Our vision is to create the largest sustainable charity fund in Eastern Europe that supports youth development. We aim to grow the fund’s assets as efficiently and transparently as possible, providing regular updates on the fund’s growth, charitable work, and investments.
Supporting the Charity Fund
The main supporters of the charity fund are students participating in the Southwestern Advantage summer program and alumni of the program.
As of today, the fund has raised a total of €153,989 in donations, distributed by country as follows:
Charitable Actions
We are open to supporting various charitable projects and scholarships that align with the foundation’s goal — to help young people develop character and skills that support the realization of their dreams.
As of the end of September, since the beginning of 2017, we have donated a total of €28,319. This year, we have provided €5,200 in support and plan to award an additional €4,000 in Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarships in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania this autumn.
Learn more about the scholarships here:
If you are an active and positive young person with an entrepreneurial spirit, make sure to apply!
In Estonia, we decided to name the scholarship the Roland Liinar Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship. Roland was a cheerful young man who left us far too soon. During his 25 years, he was exceptionally active and enterprising — he was involved in sports, worked both in Estonia and abroad during the summers, participated in various student programs, joined several student organizations, founded his own company, invested, and was an outstanding leader for other young people in the Southwestern Advantage program. At the same time, he was socially active, always supportive, and a beloved friend. Through this scholarship, we wish to honor Roland’s memory and support young people who, like him, are energetic and entrepreneurial.
Investments
In terms of investments and asset management, our goal is to achieve at least 10% annual growth of the fund’s assets. This allows us to allocate 5% of the fund’s total value each year to scholarships and grants, while continuing to grow the fund — ensuring that donors’ good deeds continue to do good forever. We aim to keep the foundation’s administrative costs as low as possible so that, as the fund grows, these expenses become increasingly marginal.
As of today, the fund’s asset value has increased to €154,259, and the 2025 grant budget remains €6,365. Compared to a year ago, the fund’s assets have grown by 32%. The fund’s value continues to grow steadily thanks to the continued support of participants in the SW program and a 16% increase in the value of the stock portfolio compared to a year ago.
The investments are divided among different asset classes as follows:
The goal for the next quarter is to reduce the share of uninvested cash in the portfolio and ensure that the proportion of invested assets remains above 95% of total assets.
The mission of the Southwestern Advantage Foundation is to become the largest investment-based charity fund in Eastern European countries, helping young people gain knowledge and develop character so they can fulfill their dreams in life. We help young people across Europe access better entrepreneurial education and share investment knowledge with those who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity. Our goal is to reduce and prevent poverty through education and empowerment.
We direct our contributions to charitable projects in line with this mission. We donate only from the fund’s passive income — allocating 50% of the returns to charity and 50% back to the fund. In this way, your good deed keeps doing good forever.
Help us make a difference: https://swacharity.eu/en/donate/
