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FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS RETINAL DEGENERATION FUND

EIN 45-0524687 COLUMBIA, MD

Revenue 2024
$7,006,271
Expenses 2024
$2,441,051

Program services were 98.4% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
H11
Classification
1000
Street
6925 OAKLAND MILLS ROAD 701

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS RETINAL DEGENERATION FUND'S MISSION IS TO ACCELERATE THE TRANSLATION OF RETINAL LABORATORY-BASED RESEARCH INTO CLINICAL TRIALS TO EXPEDITE THE COMMERCIALIZATION OF PATIENT THERAPIES.

Activities or mission (Part I)

SEE SCHEDULE O

  • THE FOUNDATION FIGHTING BLINDNESS RETINAL DEGENERATION FUND (RD FUND) AIMS TO DELIVER LIFE-CHANGING SOLUTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH RETINAL DEGENERATIVE DISEASES TODAY, WHILE CREATING A PIPELINE OF NEXT-GENERATION AND NOVEL THERAPEUTIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR TOMORROW. RD FUND IS FLEXIBLE IN HOW IT STRUCTURES INVESTMENTS LEVERAGING EQUITY, DEBT, ROYALTY, AND/OR PROJECT CO-FUNDING. ALL PROCEEDS OF THIS HIGH-IMPACT PHILANTHROPIC VEHICLE ARE RETURNED TO THE FOUNDATION TO PROVIDE RESOURCES FOR FURTHERING ITS MISSION. RD FUND ACCOMPLISHES THIS BY INVESTING IN EARLY STAGE BIOTECHNOLOGY COMPANIES THAT ARE FOCUSED ON ADVANCING PROMISING THERAPIES FOR RETINAL DEGENERATIVE DISEASES.

    Expenses $2,402,495 · Grants $1,000,000

As filed on the 2024 return.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • ADRIENNE GRAVES PHD

    CHAIRMAN

    Total calculated
    $12,500
    From this org
    $12,500
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • KAREN PETROU

    VICE CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 10 related

  • TONY ADAMIS MD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • JEAN BENNETT MD PHD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • MARK BLUMENKRANZ MD MMS

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • CATHERINE BOWES RICKMAN PHD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $15,000
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $15,000
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • JACQUE DUNCAN MD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $75,000
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $75,000
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 5 related

  • KELLY LISBAKKEN

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1

  • JOSE-ALAIN SAHEL MD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $15,000
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $15,000
    Other
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • JONATHAN STEINBERG MD

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • WARREN THALER

    DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    1 + 1 related

  • JASON D MENZO

    CEO

    Total calculated
    $723,931
    From this org
    $126,140
    From related orgs
    $504,560
    Other
    $93,231
    Hours/week
    8 + 32 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $88,178 + $352,711 related
    Bonus
    $19,645 + $78,580 related
    Other
    $18,317 + $73,270 related
    Deferred
    $7,107 + $28,430 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $11,539 + $46,155 related
    Filer's total
    $144,786 + $579,146 related

  • PETER L GINSBERG

    COO / ACTING TREASURER, RD FUND

    Total calculated
    $540,342
    From this org
    $91,006
    From related orgs
    $364,025
    Other
    $85,311
    Hours/week
    8 + 32 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $65,948 + $263,793 related
    Bonus
    $8,916 + $35,664 related
    Other
    $16,142 + $64,569 related
    Deferred
    $6,909 + $27,635 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $10,153 + $40,614 related
    Filer's total
    $108,069 + $432,275 related

  • RUSSELL W KELLEY

    MANAGING DIRECTOR, RD FUND

    Total calculated
    $533,294
    From this org
    $447,300
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $85,994
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $326,079
    Bonus
    $42,765
    Other
    $78,456
    Deferred
    $32,428
    Nontaxable benefits
    $53,566
    Filer's total
    $533,294

  • ALICIA KEMBLE

    SR. VENTURE ASSOCIATE

    Total calculated
    $212,884
    From this org
    $164,205
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $48,679
    Hours/week
    40

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $151,872
    Bonus
    $12,211
    Other
    $122
    Deferred
    $9,665
    Nontaxable benefits
    $39,014
    Filer's total
    $212,884

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $7,006,271
    Expenses
    $2,441,051
    Contributions
    $8,771,404
    Grants paid
    $1,000,000
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $8,751,135
    Expenses
    $1,309,685
    Contributions
    $8,307,442
    Grants paid
    $0
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $9,316,837
    Expenses
    $1,014,874
    Contributions
    $14,920,274
    Grants paid
    $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $15,424,974
    Expenses
    $1,051,912
    Assets (EOY)
    $45,350,093

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $15,424,974
    Expenses
    $1,051,912
    Assets (EOY)
    $45,350,093

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $21,228,882
    Expenses
    $2,021,967
    Assets (EOY)
    $31,011,511

  • 2019 · 990

    Revenue
    $11,939,089
    Expenses
    $2,984,402
    Assets (EOY)
    $11,438,657

  • 2017 · 990

    Revenue
    $13,259,129
    Expenses
    $11,809,240
    Assets (EOY)
    $3,894,860

  • 2016 · 990

    Revenue
    $5,414,179
    Expenses
    $4,800,240
    Assets (EOY)
    $4,864,479

  • 2015 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,694,149
    Expenses
    $3,491,183
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,709,507

  • 2014 · 990

    Revenue
    $4,672,253
    Expenses
    $4,606,315
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,333,743

  • 2013 · 990

    Revenue
    $4,737,262
    Expenses
    $5,135,614
    Assets (EOY)
    $2,940,657

  • 2011 · 990

    Revenue
    not reported
    Expenses
    $3,642,916
    Assets (EOY)
    $1,766,098

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

Related organizations

From Schedule R Part II, where a filer lists the tax-exempt organizations it is related to by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

Declared on its 2024 return

Declared as related by

Taxable family

From Schedule R Parts I, III and IV: entities that legally are the filer, and taxable partnerships, corporations and trusts it is related to. These record ownership and control, not shared board members or money.

Related corporations and trusts on its 2022 return

  • OPUS GENETICS INC

    C · GENE THERAPY · DE · 41.22% owned · share of income $34,580 · share of assets $1,981,206 · controlled entity

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility SOUNK.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.