Our vision is to build the largest sustainable charitable foundation in Eastern Europe dedicated to supporting youth development. We aim to grow the foundation’s assets as effectively and transparently as possible, providing regular updates on our charitable actions, investments, and future plans to our supporters.

Over seven years of operation, we have grown the foundation’s assets to €127,035. With an expected annual return of 10% from our investments, we are able to allocate at least 5% of the foundation’s assets annually to charitable projects and scholarships, while simultaneously growing the fund through the power of compound interest. To date, we have contributed a total of €23,119 to support various initiatives.

Looking back on the goals set at the beginning of 2024, we can be proud of what we’ve achieved. In 2024 the foundation’s assets under management grew by 16% thanks to supporters and investment returns. We supported active young people in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with a total of €8,600, which accounted for 7.8% of the foundation’s assets at the start of the 2024.

One of our key objectives was to establish regular scholarships for active and entrepreneurial youth in partnership with the leading universities in the Baltics—a goal we successfully achieved. The seminars held as part of the scholarship application process received highly positive feedback from students. More than 100 students from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania applied, and six were awarded scholarships totaling €7,000. You can learn more about these students’ achievements and endeavors on our blog. The Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship aims to recognize and support active young individuals, and we plan to continue this initiative in collaboration with universities in the coming years.

Under the leadership of Sander Sildver, we continued awarding the Grete Poderat Young Athlete Scholarship. This year marked the fifth time the scholarship was given, with a €1,200 award going to Kretel Kaljumäe. Additionally, we supported the Junior Achievement-organized student company fair.

Financial Highlights

We have set a long-term goal to grow the foundation’s invested assets to €300,000 by 2030, enabling us to provide €15,000 annually in scholarships and support. Achieving this goal requires doubling the number of regular donors and maintaining a portfolio return of at least 10% per year.

In 2024, the portfolio return was 8.5%, falling short of the target mainly due to a decline in Baltic stocks, which constitute 33% of the foundation’s portfolio. Monthly donor contributions grew by 19% over the year, but there is still a long way to go to double the number of regular donors. A significant boost to the foundation’s asset growth last year came from a record-breaking result at the Sizzler charity auction.

Despite significant growth last year and a substantial increase in the number of supported projects, we are currently slightly behind schedule on our goal of reaching €300,000 in assets by 2030. We warmly invite you to become a supporter of Southwestern Advantage Foundation and our mission in any way you can. Your contribution will create lasting positive impact and continue to do good for generations to come. Donate here.

Plans and Goals for 2025

In 2025, we have already budgeted €9,200 in total support. Of this, €5,200 is allocated for regular scholarships, and €4,000 is reserved for one-time contributions. These include Junior Achievement’s high school economics textbook project and the Bizness24h student company competition in Latvia. Additionally, we are exploring opportunities to start regularly awarding the Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship in Poland.

To support the foundation’s fundraising efforts, we aim to increase monthly donations by at least 20% by the end of the year through continuing our efforts to find new regular donors. To achieve this goal, we plan to enhance awareness among Southwestern Advantage’s active students and alumni, encouraging their engagement and support.

In terms of investments, we plan to allocate approximately 15% of the foundation’s assets to the U.S. stock market in 2025 to mitigate geopolitical risk and reduce the proportion of Baltic stocks in the portfolio. If all goals are met, the foundation’s assets could grow by 20%, reaching €152,000 by the end of 2025.