Minnesota · Nonprofit
VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION
VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,296,910 to it, the largest being THE HELEN LINDSAY FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,100,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $347k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $1.3M
What Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation does
Mission
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 and research. We promote professional education by sponsoring courses designed for medical professionals including ophthalmologists, optometrists, residents, fellows, technicians and students. We promote community outreach education by raising awareness of retinal diseases, treatment options, and available resources.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The vrs foundation sponsors the annual retinal update continuing education conference. This has been the primary educational activity of the vrsf and has occurred annually for the past 30 years. The target audience is practicing ophthalmologists and optometrists in the upper midwest. Presentations are given by vrs physicians, as well as an invited national recognized speaker. This conference is accredited by the minnesota medical association for 4 ama pra category 1 credits. The ophthalmic business community has financially supported the conference and exhibits their latest innovations. It is the only conference specifically addressing diseases of the retina and macula in our region each year. In 2025, there were 162 attendees and 16 exhibitors at the conference.in addition, the vrs foundation hosts a resident/fellow case review conference the evening before the retinal update course. Residents and fellows from vrs, university of minnesota and mayo clinic present challenging cases to rcm, u of mn and mayo clinic staff physicians as well as our invited national speaker. In 2025, there were 28 attendees to learn about 11 different cases presented. The retinal update meeting…
$43,583 spent$63,325 earned by the program23% of program spendingSince the founding of the Vitreoretinal Surgery Foundation (vrsf) 2005, we have maintained a robust research program. The goal of the research program has been to support young investigators and encourage them to pursue a career focusing on diseases of the retina. Our research program is open to medical students, residents and fellows at ophthalmology training programs, and fulltime research trainees at academic centers. We are currently working with 36 practice based and university affiliated programs across the country.we offer two types of research grants. Our research award is designed for ophthalmology residents and fellows who want to pursue a research project during their clinical training. The award consists of a research stipend of $2000 together with an additional $1000 for research related expenses and $1000 for travel expenses to present research results at a national symposium. Our research fellowship is designed for someone involved in fulltime research at an academic institution pursuing an advanced degree, such as a phd or md/phd. The fellowship has a stipend of $10,000 and an additional $1000 for travel expenses to present research results at a national…
$146,783 spentof which $146,783 as grants77% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $190,366.
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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $1.1M to $1.4M (+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.
75% of VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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 held at 3 funders, grant income rose $107k → $165k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION’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
VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 85% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 93% · 2018 69% · 2019 85% · 2020 91% · 2021 88% · 2022 87% · 2023 91% — diversifying over time.
“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
VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Minnesota, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $101k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 states 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.
Against its field
VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 16,849 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
19%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION: 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 VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION?
- VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION (Minnesota) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,296,910 to it, the largest being THE HELEN LINDSAY FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,100,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $1,296,910 in grants to VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION?
- THE HELEN LINDSAY FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,100,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VITREORETINAL SURGERY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. 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 6 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