Most people write a check to the state every April and never think about it again. Arizona gives you a better option — one where you decide exactly where your tax dollars go, you see exactly what they do, and the law guarantees that at least 90 cents of every dollar reaches a child directly. Scholarkids exists to make that option as powerful as it can possibly be.

Most scholarship organizations measure success by the number of awards they make. The more recipients, the better the story. But a $500 scholarship toward $8,000 in tuition helps no one if the remaining $7,500 is still out of reach. The family cannot enroll. The child does not get the education. The donation produces zero outcome.

Scholarkids does the opposite. Every scholarship we award is built toward covering 100 percent of tuition for a full school year. We rank every applicant by financial need — lowest household income first. The families who could least afford private school without us move to the front of the line. When we award a scholarship, it is not a contribution toward a solution. It is the solution.

Arizona’s STO program was designed to help the families who need it most. The data tells a different story.

According to the Arizona Department of Revenue’s own annual report, the majority of Arizona STO scholarship dollars flow to families earning above 342 percent of the federal poverty level — above $106,000 a year for a family of four. The lowest-income families — the ones who need a full scholarship most — are quietly ending up last in line across most of the Arizona STO ecosystem.

This is not a criticism of any individual organization. It is a systemic pattern that emerges when donor recommendations, school affiliations, and first-come-first-served award systems redirect money away from the bottom of the income ladder.

Scholarkids was built to correct that. We believe the families with the greatest financial need deserve to come first — and that belief shapes every scholarship decision we make.

When you rank applicants by household income and award complete scholarships, every donated dollar produces a verified, measurable result — a child who could not otherwise afford private school is now enrolled, for a full year, at no cost to their family. No dollar is wasted bridging a gap that never closes. No family is left with an award they cannot act on. This is what maximum return on donated dollars looks like: one complete opportunity, delivered to the family for whom it changes everything.

When your dollars go to the state government, they enter a budget so large and so diffuse that you will never know what they funded, who they helped, or whether they made any difference at all. When your dollars come to Scholarkids, you see exactly where they go. A real child. A real school. A real family that could not have made it without you. No bureaucracy between your decision and its outcome. No wondering. Just a direct, visible, measurable result that you chose — and that you can choose again next year.

Arizona law requires that a minimum of 90 percent of every dollar donated to an STO be awarded directly as scholarships. Not administration. Not overhead. Not salaries. Scholarships. That is not our policy — it is the law. It means that before you give a single dollar, you already know that at least ninety cents of it lands directly in a child’s education. Combined with our commitment to full-tuition awards for the lowest-income families on our waiting list, that 90 percent does not get diluted across token gestures — it goes toward complete, life-changing outcomes for the families who need it most.

Every scholarship Scholarkids awards is paid directly to the school — never to the family. Arizona law does not require this. We chose it as our operating standard because we believe it represents the highest level of integrity in scholarship administration. Your donation moves from your hands to a child’s education without passing through anyone else’s. No cash changes hands. No family is put in the position of managing scholarship funds. The school receives payment, the child receives their education, and you receive the certainty that your dollars did exactly what you intended them to do — nothing more, nothing less, and nothing in between.

Together with Arizona’s 90 percent scholarship requirement, this means your donation is protected at every step. The law governs how much reaches scholarships. Our voluntary standard governs how those scholarships are delivered. From the moment you donate to the moment a child walks through the school door, there is a clear, unbroken, accountable chain — and you are at the beginning of it.

A full-tuition scholarship for one year changes a child’s life. Uncertainty about the following year takes some of that back. A family that cannot plan beyond the current school year cannot fully commit to a school, build relationships, or let their child settle into the community that is shaping them. The goal was never one year. The goal is the complete arc of a child’s education — uninterrupted, fully funded, free from the annual anxiety of wondering whether next year is possible.

That is the vision we are building toward. Not one scholarship. Not one year. A sustained commitment to the lowest-income families in Arizona that gives children the stability to learn, grow, and become who they are meant to be.

Monthly giving compounds. Annual renewals build the predictability we need to make multi-year scholarship commitments to families. Every donor who joins our family for the long term is not just funding a scholarship — they are funding the certainty that makes that scholarship mean something. When you commit to a child’s education over multiple years, you are not just a donor. You are the reason that family stopped worrying and started believing in what comes next.

We are looking for donors who think in years, not transactions. Donors who want to see their tax dollars create a direct, visible, lasting impact on a real child’s life. Donors who understand that the most powerful thing a scholarship can give a family is not just money — it is the freedom to stop worrying and start learning.

Arizona’s STO tax credit is one of the most powerful education tax tools in the country. Most eligible taxpayers have never used it.

Step 1 — Determine your amount
Donate up to your Arizona state tax liability. You redirect money you already owe the state — dollar for dollar — directly to a family in need.

Step 2 — Make your donation
Credit card, ACH, Apple Pay, and Google Pay accepted. You may recommend a student or school. Our scholarship decisions are determined by financial need — lowest household income ranked first — but recommendations are honored to the full extent the law allows. We make it convenient for you to contribute in smaller, recurring monthly donations.

Step 3 — Receive your receipt
We issue your donation receipt immediately. Keep it for your Arizona tax filing.

Step 4 — Claim your credit
When filing your Arizona state taxes, submit your receipt along with ADOR forms 323 and 348 as applicable.

2026 maximum donation amounts eligible for 100% Arizona tax credit:

• Married filing jointly: $3,131. 
• Filing single: $1,571.

You may donate any amount up to your total Arizona state tax liability. We make it convenient for you to contribute in smaller, recurring monthly donations.

You deserve to know exactly how your money is used. Arizona law requires that a minimum of 90 percent of all donations be awarded as scholarships. We publish our scholarship awards, the schools served, and the number of families on our waiting list. You will always know what your donation did. That is not a courtesy — it is our obligation to every person who trusts us with their tax dollars.