STUDENTS OF SERVICE SOS
EIN: 47-2212526
Mission
Students of Service (SOS) is dedicated to education through service and travel by providing students with the opportunity to learn abroad in order to better their own communities and serve back home. We see a world in which all young people - no matter their background - believe in their power to make a positive difference in their communities.
Ruling year
2014
Executive Director
Mr. Amir Samandi
Main address
Po Box 780674
San Antonio, TX 78278 USA
EIN
47-2212526
Arts exchange
Community service for youth
Population served
Adolescents
Economically disadvantaged people
At-risk youth
Children and youth
NTEE code
Youth Community Service Clubs (O51)
International Cultural Exchange (Q21)
IRS subsection
501(c)(3) Public Charity
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
Tax forms
Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Mission: Summer of Service (SOS) is dedicated to education through service and travel by providing students with the opportunity to learn abroad in order to better their own communities and serve back home. Vision: We see a world in which all young people - no matter their background - believe in their power to make a positive difference in their communities.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
SOS Serve Program
SOS organizes and leads students ages 12-18 through monthly community service opportunities throughout San Antonio. Students are encouraged to learn empathy for those we serve and gain a deeper understanding of the needs of our community.
The Serve program promotes youth empowerment and socially-conscious entrepreneurship through local community engagement. The program has two arms: ‘Community Action’ and ‘Make It Happen.’ SOS staff coordinate and lead ‘Serve’ service projects at San Antonio-area nonprofits. The ‘Make It Happen’ initiative is student-driven; students submit their community service ideas to SOS serve staff, then either partner with local nonprofits or lead independent efforts to see their ideas come to life.
SOS Explore Program
Through travel abroad, students learn more about the world around them, and about themselves. In the process, students return inspired to give back and make their own community better and become actively engaged global citizens. The Explore program broadens horizons and exposes young people to new ideas and opportunities through international trips with accompanying customized curriculum. Since 2014, we have led 12 groups of students on trips to locations, including: Peru, Greece, China, Belize and Australia.
SOS Learn Program
Our Learn program engages local educators to create curriculum that aligns with what students are learning in the classroom and through their experiential learning, both with local volunteering and travel abroad with SOS.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Summer of Service (SOS) was founded in 2014 on the belief that bringing young people from all parts of San Antonio together to engage in local service projects and international travel will:
stoke ongoing passion in young people for service and civic engagement,
create “global citizens” by supplementing formal education in civics, world cultures and geography,
build geographically diverse networks of young people and
expand the cultural capital of disadvantaged students by exposing them to travel and more advantaged peers.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our service delivery model has two active pillars: Serve and Explore.
The Serve program promotes local community engagement through volunteering. This includes student service projects coordinated by our all-volunteer staff and projects entirely designed and led by students (called Make It Happen projects). Since our inception, SOS has facilitated nearly 17,000 hours of community service, engaging 950 middle- and high-school students in nearly 800 unique service opportunities. Service project partners include the SA River Foundation, SAMM Ministries, and the SA Food Bank.
The Explore program broadens horizons through international trips with accompanying customized curriculum. Since 2014, we have led over 250 students on trips to locations like Peru, Greece, China, and Australia. This includes 50 students from underrepresented communities who participated via scholarship. Our long-term goal is a 50/50 mix of scholarship and full-paying student attendees.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
As an all-volunteer run organization, SOS is founded and sustained by participatory, community-based decision making. A host of dedicated volunteer leaders from different fields- including education, tech, banking, international relations- collaborate with trip partners from across the world to create meaningful experiences for young people traveling internationally and serving locally. SOS leaders rely on feedback from on-the-ground community members to shape activities, lesson plans and itineraries.
Local nonprofit staff play a key role in shaping the service projects students engage with in our community. SOS leaders rely on their input to match students’ skills and interests with meaningful service projects. In addition, Make It Happen projects are completely student-driven, beginning with the initial project idea and continuing through project execution.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Currently we aim to provide at least 10 students with demonstrable financial need with scholarships to attend Explore trips each year. Our long-term goal is for Explore trips to be a 50/50 mix of scholarship and full-paying participants; at current service levels, this will translate to our providing an additional 15 underserved students a year the opportunity to go on a horizon-expanding study abroad trip.
Young people must record at least 15 hours of pre-trip service with SOS through our Serve program to be eligible for a trip. In addition to tracking these hours, we track how many students continue serving our community beyond the trip. Currently almost 70% of SOS students exceed minimum requirements by continuing to serve locally following their trips, exceeding our 50% target.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve local students between the ages of 12-18.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
Revenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2019 info
1.38
Months of cash in 2019 info
2.2
Fringe rate in 2019 info
0%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
STUDENTS OF SERVICE SOS
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
STUDENTS OF SERVICE SOS
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SOURCE: IRS Form 990
This snapshot of STUDENTS OF SERVICE SOS’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
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Business model indicators
| Profitability info | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | -$25,256 | -$11,937 |
| As % of expenses | -7.2% | -2.1% |
| Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | -$25,256 | -$11,937 |
| As % of expenses | -7.2% | -2.1% |
| Revenue composition info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $327,158 | $560,895 |
| Total revenue, % change over prior year | 0.0% | 71.4% |
| Program services revenue | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Membership dues | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| All other grants and contributions | 97.9% | 97.5% |
| Other revenue | 2.1% | 2.5% |
| Expense composition info | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total expenses before depreciation | $352,414 | $558,608 |
| Total expenses, % change over prior year | 0.0% | 58.5% |
| Personnel | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Professional fees | 2.5% | 1.5% |
| Occupancy | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Pass-through | 3.1% | 0.8% |
| All other expenses | 94.3% | 97.7% |
| Full cost components (estimated) info | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Total expenses (after depreciation) | $352,414 | $558,608 |
| One month of savings | $29,368 | $46,551 |
| Debt principal payment | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 |
| Total full costs (estimated) | $381,782 | $605,159 |
Capital structure indicators
| Liquidity info | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Months of cash | 1.9 | 2.2 |
| Months of cash and investments | 1.9 | 2.2 |
| Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 1.8 | 0.8 |
| Balance sheet composition info | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | $54,895 | $103,490 |
| Investments | $0 | $0 |
| Receivables | $0 | $0 |
| Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $0 | $0 |
| Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 6.3% | 65.5% |
| Unrestricted net assets | $0 | $0 |
| Temporarily restricted net assets | $0 | N/A |
| Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | N/A |
| Total restricted net assets | $0 | $0 |
| Total net assets | $51,433 | $39,496 |
Key data checks
| Key data checks info | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Material data errors | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Executive Director
Mr. Amir Samandi
Amir Samandi is the Founder and Executive Director of Students of Service (SOS). Amir originally had the idea to create SOS in 2003 while he was working at the U.S. Department of State. He realized that through service and travel abroad, Americans could become better informed and engaged global citizens. It wasn't until 2014 that his idea could come to life! He had changed careers to become a public school teacher in a predominately low-income, Hispanic school in San Antonio, Texas. A student saw a picture of the Eiffel Tower on his desk and asked if she could go there and Amir realized that SOS needed to become a reality. He knew that kids like her needed opportunities to learn through service to others and travel abroad in a way that a classroom cannot teach.
Since then, SOS has performed thousands of hours of community service in San Antonio and abroad, in addition to having taken many students on trips abroad. Amir is married and has three sons.
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
STUDENTS OF SERVICE SOS
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
STUDENTS OF SERVICE SOS
Board of directorsas of 02/24/2023
Board of directors data
Leslie Palmer
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Term: 2021 - 2023
Jennifer Lloyd
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Lauren McLeaird
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Christian Valerio
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Leslie Palmer
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Morgan Jones
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Leroy Adams
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Martha Henry
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Derek Schriver
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David Johnson
Alicia Fawcett
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Kim Leible
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Stephanie Ockenfels
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Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
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