The Scholarship Organization Network

Our mission is to help nonprofit organizations improve their capacity to create and manage tax credit and other means-tested scholarships for low-income children in private elementary and secondary schools. These scholarships are being used increasingly by state governments to help public education fulfill its promise of equal opportunity to disadvantaged students and their success depends on these nonprofits being effective and efficient. The nonprofit organizations that provide these opportunities also face extraordinary challenges. In most states, they are expected to supply a full range of services. They must recruit the companies that receive tax credits for contributing to the scholarship program. They must recruit the private schools that teach the students. They must recruit families and then screen and review their applications, and issue payments for the students approved to receive the scholarships. Moreover, they must coordinate with and be responsive to state agencies that oversee the scholarship laws. To achieve their mission, the Scholarship Organization Network will help these scholarship organizations form strategic and operational partnerships.