Bison Children's Scholarship Fund

What Bison Children's Scholarship Fund does

BISON Children's Scholarship Fund is a privately funded, nonprofit scholarship organization headquartered at 284 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY. Founded in the mid-1990s (firmographics record 1995; company-history timeline records 1997), the organization provides K-12 private school tuition assistance to low-income families across the eight counties of Western New York (Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Allegany, Wyoming, and Orleans).

The fund's core product is a scholarship program that routes awards through a network of partner private schools — including Nardin Academy, Park School, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, and Mount Saint Mary's Academy — with scholarships applied against tuition at those institutions. Applications are accepted through an online Civicore pre-application portal accessed via the website's "Apply Now" call-to-action. Supplementing the core scholarship offering, BISON operates an Alumni Program that supports past recipients through high school graduation and into college and career transitions, and hosts an annual Celebration Luncheon that recognises donors, scholars, alumni, and partner schools. The organization does not develop proprietary technology products; its digital stack is limited to standard web content management, the Civicore application portal, and the eTapestry online giving platform.

BISON's business model is philanthropic: revenue is generated through individual donor contributions rather than earned income, with no pricing model and no fee-bearing recipients. Headcount is small (1-10 employees), and operations remain regionally concentrated. The largest disclosed funding event in the input is a $3.5 million grant from Mother Cabrini in February 2021. Public revenue is not disclosed, and the organization is governed as an independent nonprofit with no parent company, subsidiaries, or institutional investor involvement.

Name

Bison Children's Scholarship Fund

Legal name

BISON Children's Scholarship Fund

Website

https://bisonfund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

BISON Children's Scholarship Fund is a Buffalo, NY-based nonprofit that provides K-12 private school tuition scholarships to low-income families across the eight counties of Western New York, funded by individual donor contributions routed through a network of partner private schools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Private School Scholarship Programs

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• K-12 scholarship fund
• Private school tuition aid
• Educational choice programs
• Nonprofit scholarship grants
• Child education funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Buffalo

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donor Contributions: The organization raises funds through individual donations, as evidenced by prominent 'Donate' calls-to-action throughout the website. Donors can contribute via the website's eTapestry online giving platform.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bison Children's Scholarship Fund is a regional nonprofit that raises charitable contributions and awards K-12 private-school tuition scholarships to income-eligible families across an eight-county area of Western New York. The organization screens applicants, verifies financial eligibility, and pays tuition directly to participating private schools on behalf of selected students, functioning as a school-choice scholarship organization.

Product overview

Bison Children's Scholarship Fund operates as a single, unified scholarship program providing K-12 private education financial assistance to low-income families in Western New York's eight counties. The organization connects families with partner private schools through its core scholarship offering, supplemented by an alumni program for ongoing student support and annual celebration events for community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• K-12 Private School Tuition Scholarships Need-based tuition scholarships awarded to income-eligible K-12 students across eight counties of Western New York; tuition is paid by BISON directly to participating private schools on behalf of selected families.
• Donor Fund / Charitable Contribution Program Tax-deductible donation and grant program through which individuals, foundations, and corporate donors (including institutional grant-makers such as Mother Cabrini) fund BISON's K-12 scholarship pool.

Quantifiable outcome

• Students have achieved Honor Roll status for multiple years
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Partner Schools NetworkcoreOthersBISON works with a network of private schools in Western New York as partner institutions where scholarship recipients can use their awards. The website references a dedicated 'Partner Schools' page listing institutions including Nardin Academy, Park School, St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, and Mount Saint Mary's Academy. Schools provide educational services to scholarship recipients.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Step Up For Students: Florida-based scholarship organization administering K-12 private school scholarships and education savings accounts for low-income and special-needs families. Directly comparable as a large-scale, donor-and-state-funded private school scholarship administrator.
• Inner-City Scholarship Fund: New York City-based nonprofit providing private K-12 tuition assistance to low-income families through donor contributions and partner Catholic/independent schools. Closely mirrors BISON's regional, donor-funded, partner-school model with a New York footprint.
• ACE Scholarships: Provides K-12 private school scholarships to low-income families across multiple U.S. states, operating through a donor-funded model with partner schools. Highly comparable in target population, school choice mission, and scholarship administration approach.
• Children's Scholarship Fund: National K-12 private school scholarship fund for low-income families, with regional partner chapters using a near-identical model of pooled donor dollars and partner-school networks. Most directly comparable peer in mission, structure, and beneficiary profile.
• Catholic Schools Foundation: Provides tuition assistance to low-income students attending inner-city Catholic K-12 schools through donor-funded scholarships. Same archetype of donor-driven, faith-adjacent, partner-school scholarship model targeting underserved families.

Others

• EdChoice: National nonprofit that conducts research, polling, and advocacy on K-12 school choice policies including vouchers, ESAs, and tax-credit scholarships. Comparable as the ecosystem's policy and research counterpart; not a direct scholarship administrator but directly shapes the demand environment for funds like BISON.
• Black Alliance for Educational Options (ExcelinEd): National advocacy and policy organization promoting K-12 school choice and education savings accounts. Indirect peer—serves as an enabling/ecosystem actor whose policy work influences the regulatory and funding environment for private school scholarship funds.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/The-Bison-Scholarship-Fund/141300746824
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1880199?trk=tyah

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bison Children's Scholarship Fund