Minnesota · Nonprofit
So Others May Learn
So Others May Learn (Minnesota) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $411,255 to it, the largest being Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc ($262,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $305k
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $411k
- Net assets
- $74k
What So Others May Learn does
Mission
So Others May Learn a 501-C3 nonprofit organization is dedicated to providing academic scholarships to deserving students in Uganda Zambia and Zimbabwe and support the communities in which these students learn and live. These scholarships are specifically targeted at students in rural areas who lack the financial resources to pursue their education. In addition to financial support the organization also ensures ongoing monitoring of academic progress and offers additional assistance such as healthcare and infrastructure improvements for the communities where these students reside. Through these efforts So Others May Learn aims to empower underserved students in their communities by breaking down barriers to education and fostering sustainable development.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
So Others May Learn believes that students thrive when their communities thrive and they can focus on their education when they dont have to worry that their families friends or leaders are struggling. Every year the communities in which our students learn and live submit funding proposals for infrastructure projects that will benefit their community. We evaluate these projects based on their direct impact they will have on our students and families they connection to education and input from our community advisory boards. In order for So Others May Learn to fund a project the community must partner fiscally or through labor investment period weve vetted 13 community proposals this year and selected 4 for sponsorship: 2 medical clinics supports in Kapane and Ngamo villages a tree nursery and Ziga village that is part of the primary school curriculum and an eco- club project for three primary schools where we have students. In addition in quarter three and four we selected the building of classroom blocks at the Lupinyu primary school in Zimbabwe we created a borehole for Lupani secondary school and we helped to fund agricultural equipment for a community farm that serves our Ziga…
$92,502 spentof which $92,502 as grants35% of program spendingIn 2024 so others may learn granted it 4 secondary schools scholarships and three universities scholarships to students in Zambia and eight secondary schools scholarships to students in Zimbabwe. As per above come with our Ugandan scholarship program covering tuition transportation fees healthcare food and other essential expenses is a key component of these comprehensive scholarships. By offering the support we aim to enable our students to concentrate on their education without worrying about their financial burdens. At the end of fiscal year 24 we committed to taking on an additional 12 students after our site visits in November and December of 2024.
$85,256 spentof which $61,546 as grants32% of program spendingIn 2024 so others may learn granted 19 Ugandan scholars with scholarships: 4 at the primary level 6 at the secondary level and 9:00 at the university level. These scholarships are extensive covering tuition transportation fees healthcare food and other essential expenses. By offering this comprehensive support we aim to enable our students to concentrate on their education without worrying about financial burdens.
$46,761 spentof which $46,261 as grants18% of program spendingIn 2024 So Others May Learn continued sponsoring Brandon Ariho a Ugandan scholarship student supported by SOML since 3rd grade. He was granted a partial scholarship to the University of Vermont in 2023. Brandon is our first scholarship student in the U.S. We cover his university tuition flights home and all necessary expenses for his education in the United States.
$38,072 spentof which $33,641 as grants14% of program spendingOn completion of a scholarship for starters many learned students are asked to pay it forward either through tangible on the ground work with the communities in which they live and learn or by financially sponsoring a student in their community. As part of our pay for our program we also assist our alumni with mentorship and advisor roles for our current students.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $262,591.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 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 $25k to $74k (+197%).
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.
100% of So Others May Learn’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 2 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
Kristina Chien
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $5k → $48k.
4 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 84% 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 So Others May Learn’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
So Others May Learn leans on a few funders — its largest provides 64% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
84% 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 So Others May Learn.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 99% · 2021 95% · 2022 50% · 2023 52% — 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
25% of So Others May Learn's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
84% of So Others May Learn'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 $64k that is directly attributable, 55% of it comes from funders outside Minnesota, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $347k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
So Others May Learn has grown faster than three-quarters of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like So Others May Learn
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
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 So Others May Learn: 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 So Others May Learn?
- So Others May Learn (Minnesota) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $411,255 to it, the largest being Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc ($262,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does So Others May Learn have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $411,255 in grants to So Others May Learn, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of So Others May Learn?
- Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $262,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like So Others May Learn 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 So Others May Learn →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2023–2024), and the filings of 9 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