Help unlock the biggest matched donation in our history

The Fred Hollows Foundation is working in partnership with Cure Blindness Project (which was co-founded by Dr Sanduk Ruit) to help respond to an offer from a generous anonymous donor, inviting other donors to join them in accelerating our progress towards eliminating avoidable blindness.   

 If together we can raise a total of $10 million USD ($15.3 million AUD) in donations by 31 December 2025, the generous donor has pledged to match funds. 

As part of this wonderful opportunity, The Foundation is asking kind supporters like you to help meet this challenge by donating to our Christmas appeal, up to a total of $3 million AUD to contribute to this goal. 

Because of the size of the gift, this campaign is running for much longer than normal, giving everyone an opportunity to have their gift matched and their impact doubled. 

The Foundation has never seen a matching gift of this size, and this donor has challenged The Foundation and Cure Blindness Project to reach this ambitious goal and fund more eye health services for those who need access. 

This generous donor has requested privacy and asked to remain anonymous. They have supported The Fred Hollows Foundation’s work in the past and share our belief that everyone, everywhere, deserves access to quality eye care. 

Through this campaign, the donor is inviting others to join them in matching their gift to help ignite a global movement for sight — amplifying their impact and restoring vision for even more people in need. 

If we collectively reach the $15.3M fundraising target, every one-off donation made up to $3M, or before 31 December, will be matched — doubling your impact. 

Please note that monthly donations are not eligible for matching in this campaign. 

The Foundation had committed to trying to raise $3M, but the more we can raise the better. Our partners have also set their targets, so together we can reach the $15.3M. 

No. All funds raised will help us restore sight for people in need — a worthwhile outcome even if the match is not reached. We hope you consider The Foundation’s work worthy of your support. 

Cure Blindness Project is a not-for-profit based in the United States, co-founded by Dr Sanduk Ruit. The Foundation has worked with Cure Blindness Project in the past with great results. 

Dr Ruit was trained by Fred Hollows himself, and he is the Founder and Executive Director of the Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology in Kathmandu, Nepal. He is a long-time ally and friend of The Fred Hollows Foundation. 

Dr Ruit has personally performed more than 120,000 cataract operations. 

An investment of this size could help eliminate the cataract backlog and end avoidable blindness in Laos within five years. It could also provide up to half the total funding needed to halve the cataract burden in Ethiopia by the end of 2026, while supporting efforts to eliminate trachoma and strengthen eye health systems affected by USAID funding cuts and global conflict. 

Together, this level of support could change the future for hundreds of thousands of people by ensuring they receive the eye care they need. 

Your kind donation will be directed toward wherever the need is greatest. The Fred Hollows Foundation works in 25 countries. Your gift will help fund eye health services through screening, surgeries, training eye health workers and building or equipping facilities to bring eye care closer to those who need it. 

We are hopeful the campaign target will be achieved to unlock this transformative funding, but there is a chance that if we don’t reach the target, the donations will not be matched. The generous donor wants to maximise their impact which in turn maximises your impact. 

Be assured, whether we reach the target or not, every donation will help ensure people who are needlessly blind have their sight restored, so there is no downside. We’ll keep supporters updated as the campaign progresses. 

Yes, you will receive an email receipt immediately after donating and if you make a monthly gift you will receive a yearly tax receipt in the post every year.

Restoring sight changes lives and it can only happen thanks to the generosity of supporters like you. 
When you become a monthly donor we will send you: 

• A welcome pack in the mail within a few weeks. The welcome pack will contain all the necessary information about your monthly gift. 
• Your nominated account or credit card will be debited each month on the 15th or 28th (whichever is closest to your sign up date). 
• You will receive regular email updates, sharing stories from the field about patients whose sight you’ve helped restore; medical professionals and programs you have supported; events and activities The Foundation has taken part in; petitions and research relating to eye health. 
• At the end of each financial year, we will send a tax receipt with all your donations (donations over $2 are tax-deductible), for you to use for your income tax claim. 

Yes, donations of $2 and over are tax deductible in Australia.

You can update your details on our Donor Update Form. Or, you can get in touch and someone on our Sydney-based Supporter Care Team will be able to help you.

For one-off donations, we accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or PayPal. For monthly donations, you can use Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or direct debit.

You can change how we contact you at any time. Get in touch, email [email protected], call 1800 352 352 or write to us at Supporter Care Team, The Fred Hollows Foundation, Locked Bag 5021, Alexandria NSW 2015.

Please view our Regular Giving Service Agreement here.