Sooch Foundation makes grants to organizations assisting young adults and adults (14+) from economically disadvantaged households overcome barriers to educational and workforce success. To qualify for funding, grantee programs must serve a minimum of 60% economically disadvantaged clients, while the vast majority of programs funded serve 75% or above. 

The Sooch Foundation prefers to work closely and on a personal level with our grantees, as well as to 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 headquartered - or with significant program operations - in Central Texas, where our foundation is headquartered. We do not make grants to other areas of Texas or the country. 

The Sooch Foundation is interested in funding services for individuals with the greatest challenges to their success, so we seek organizations that demonstrate a track record in compassionately and effectively engaging individuals with significant economic and other barriers (e.g., homelessness, foster care, incarceration, trauma). 

We want our investments to lead ultimately to better jobs, wages and life skills for program participants.  Organizations should be willing to gather and analyze data to demonstrate impact and make evidence-informed and cost-effective decisions to improve. When funding early-stage initiatives, we place an emphasis on innovation and validating evidence to demonstrate impact, especially as an organization grows. For growth or late-stage organizations, we emphasize a program’s ability to reach more program participants in a cost-effective way that does not sacrifice impact. We are particularly interested in data that demonstrates increases in wages and/or increased credentials that lead to higher wages, such as college degrees or other post-secondary certifications. 

The Sooch Foundation seeks organizations that make the most of our grants through well-executed strategy. We seek organizations that have a sustainable, but lean infrastructure that supports effective service delivery while attracting and retaining high impact staff. We also look for a history of strong leadership and evidence of, or – if early stage - reasonable potential for, scalability, influence, systems change, and a stable, healthy financial position (including skilled fiscal management, a diverse funder base, and a deliberate path to long-term sustainability).