Sooch Foundation supports organizations and programs that:
- Help adults who were not previously on track to earn livable wages to do so, and
- Increase graduation rates from college and other post-secondary institutions for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
To reach these goals, Sooch Foundation will primarily fund programs serving adults and young adults.
Additionally, we also look for the following four criteria in deciding which educational opportunities to fund. The ideal candidate will meet all four criteria.
- Positive impact upon socio-economically disadvantaged people
We are looking to fund programs that assist people who are lacking basic necessities, particularly related to success in school and career and ultimately in life. We seek to equalize some of these differences to help empower people to acquire the skills needed to reach their full potential and utilize their unique skills and talents. To qualify for funding, grantee programs must serve a minimum of 60% economically disadvantaged people, while the vast majority of programs funded serve 75% or above.
- Project has a measurable, long-lasting outcome
We require a gauge to know whether our funding efforts have been successful. For this reason, we seek projects with clearly defined and measurable outcomes, that can demonstrate a positive and permanent change for program participants that will ideally impact future generations. We look to support organizations that track not only short-term outcomes, but also longer-term outcomes and those that relate to systemic change in education reform.
- Project lies within our geographic area of focus
Our foundation prefers to work closely and on a personal level with our grantees, as well as understand the local contexts and stakeholders that impact our grantees’ work to best assist them in reaching their goals. Our funding is restricted to organizations located in Austin, Texas, where our foundation is headquartered. We do not make grants to the greater Central Texas region nor to other areas of Texas or the country.
- Donation must be efficiently and productively utilized
We will closely evaluate administrative overhead of any program brought before us. We are looking for programs that realize disproportionate results relative to the dollars invested. It is important to us that as much of our donation as possible go to helping those who need it. At the same time, we seek organizations with a robust and sustainable infrastructure in place to recruit, retain, and empower high-quality leadership. We will look for organizations that are highly successful at managing this balance to maximize program impact.
Sooch Foundation does not accept uninvited proposals. We are committed to learning and to respecting the valuable time of our existing and potential grantees, so please reach out to Susan McDowell at susan@sooch.net to schedule a brief video meeting to discuss the focus of the Foundation and to introduce us to the work you do.