Minnesota · Nonprofit
OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA
OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA (Minnesota) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,768,868 to it, the largest being THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING ($953,576). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 88% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $2.8M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What Operation Bootstrap-Africa does
Mission
Operation Bootstrap Africa (OBA) partners with Africans to strengthen their future through education, healthcare, agriculture, and other long-term development projects.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Educational Operating Grants and Scholarships: *Operation Bootstrap Africa's largest program is the MaaSAE Girls Secondary School (MGLSS) in Monduli, Tanzania. Student sponsorships provide funding for the education of all of the students at this residential school. In its 29th year, the school continues to provide an opportunity for pastoralist and semi-nomadic girls to be educated in a safe and nurturing environment. A monthly grant to the school supports teacher and staff salaries, food, textbooks, utilities, farm production, and other necessary expenses. *Additional scholarship funds were provided for students attending the following institutions: Moringe Sokoine Secondary School in Monduli, Tanzania, Nazarene University, Kitambolu Secondary School in Arusha, Tanzania, Bassodawish school in the Karatu region of Tanzania, Step by Step School, Unambwe Secondary School, Michaud Secondary School, Arusha Lutheran Medical Training Center, Fransalian Hekima Secondary School, and Kiyoora High School in Ntungamo, Uganda. *Medical School scholarships were provided for 6 future doctors to obtain medical degrees at multiple universities throughout Tanzania. *In Madagascar a grant was…
$958,320 spentof which $872,540 as grants49% of program spendingPost-Secondary Education and Leadership Development: *The OBA post-secondary program provides scholarships for graduates of the MaaSAE Girls School through sponsor support. MGLSS graduates pursued degrees at colleges, universities, and vocational schools in Tanzania with scholarships through Operation Bootstrap Africa. Graduates of other local secondary schools also received post-secondary scholarships from OBA.
$428,137 spentof which $389,814 as grants22% of program spendingHealthcare and Health Education: *Grants were provided to the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre School of Nursing to subsidize the high cost of nursing education. Grants were distributed to Partnership of Women and Development for efforts in training the Maasai about the dangers of female genital mutilation. Grants were also provided to Empowered Girls, a non-profit partner that provided menstrual care training and products to multiple school projects in Tanzania including: the Plaster House, MGLSS, Moringe Sokoine, and Olchoki Primary School. *Funding was provided for Tanzania EMS to begin an ambulance dispatch center in Arusha.
$166,700 spentof which $151,778 as grants8% of program spendingNutrition: Lunch programs for students experiencing hunger because of drought or lack of family resources were continued or established at Olchoki Primary School, Azimio Primary School, Ilboru Special Needs School, and five Malagasy schools.
$161,935 spentof which $147,440 as grants8% of program spendingConstruction and Special Projects at Schools in East Africa: *Funding was provided for numerous primary and secondary school projects, including: supplies for five separate Malagasy Schools, two brand new school constructions in Madagascar, dormitory construction at Kiyoora High School in Uganda, and a rural hospital nutrition program. *Funds were also provided for Teacher's Housing and campus building renovations at MGLSS. *Funding was provided to construct a Girl's Dormitory at Masange Juu Secondary School in the Lushoto region of Tanzania. *Construction began at Selian Hospital for a Mother's Unit and Neonatal Ward. *Funding was provided for the "Tiny Feet, Big Steps" International Neonatal Conference in Arusha Tanzania, subsidizing the cost for nurses to attend.
$129,925 spentof which $118,295 as grants7% of program spendingCultural Education and Exchange: *OBA staff members led tours of their projects in Northern Tanzania in October 2024, Feb 2025, and April 2025 to gain a better understanding of the work and foster connections with the communities with whom they partner.
$108,897 spent$124,031 earned by the program6% of program spendingLong Term Development Projects: * Operation Bootstrap Africa granted the Maasai Girls School a salary for their farm manager. Other funds were also sent for cattle, as well as seeds and equipment. * Funds were also provided for Tanzania Advanced Agriculture, which provides microloans and training for sustainable agriculture all throughout Tanzania.
$12,361 spentof which $11,255 as grants1% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,966,275.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $2.0M to $2.6M (+28%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
94% of OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
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
Jason Bergmann
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $81k → $470k.
14 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 88% 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 OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA’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
OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
88% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 50% · 2019 81% · 2020 31% · 2021 24% · 2022 52% · 2023 50% — broadly stable.
“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
64% of OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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 OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $340k that is directly attributable, 65% of it comes from Minnesota funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 1,608 international nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,608 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA
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 Minnesota
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA: 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 OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA?
- OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA (Minnesota) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,768,868 to it, the largest being THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING ($953,576). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 88% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $2,768,868 in grants to OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA?
- THRIVENT CHARITABLE IMPACT & INVESTING is the largest funder on record, with $953,576 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPERATION BOOTSTRAP-AFRICA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Minnesota. 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 Operation Bootstrap-Africa →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 25 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing