Operation Eyesight Universal is a top-rated five-star charity and a top 10 impact charity. It has a high results reporting grade and is financially transparent. The charity does not have high funding reserves and can cover less than two years of program costs. Its overhead costs are in the reasonable range.

Founded in 1963, Operation Eyesight Universal (Operation Eyesight) is a development organization that works to prevent blindness and restore sight. Operation Eyesight wants to eliminate avoidable blindness globally. It currently works in Liberia, Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, and plans to expand to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, and Sri Lanka. The charity reports that 1.1 billion people live with vision loss globally, that 90% of vision loss occurs in middle- and low-income countries, and that 90% of all vision loss is preventable or treatable. In F2021, Operation Eyesight spent $3.6m on its charitable programs.

A Charity Intelligence 2022 Top 10 Impact Charity

Operation Eyesight starts working in an area by partnering with a local hospital and determining the best location in the region to offer services. It then builds vision centres to act as a link between hospitals and the community. Operation Eyesight vision centres offer eye examinations, eyeglasses, and referrals to hospitals. In F2021, it established 31 new vision centres. It also gave out 168,400 pairs of prescription eyeglasses.

After establishing vision centres, the charity recruits community health workers from local villages and trains them to identify eye conditions. Operation Eyesight trained 1,127 community health workers in F2021. Health workers conduct door-to-door surveys where they screen community members for eye conditions. They then organize screening camps where hospital workers can re-examine people who have been identified with eye conditions during the surveys. In F2021, the charity screened 1.68 million people for eye conditions. Operation Eyesight treats people with minor eye conditions at the screening camps and refers people with serious eye conditions to a hospital for surgery and further care.  After providing treatment and referrals for people, community health workers complete another round of surveys near the end of the project to ensure all treatable cases have been addressed.  Community health workers also educate families about eye health and other topics such as prenatal care, nutrition and hygiene. 

In F2021, Operation Eyesight Universal received $4.6m in Canadian donations. It also received $528k in international donations (10% of total revenue) and $236k in government funding (4% of total revenue) during the year. OEU earned $51k in investment income in F2021 (1% of total revenue).

Administrative costs are 7% of total revenue excluding investment income. Fundraising costs are 22% of Canadian donations. This results in total overhead spending of 28%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 72 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Operation Eyesight Universal has $7.0m in net funding reserves which can cover annual program costs for around one year and 11 months.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Operation Eyesight Universal for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 7th, 2022 by Arjun Kapur.