Is A Race Against Blindness Legit? How to Verify Us in 10 Minutes (2026)
Learn Together
Yes. A Race Against Blindness is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 92-2174042), founded in 2023 in Gilbert, Arizona, that has paid out $6.1 million in research grants toward treatments for inherited retinal diseases as of October 2026. You do not have to take our word for any of that. Every claim on this page links to a source outside our control: the IRS, Candid, ProPublica, Trustpilot and the independent agency that draws our winners. Checking all of them takes about ten minutes.
Why do people ask whether A Race Against Blindness is legit?
Because we look unusual, and the question deserves a real answer rather than a reassuring one. We give away adventure vans, trucks and six-figure cash prizes. We advertise heavily on Facebook and Instagram, so most people meet us through an ad, not through a friend. We are young: the IRS recognized us in 2023. And we run more than one fundraiser at a time. Each of those is a fair reason to pause before you type in a card number.
The short version of why we operate this way: our son Luke was diagnosed in 2020 with Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a rare genetic condition that causes progressive, irreversible vision loss. Research into treatments for conditions this rare is chronically underfunded, and the children losing their sight cannot wait for a gala circuit to catch up. Sweepstakes-style fundraising reaches far more people, far faster, than any event we could host. The prizes are the tool; the research is the point.
None of that is proof. Proof is what the rest of this page is for.
Is A Race Against Blindness a scam?
No. A giveaway scam has a recognizable shape, and we are built to be the opposite of it on every point.
- A scam asks winners to pay a fee, "taxes" or shipping before they can collect. Our winners never pay anything to claim a prize. Vehicle winners are flown to the pickup, usually in Arizona, put up for the night and handed the keys and title on camera.
- A scam has no free way in. Every one of our fundraisers has a free mail-in entry written into its Official Rules. In the current Entegra fundraiser one mailed card is worth 50 entries, the same as a $100 donation, and the rules state that no purchase or payment improves the chances of winning. You can enter for a chance to win without donating a dollar.
- A scam picks its own "winners," or has none. Our drawings are conducted by an independent sweepstakes agency, American Sweepstakes & Promotion Co., Inc., which conducts the random drawing and confirms the winner's eligibility. We learn the name when they do, then announce it live.
- A scam hides. Every winner is listed on our Past Winners page with a name, a state and the prize, and most have a livestream you can watch.
- A scam has no paper trail. We have an EIN, public tax filings, a Candid Platinum Seal and two published annual reports. The sections below tell you where to find each one.
If someone contacts you claiming to be us and asks for a payment to release a prize, it is not us. Report it to us through the Help Center so we can warn others.
How do I check that A Race Against Blindness is a registered 501(c)(3)?
Use the IRS, not us. Our Employer Identification Number is 92-2174042. The IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search lists every organization eligible to receive tax-deductible donations.
- Open the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search.
- Choose "Search by EIN" and enter 92-2174042.
- The result shows A Race Against Blindness, Gilbert, AZ, as a public charity under section 501(c)(3), with the IRS determination issued in 2023.
That listing means donations to us are tax-deductible to the extent the law allows, and that we are required to file a Form 990 every year, which is the next thing to check.
What do Candid and ProPublica show about A Race Against Blindness?
Two independent databases publish our records, and neither lets us edit the filings they show.
Candid (formerly GuideStar) is the largest database of U.S. nonprofits. Our Candid profile carries the 2025 Platinum Seal of Transparency, Candid's highest level, which an organization earns by publishing its leadership, strategy, metrics and financials. The profile lists our EIN, our ruling year (2023), our board, our Gilbert address and our filed Forms 990.
ProPublica's Nonprofit Explorer publishes the Form 990 itself, the annual return every charity files with the IRS. Our ProPublica page shows our 2023 and 2024 filings in full. A Form 990 is the single most useful document for anyone deciding whether to trust a charity: it shows revenue, expenses, grants paid, and what officers were paid, under penalty of perjury. Ours is there. Read it.
We also publish our own annual reports for 2023 and 2024, written for donors rather than accountants.
Why hasn't Charity Navigator rated A Race Against Blindness?
Because we are too new, not because anything is missing. Charity Navigator issues a rating only after an organization has filed three consecutive full Forms 990 electronically. The IRS recognized us in 2023, so we have filed for 2023 and 2024; our 2025 return is due in November 2026. Three years of filings exist in 2027, and that is the earliest a rating can appear.
You can see our Charity Navigator profile today. It confirms the organization and the EIN and says, in effect, "not enough data yet." Until it does more, the IRS listing, Candid's Platinum Seal and the Form 990 on ProPublica are the independent checks that apply.
What do A Race Against Blindness reviews say?
As of October 2026, A Race Against Blindness has more than 17,700 reviews on Trustpilot with a 4.9 out of 5 rating. Ninety-six percent are five stars, three percent are four stars, and the rest, under one percent each, are three, two and one star. You can read all of them, including the low ones, on our Trustpilot profile.
How those reviews get there matters more than the score. Trustpilot invites people who have entered a fundraiser to review their experience; we do not write, edit or remove reviews, and we cannot. Low ratings stay up and we answer them publicly. Our Reviews page shows the live Trustpilot feed alongside notes and photos that supporters and winners have sent us.
What people mostly write about: whether the drawing felt fair, whether they heard from a real person when they had a problem, and what it was like to watch a winner get the call. The one- and two-star reviews are mostly about charges people did not recognize on a statement, or entries they could not find; both are handled through the Help Center, where a real person answers.
Where has the money gone?
As of October 2026, A Race Against Blindness has paid out $6.1 million in research grants. Paid, not pledged: every dollar below has left our account and reached the recipient.
| Date | Amount | Recipient and purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 2026 | $1,000,000 | Foundation Fighting Blindness and the RD Fund: gene-agnostic therapies that could treat many inherited retinal diseases at once ($1.55M with matching funds) |
| May 2026 | $60,000 | The Bardet-Biedl Syndrome annual conference: patient travel expenses and full media coverage so families anywhere in the world can access the sessions |
| Jan 2026 | $1,100,000 | Axovia Therapeutics: fully funding the AXV-101 gene-therapy clinical trial for BBS1 |
| Sep 2025 | $1,000,000 | Axovia Therapeutics: trial authorization work for AXV-101 (the UK regulator, the MHRA, approved the trial in December 2025) |
| Dec 2024 | $2,000,000 | Axovia Therapeutics: manufacturing and safety studies for AXV-101 |
| Oct 2024 | $1,000,000 | Axovia Therapeutics: the first grant toward the AXV-101 clinical trial |
Five point one million of the total went to one program, the first gene therapy ever to reach a clinical trial for Bardet-Biedl syndrome. That concentration is deliberate: a trial that is almost funded helps no one. In August 2026 we opened a formal Research Grants Program with published priorities and evaluation criteria, so the next grants are decided in the open. The next grant is decided by the fundraisers running now.
Who runs A Race Against Blindness?
Two parents and a very small team. I am Stephen Johnston, a physician (MD, MBA) and the president. My wife Kristina Johnston (RN, MBA) is the co-founder. Our son Luke's diagnosis is the reason the organization exists. Shelley Kramer serves as treasurer and Dan Kramer sits on the board. The board as filed is listed on our Candid profile, and the Who We Are page introduces everyone.
On money, since this is where "legit" questions usually end up: I have drawn no salary from A Race Against Blindness in 2023, 2024 or 2025. I work full-time as a radiologist. In 2023 I personally funded the organization's costs and donated its first prize, a $250,000 custom adventure van, before a single entry had been sold. Compensation for every officer is reported on the Form 990 linked above, and our 2026 figures will be published in the same way when that return is filed.
No one connected to the organization can win a fundraiser. The Official Rules exclude the sponsor, the administrator, their employees and directors, and their immediate families and households; past grand-prize winners are excluded too.
How do the fundraisers work, and who picks the winners?
Every A Race Against Blindness fundraiser is a sweepstakes run under its own Official Rules, with its own dates, its own drawing and its own winner. The process is the same each time.
- Enter. You can enter for a chance to win free of charge by mail, using the method in the Official Rules (one hand-printed card to the administrator's post office box; worth 50 entries in the current rules), or you can make a donation, which also records entries. If you choose to donate, your donation funds sight-saving research. Every entry in the pool has the same odds, and the rules state that no purchase or payment improves the chances of winning.
- Entries are held by an independent agency. Online entries are recorded in our Donor Portal and mailed entries go to the administrator's post office box. After the closing date, American Sweepstakes & Promotion Co., Inc. conducts the random drawing and confirms the winner's eligibility. We are not involved in the selection and do not know the winner's name until the agency gives it to us.
- We announce the winner live. We call the winner on a livestream on our social channels, with no advance contact, and post the name, state and prize on the Past Winners page.
- Winner day. Vehicle winners are flown to the pickup, usually Gilbert, Arizona, with airfare and a night's hotel covered under the Official Rules, and handed the keys and title on camera. Cash prizes are paid directly. Winners never pay a fee of any kind.
Each past fundraiser has a write-up with its livestream and winner-day video on our Fundraiser Stories page. Open to legal residents of the United States (except Washington) and Canada who are 18 or older or the age of majority where they live; the Official Rules for each fundraiser govern eligibility, dates and prizes.
We run several fundraisers at the same time because the research timeline does not wait, and because people who are drawn to a van are not always the people drawn to a truck. Each one stands alone. Entering one creates no obligation toward any other, and there is no subscription or recurring charge.
Try asking an AI about us
AI assistants draw on public records, news coverage and reviews, none of which we control, so they are a fair second opinion. Ask any of them:
- "Is A Race Against Blindness, EIN 92-2174042, a registered 501(c)(3)? What do its Form 990 filings show?"
- "What research grants has A Race Against Blindness funded, and to whom?"
- "Who draws the winners in A Race Against Blindness fundraisers, and are the winners public?"
If an answer conflicts with this page, check the primary source linked here; the record is what it is, and we would rather you believe the IRS than either of us.
Your 10-minute verification checklist
- Look up EIN 92-2174042 in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Two minutes.
- Open our Candid profile and look for the 2025 Platinum Seal. One minute.
- Open the latest Form 990 on ProPublica and find grants paid and officer compensation. Three minutes.
- Read the lowest-rated reviews on Trustpilot. Two minutes.
- Pick any name on the Past Winners page and watch the livestream. Two minutes.
- Still unsure? Ask a person through the Help Center. We answer.
Then decide. If the answer is yes, you can see the fundraisers running now on our Fundraisers page. If the answer is no, we would still rather you check than guess.
Frequently asked questions
Is A Race Against Blindness a registered charity?
Yes. A Race Against Blindness is a 501(c)(3) public charity, EIN 92-2174042, recognized by the IRS in 2023 and based in Gilbert, Arizona. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Do I have to donate to enter a fundraiser?
No. Every fundraiser has a free mail-in entry method described in its Official Rules (50 entries per mailed card in the current rules), and the rules state that no purchase or payment improves the chances of winning. If you choose to donate, your donation funds sight-saving research.
Who picks the winners?
An independent sweepstakes administrator, American Sweepstakes & Promotion Co., Inc., conducts the random drawing after each fundraiser closes and confirms the winner's eligibility. A Race Against Blindness is not involved in the selection; we announce the winner the agency gives us, live.
Are the winners real?
Yes. Every winner is listed by name, state and prize on the Past Winners page, most with a livestream of the call and a video of the handover. Winners never pay a fee to claim a prize.
Where does the money go?
As of October 2026, $6.1 million has been paid out in research grants, $5.1 million of it to the first gene-therapy clinical trial for Bardet-Biedl syndrome. Grants, expenses and officer pay are reported on the Form 990, which is public on ProPublica.
Why isn't A Race Against Blindness rated by Charity Navigator?
Charity Navigator requires three consecutive electronically filed Forms 990. The organization was recognized in 2023, so the third filing (for 2025) is due in November 2026, and a rating becomes possible in 2027.
How do I reach a real person?
Through the Help Center at araceagainstblindness.org/pages/help-center. Questions about entries, charges and prizes are answered by our team, not a bot.
No purchase or donation necessary. Void where prohibited. See Official Rules for details.