Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
932008470
IRS 990 coverage
2023–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2022
Location
Lincoln, NE, USA
Phone
4022057047
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,582,904
Expenses
$8,931,350
Assets
$1,475,000
Liabilities
$1,000

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RICK BETTGER (PRESIDENT)
  • JEREMY EKELER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU JULY 2025))
  • JEREMY BECK (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (AS OF 1/26/2026))

Highest reported compensation

  • JEREMY EKELER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THRU JULY 2025)): $153,363 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To further charitable and educational purposes: 1) as a scholarship granting organization within the meaning of the Nebraska opportunity scholarships act, and 2) by granting scholarships to youth to defray the cost of k-12 education as permitted by internal revenue code section 501(c)(3).

What it reported doing in 2024

Scholarship granting organization (sgo) - osn served as a state-approved scholarship granting organization through the opportunity scholarships act (lb753). This allowed osn to receive contributions which qualified for a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit. Contributions funded scholarships awarded to qualified students attending a nonpublic school of their parent's choice. Only 10% of contributions can be used for administrative costs. At least 90% must be used for scholarships.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 95% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 99%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -4.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.17; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 1.7%; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 179.9% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 114.4% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -21.5% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 99% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 13 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $8.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $153K · 14 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2023 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 5/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.