California · Nonprofit
Mission Scholars
Mission Scholars (California) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $732,211 to it, the largest being THE JOHN C MITHUN FOUNDATION ($285,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $732k
- Net assets
- $1.1M
What Mission Scholars does
Mission
Mission Scholars uses comprehensive college admissions guidance, mentorship, and career development training to help exceptional, low-income students reach their full potential and become a force for change in our communities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2024, Mission Scholars provided comprehensive support across its College Access, Affordability, and Success programs. All Class of 2024 Scholars submitted an average of 16 college applications, with 100% completing FAFSA/CADAA and securing over $1.4 million in scholarshipsincluding the program's third Gates Scholar and first Edison Scholar. Through robust volunteer engagement, including a 75% retention rate for Essay Coaches, students received individualized support throughout the admissions process. Mission Scholars also delivered targeted college success programming, leading to 90% of college students staying on track to graduate in four years, 60% securing meaningful summer internships, and 100% of alumni returning as peer mentors.
$536,025 spentof which $8,112 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $536,025.
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Cassie Lancaster
Trustee/Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $3k → $25k.
5 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Mission Scholars’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Mission Scholars has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 39% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 31% · 2022 51% · 2023 61% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of Mission Scholars's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 58% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
88% of Mission Scholars's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $105k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Mission Scholars runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like Mission Scholars
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Mission Scholars: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Mission Scholars?
- Mission Scholars (California) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $732,211 to it, the largest being THE JOHN C MITHUN FOUNDATION ($285,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Mission Scholars have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $732,211 in grants to Mission Scholars, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Mission Scholars?
- THE JOHN C MITHUN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $285,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Mission Scholars find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Mission Scholars →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2024–2024), and the filings of 24 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing