Maryland · Nonprofit
THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY
THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY (Maryland) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,144 to it, the largest being MEYER & ANNA PRENTIS FAMILY FOUNDATION ($10,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $16k
- Net assets
- $19M
What The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology does
Mission
Arvo advances research worldwide into understanding the visual system and preventing, treating and curing its disorders.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Annual convention - the members of the association gather annually and periodically to share the results of their research efforts.
$4,099,921 spent$5,703,380 earned by the program60% of program spendingJournals - publications include iovs, jov, and tvst that focus on eye and vision research.
$1,562,396 spent$2,376,334 earned by the program23% of program spendingAwards and grants - arvo provides two types of awards: achievement awards to honor individuals for their contributions to ophthalmology and vision science; and travel grants that provide support to investigators who have an accepted and high-interest abstract for presentation at the annual meeting.
$309,055 spentof which $21,114 as grants$35,118 earned by the program5% of program spendingEducation and Professional Development Programs - Provided to ARVO members throughout the year on topics relevant to eye and vision scientists.
$622,795 spentof which $60,500 as grants$193,273 earned by the program9% of program spendingAdvocacy and Outreach
$251,581 spentof which $194 as grants4% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,845,748.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $17M to $21M (+23%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 1% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 3% · 2021 12% · 2022 1% · 2023 1% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $10k → $6k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
38% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 99% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $394 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Government funding THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $542k on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$542k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The ARVO Foundation for Eye Research · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY?
- THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY (Maryland) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,144 to it, the largest being MEYER & ANNA PRENTIS FAMILY FOUNDATION ($10,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $16,144 in grants to THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY?
- MEYER & ANNA PRENTIS FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $10,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ASSOCIATION FOR RESEARCH IN VISION AND OPHTHALMOLOGY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 3 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing