Missouri · Nonprofit
THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION
THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION (Missouri) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,801,982 to it, the largest being CITY FUND ($26,469,167). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $22M
- Funders on record
- 38
- Grants received
- $57M
- Net assets
- $4.0M
What The Opportunity Trust D/B/A Zest Education does
Mission
The opportunity trust invests in educators and school systems eager to build the capacity required to make significant and measurable change.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Our first strategic priority is to elevate the voices of those most underserved by our school systems and empower families and students to design and drive change as part of a broad and diverse coalition. This program aims to 1) strengthen parent leadership and advocacy infrastructure by organizing and growing new neighborhood groups focused on lowest 5% performing schools in st. Louis city, seeding efforts to create demand in st. Louis county, and improving charter perceptions by organizing 10k charter parent voices via state charter association, 2) increasing trust through development of community coalitions, and 3) continue investing in early stage growth of key partners.
$2,152,035 spentof which $909,453 as grants10% of program spendingOur second strategic priority is focused on increasing access to world-class schools by growing the capacity of our most successful schools, launching new and innovative schools, strengthening existing schools with conditions for sustained success, and helping districts to methodically transform their lowest performing schools. This program aims to 1) drive toward goal of 25% students in quality seats by expanding investments in new schools, expanding investments to additional schools, and maintaining investments in high performing charters, 2) catalyze support for district autonomous models through community design and post-secondary intermediary initiative, and 3) explore partnerships with seven county districts representing 27k students enrolled in low-quality schools.
$11,835,939 spentof which $7,276,391 as grants58% of program spendingOur fifth strategic priority is administering the "expanding opportunities: missouri charter school program (csp)" this is a u.s. Department of education grant with an approved budget of $35.5 million to help missouri expand opportunities for students to attend quality charter public schools. Missouri's csp program has three objectives: 1) increase the number of quality missouri charter public school seats, especially for our most educationally disadvantaged students; 2) support quality charter school authorizing in missouri, through the dissemination and support of best authorizer practices statewide, and 3) codify and share lessons from high-performing charter public schools across the education ecosystem.
$5,118,562 spentof which $4,338,655 as grants25% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$1,475,763 spentof which $365,000 as grants7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $20,582,299.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $5.5M to $4.0M (−27%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 2% · 2024 3% · 2025 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 7 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
Eric Scroggins
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Keith Williamson
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $315k → $10M.
12 of 38 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 30% 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 THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 38 funders by total. 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
THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 47% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
80% 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 THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 39% · 2019 44% · 2020 37% · 2021 38% · 2022 69% · 2023 40% — 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
38% of THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION draws 81% of its grant income from funders outside Missouri, across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $17M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,758 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,758 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $27.5M on record.
- Department of Education$27.5M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION
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 Missouri
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION: 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 THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION?
- THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION (Missouri) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,801,982 to it, the largest being CITY FUND ($26,469,167). 23 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION have?
- IRS filings report 38 organizations giving $56,801,982 in grants to THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION, 23 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION?
- CITY FUND is the largest funder on record, with $26,469,167 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE OPPORTUNITY TRUST D/B/A ZEST EDUCATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 38 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