California · Nonprofit
THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $214,898 to it, the largest being CALIFORNIA COMMUNICATIONS ACCESS FOUNDATION DBA ABILITY CENTRAL ($98,590). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.4M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $215k
- Net assets
- $20M
What The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute does
Programs
Basic research - basic scientific research to increase the understanding of normal vision in support of vision disorders.
$2,175,516 spentClinical - clinical research to develop new diagnostic procedures and treatments for visual and other sensory disorders.
$744,900 spentRehabilitative engineering research center - engineering research to produce better techniques for aid and rehabilitation of the blind and partially sighted.
$1,868,644 spent
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-PF.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2021 to 2022, from $25M to $20M (−21%).
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.
Chief executive
John Brabyn
CEO/executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-PF.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $119k → $7k.
1 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE’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 SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
63% 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 SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 83% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
84% of THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $26k 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 SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $36.1M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$36.0M
- National Science Foundation$134k
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 SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: 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 SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE?
- THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $214,898 to it, the largest being CALIFORNIA COMMUNICATIONS ACCESS FOUNDATION DBA ABILITY CENTRAL ($98,590). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $214,898 in grants to THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE?
- CALIFORNIA COMMUNICATIONS ACCESS FOUNDATION DBA ABILITY CENTRAL is the largest funder on record, with $98,590 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SMITH-KETTLEWELL EYE RESEARCH INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 5 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