
  • Who funds WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Schepens Eye Research Institute Inc ↗

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.

Morgan Stanley Global…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust IncIN8.2× affinity4 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

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 The International Retinal Research Foundation Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The International Retinal Research Foundation Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 10%
  • Children's Hospital Corporation: 10% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 The International Retinal Research Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to The International Retinal Research Foundation 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 47 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 International Retinal Research’s filings →

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where grant money is based, and what stays home