Our vision is to create the largest sustainable charitable foundation in Eastern Europe dedicated to supporting youth development. We aim to grow the foundation’s assets in a transparent and efficient manner, while regularly providing updates on our charitable impact, investments, and future plans.

Over nine years of operation, we have grown the foundation’s assets to €162,764 thanks to the support of our donors. Each year, we allocate 5% of the foundation’s total assets to charitable projects and scholarships. This approach enables steady growth of the fund and ensures the long-term sustainability of the foundation. To date, we have supported various projects with a total of €32,569.

Looking back at the goals set at the beginning of 2025, we can be satisfied with the results achieved. Last year, the foundation’s assets grew by 28%, driven by donor contributions and strong investment performance. We supported active young people in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Hungary with a total of €9,450, marking the highest annual level of support in the foundation’s history.

Grants and Scholarships

The Entrepreneurial Youth Scholarship competitions organized by the foundation were successful in 2025. Compared to previous years, more universities participated, and in addition to the Baltic countries, we organized the scholarship competition in Hungary for the first time. The goal of the scholarship is to recognize and support active and entrepreneurial young people, and we plan to continue this format in cooperation with universities in the coming years. In total, over 80 students from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Hungary applied, and we awarded scholarships to five students totaling €4,250.

Under the leadership of Sander Sildver, we continued awarding the Grete Poderat Young Athlete Scholarship. 2025 marked the sixth year of this scholarship, and the €1,200 award was granted to Mai Britt Teder.

In addition, we supported Junior Achievement Estonia with €3,500 for the development of an economics textbook for upper secondary schools, as well as their student company fair. In Latvia, we partnered with Banku Augstskola Foundation, a strong local partner that organizes the country’s largest educational entrepreneurship competition, “Bizness 24h”, each year. We supported the event with a €500 prize fund and contributed to training young participants in sales-related topics.

Foundation Financial Overview

We have set a long-term goal to grow the value of the foundation’s invested assets to €300,000 by 2030, which would enable us to award at least €15,000 per year in scholarships and grants.

To achieve this goal, we aim to grow the foundation’s assets by 15–20% annually. This requires doubling the number of recurring donors and maintaining an annual portfolio return of at least 10%.

In 2025, the growth of the foundation’s assets significantly exceeded expectations. Instead of the planned €152,000, we closed the year with a portfolio value of €162,764.

The growth of the foundation’s assets was once again strongly supported by a record-breaking result at the Sizzler charitable auction. In addition, contributions from regular donors increased by 18% year over year, although continued, focused effort is still needed to double the number of recurring donors.

The foundation’s portfolio return in 2025 was 12.1%, exceeding the established target. From an investment perspective, we deliberately diversified the portfolio’s geopolitical risk and acquired the portfolio’s first holdings in an S&P 500 equity fund.

Based on the results of 2025, we are confidently on the right trajectory, and the goal of reaching €300,000 by 2030 is fully achievable.

Plans and Goals for 2026

For 2026, we have planned to distribute a total of €8,450 in grants and scholarships. Of this amount, €7,450 is allocated to the foundation’s regularly awarded scholarships, and €1,000 is designated for partner projects, including Junior Achievement and Bizness 24h student company competitions in Estonia and Latvia.

From a financial perspective, we continue to target 20% annual growth in the foundation’s assets through investments and donor contributions. Under a positive scenario, the foundation’s total assets would exceed €200,000 by the end of 2026. To support this growth, we will focus on increasing awareness of the foundation’s mission and impact among active Southwestern Advantage students and alumni.