Everything your SGO needs in place by January 1.
The federal Education Freedom Tax Credit opens January 1, 2027, and every SGO starts from zero on the same day. Here is the practical checklist for being ready. Section 1 is the organization you stand up. Sections 2 through 5 are what SGO Software does out of the box.
Stand up the organization
- 501(c)(3) status confirmed, and you are not a private foundation.
- Board, bylaws, and a conflict-of-interest policy in place.
- A separate account for §25F funds: the statute bars commingling them with other money.
- On your Governor’s §25F submission list (and your state program’s roster, if applicable).
Collect donations
SGO Software does this- Accept ACH and card donations.
- Pre-register donors, their payment method, and their chosen school before launch, so January 1 is a charge, not a scramble.
- Verify donor identity (KYC) on regulated rails before money moves.
- Issue a per-donor §25F receipt for every donation, the document each donor needs to claim the $1,700 credit.
Award scholarships
SGO Software does this- Take applications from families, with both parents able to work one shared application.
- Collect income and residency documents securely, so awards hold up when they are challenged.
- Check eligibility against 300% of area median gross income (AMGI), backed by the documents on file.
- Award to 10 or more students who do not all attend the same school, then issue letters straight from the decision.
Fund schools
SGO Software does this- Onboard partner schools and capture signed agreements.
- Disburse against the §530(b)(3) qualified-expense list, broader than tuition alone.
- Keep a per-student disbursement ledger that reconciles, and handle mid-year transfers without breaking the trail.
Stay compliant
SGO Software does this- Stay inside the 90/10 cap: at least 90% to scholarships, no more than 10% on administration, tracked continuously from day one.
- Generate state-specific and federal §25F reports from one reconciling ledger.
- Keep a complete, reconstructable audit trail behind every dollar.
Sections 2 through 5 are SGO Software, out of the box.
Standing up the organization (section 1) is your job, and our step-by-step guide to starting an SGO walks you through it. The rest, collecting donations, awarding scholarships, funding schools, and staying compliant, the platform handles. That is the point: you receive donations and choose scholarships, and the platform does practically the rest, all of it built to fit inside the 10% admin cap. See how the compliance works.
Be ready the day donations open.
We’ll walk this checklist with you and show you how to build on the platform from day one, instead of migrating onto it later.
Be ready the day §25F donations open
January 1, 2027 is the same starting line for every SGO. See the platform built from the ground up for §25F: it turns every school you serve into a donor channel, then handles eligibility, disbursement, and reporting in one compliant system. You receive donations and choose scholarships, the platform does the rest.