AESF

What AESF does

Arizona Episcopal Schools Foundation (AESF) is a Tucson-headquartered, Arizona-incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating as a Certified School Tuition Organization (STO) under A.R.S. Title 43, Chapters 15 and 16. It functions as a regulated pass-through that converts Arizona individual and corporate state income tax dollars into private-school scholarships: taxpayers redirect what would otherwise be state tax liability to AESF and receive a dollar-for-dollar credit, and AESF allocates at least 90% of contributions (per its STO mandate) to scholarships for students attending five member Episcopal schools across Arizona — All Saints' Episcopal Day School (Phoenix, ~550 students), Christ Church School (Paradise Valley), Imago Dei Middle School (Tucson, tuition-free, 100% scholarship-funded), St. Michael's School (Tucson, 300+ students), and St. Peter's Montessori School (Litchfield Park).

The foundation does not sell a technology product; its core technical surface is a payment-processing donation portal that accepts Visa and MasterCard, designates contributions by member school (capped at $50,000 per school per transaction) or splits equally, and supports both online and mail-in submission. There is no proprietary software, no API, no mobile app, and no disclosed use of AI or automation. Administrative overhead is kept lean: headcount is undisclosed, leadership is a volunteer board of directors with representatives from each member school (President Rebekah Singh, VP Jessica Thomson, Secretary Wendy Granier, Treasurer Charmaine Lang, plus four Directors), and contact is a P.O. Box and a single phone line.

Commercially, AESF is a donation-philanthropy organization rather than a revenue-generating enterprise. Its three scholarship products — Original Individual, Switcher Individual, and Corporate — target distinct Arizona taxpayer segments (individual filers capped at $1,571–$3,169 per tax year depending on filing status; C-corp and eligible S-corp donors with no cap, allocated first-come-first-served). Donor acquisition runs almost entirely through Episcopal church networks, member school communities, and ADOR's certified STO list — no paid acquisition, no app store, no social advertising. Since 1999 the foundation has disbursed more than $25.05 million and awarded over 4,411 scholarships.

Name

AESF

Legal name

Arizona Episcopal Schools Foundation

Website

https://az-esf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Arizona Episcopal Schools Foundation (AESF) is an Arizona 501(c)(3) Certified School Tuition Organization that converts individual and corporate Arizona state income tax credits into scholarships for students attending five member Episcopal private schools statewide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private School Scholarship Funding

NAICS

Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Tuition Assistance & Voucher/ESA Program Administration (EDADAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Scholarships, Grants & Education Benefits Administration (Financing-adjacent) (FSAKAEAM)

Keywords

• Tax credit scholarships
• School tuition organization
• Private school funding
• Faith-based education
• Donor tax credits

Headquarters

HQ city

Tucson

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. Tax Credit Donations: AESF receives tax credit donations from Arizona individual and corporate taxpayers. Donors receive a dollar-for-dollar credit against their Arizona state income tax obligation. The organization is required to allocate at least 90% of annual tax credit contributions to scholarships for students attending qualified private schools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AESF is a Certified School Tuition Organization (STO) that accepts dollar-for-dollar Arizona state income tax credit donations from individuals and corporations and channels at least 90% of those contributions as scholarships to students attending five member Episcopal schools across Arizona. The foundation operates a secure online and mail-in donation platform and administers three scholarship types (Original Individual, Switcher Individual, and Corporate) for K-8 students.

Product overview

AESF (Arizona Episcopal Schools Foundation) operates as a Certified School Tuition Organization (STO) providing Arizona taxpayers with a mechanism to redirect state tax dollars toward private Episcopal education through a dollar-for-dollar tax credit program. The core offering is the Arizona Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which processes donations via an online platform and distributes funds as scholarships through three main types: Original Individual, Switcher Individual, and Corporate scholarships. AESF acts as a pass-through organization, channeling contributions to five member Episcopal schools across Arizona (All Saints' Episcopal Day School in Phoenix, Christ Church School in Paradise Valley, Imago Dei Middle School and St. Michael's School in Tucson, and St. Peter's Montessori School in Litchfield Park). More than 90% of contributions go directly to scholarship funding for students at member schools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Arizona Tax Credit Scholarship Program A tax credit program enabling Arizona taxpayers to claim dollar-for-dollar credits against state income tax by donating to the foundation, which distributes funds as scholarships to students at member Episcopal schools.
• Online Donation Platform Secure online donation form allowing Arizona taxpayers to contribute to one or more of the five AESF member schools, with credit card payment processing via Visa and MasterCard, up to $50,000 per school designation.
• Original Individual Scholarship/Grant Scholarship funding for students attending AESF member Episcopal schools, with eligibility based on school enrollment and application requirements.
• Switcher Individual Scholarship/Grant Scholarship for students who transferred from Arizona public schools to private schools, with prerequisites including 90+ days of prior public school attendance or enrollment in kindergarten/private preschool.
• Corporate Scholarship/Grant Low-income corporate tax credit scholarships with family income limited to 185% of the level required for reduced-price lunches, for students transferring from public schools or continuing from prior scholarships.
• All Saints' Episcopal Day School Independent PK-8 coeducational Episcopal institution in Central Phoenix serving approximately 550 students, established 1963.
• Christ Church School Episcopal preschool and elementary school serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Paradise Valley since 2003, offering programs for children ages 16 months through Fifth Grade.
• Imago Dei Middle School

Quantifiable outcome

• More than $25.05 million given to Arizona children since 1999
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Greater Arizona Christian Education Foundation: Arizona STO providing scholarships to private Christian schools via the state tax credit mechanism. Direct regional peer competing for the same faith-aligned donor segment and private-school partners.
• Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization (ACSTO): Arizona-certified STO channeling tax credit donations to Christian private schools across the state. Direct faith-based STO peer operating under the identical Arizona Department of Revenue certification framework.
• School Tuition Organization of Arizona: Arizona-certified STO providing tax credit scholarships to private school students under the same A.R.S. Title 43 framework. Direct peer with overlapping donor base and competing for school partnerships.
• AAA Scholarship Foundation: Multi-state School Tuition Organization administering tax credit scholarship programs in both Florida and Arizona. Directly comparable as a certified STO competing for the same Arizona tax-credit donor pool under identical statutes.
• Family Tax Credit Foundation: Arizona-certified STO facilitating dollar-for-dollar tax credit donations for private school scholarships. Direct peer operating the same A.R.S. Title 43 donation-to-scholarship pipeline within the same Arizona market.

Broad incumbents

• Step Up For Students: Florida-based Scholarship Funding Organization administering state tax credit scholarships at significantly larger scale. Closest model-level comparable in the STO category, though operating in a different state.
• Episcopal Diocese of Arizona Schools: Denominational governing body for Episcopal congregations and schools across Arizona, including AESF's member schools. Adjacent peer as the institutional anchor of AESF's member-school ecosystem.
• Children's Scholarship Fund: National K-12 private school scholarship nonprofit operating across multiple states. Comparable mission and scholarship-administration structure, though not exclusively dependent on state tax credit programs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 AESF