The Vision of Children

THE VISION OF CHILDREN FOUNDATION seeks to cure hereditary childhood blindness and other vision disorders and to improve the lives of visually impaired individuals and their families.

A world where every child has the gift of sight.

Goal One: We fund researchers who are trying to cure hereditary vision disorders.

Goal Two: We have set up a family support network to aid in supporting families and individuals effected by hereditary vision disorders.

Goal Three: We provide iPads and magnifiers to children with low vision to help them achieve their full potential.

The Vision of Children encourages the team to continue their development and education in fundraising and nonprofit skills related to VOC's mission. Leadership development includes taking webinars on relevant topics, including special event best practices, donor stewardship, time management, seminars, and science conferences on current and relevant topics. Over the last 12-18 months, the VOC team has attended approximately 8 webinars relevant to VOC's mission.

Please review the narrative below for the Adaptability section on Charity Navigator. Let me know if any edits are needed. Vision of Children resumed hosting in-person events in August 2021 as the world reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization held its annual spring tea in the following year and continued its biennial concert in the fall of 2023. During 2023, VOC raised much-needed funds through individual gifts, grants, and two successful fundraising events - a spring tea and a fall concert. The funds raised will be used for critical vision research to advance the quest for cures for hereditary childhood blindness and genetic vision disorders. To keep costs down, Vision of Children traditionally employs a small staff of 2-3 part-time personnel throughout the year. However, during the event season, they ramp up staff hours and hire temporary part-time personnel to meet the demands of planning, coordinating, and executing fundraising events. For the fundraising events, the development team increased their hours to full-time and hired a temporary staff member to assist with the fall concert. At the end of 2023, VOC leadership decided to bring the temporary staff on as permanent team members, even though the event schedule would not be as vigorous during the 2024 year. All four team members were kept on, and their roles were further defined so that VOC could focus on recruiting researchers and projects while increasing their fundraising efforts throughout 2024. VOC relies on its Advisory Board, consisting of more than 20 members from the Rancho Santa Fe, La Jolla, and Del Mar communities, to drive its fundraising efforts. These passionate and influential women are the driving force behind the success of our in-person fundraising events. Every year, VOC leadership recruits new members to maintain a fresh perspective and keep the momentum going.