Join us to finish what Fred started – and help end avoidable blindness for good.
Fred Hollows was a Visionary who believed everyone – no matter where they’re born – deserves the right to sight. He knew that restoring sight could change lives, lift families out of poverty, and strengthen whole communities.
Fred showed the world what was possible. Now, it’s up to us to carry his work forward.
When you start a monthly donation, you’ll become a Visionary — part of a passionate community carrying on Fred Hollows’ legacy and helping restore sight every single month.
Why should you give monthly?
Monthly giving is the most effective way to support our work. It allows us to plan ahead and deliver ongoing support to people living with avoidable blindness in over 25 countries around the world.
Monthly donations have a multiplier effect
Your monthly gift creates a ripple of impact. It helps train local doctors who then train others, and supports clinics that continue restoring sight long after the first surgery. Month after month, you're not just changing lives — you're creating a legacy of sight that keeps growing.
It’s more convenient for you — and for us
You choose the amount, and your donation is automatically debited from your nominated account on the 15th or 28th of each month. It saves admin time and costs, and gives you full control to update or cancel anytime.
Monthly donations help us plan long-term projects
Monthly donations are our most reliable source of income. They allow us to focus less on fundraising, and more on delivering long-term projects — including investing in innovation and expanding access to affordable eye care in some of the most remote communities.
As a Visionary, you’re part of something powerful
Your monthly support helps someone see their loved ones again, return to school or work, and live life to the fullest. Together, we’re continuing Fred’s legacy — and changing lives every single month.
To say thank you, you’ll receive:
👁️ A Visionary Welcome Pack with meaningful keepsakes to remind you of the impact you’re making, including a lens cloth, a bookmark, and a magnifier
📰 Fred’s Vision magazine, a beautiful calendar, and regular updates from the field showing you how your gift is transforming lives
💌 Invitations to exclusive events, where you’ll hear directly from the incredible people driving change on the ground
🏃🏽 Early access to community fundraising events like Fred’s Big Run, and the chance to join a passionate network of supporters across Australia
As a Visionary you’re not just restoring sight — you’re part of a movement to end avoidable blindness for good.
A shared vision for a world without blindness
From restoring sight to building stronger communities, our monthly givers know they’re part of something bigger. Here’s what inspires our donors to act.
"I support the Foundation because I can't imagine a world without sight—the beauty of the ocean, the majesty of mountains, and the wonder of wildlife. If my contribution can help restore sight to a child, allowing them to experience these same wonders, it fills me with happiness."
– Valerie, VIC
"Knowing that just $25 can restore someone's sight is what inspired me to support The Foundation—that’s the cost of a few cups of coffee! If I don't act on that, I can't sleep at night."
– Thierry, NSW
"Supporting The Fred Hollows Foundation not only helps them restore sight to many people each year, but it also eases the burden on families of caring for blind people. I particularly like the fact that The Foundation trains local practitioners to carry out the work—a lasting legacy."
– Peter, VIC
Your gift, responsibly spent
Every donation makes a real impact. We’re proud to say 74% of every dollar goes directly to delivering sight-saving programs. The rest supports essential fundraising and operations to keep our work going.
We see a world in which no person is needlessly blind or vision impaired. With the support of our partners in 2024, our global impact was profound.
8,102,299
People screened.
562,213
Eye operations and treatments performed.
178,638
Pairs of glasses distributed.
66,852
People trained including community health workers, teachers, and surgeons.
FAQs
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.
