photo credit Lawrence Crayton

How SOAR Operates

Members make annual donations of $250, $500, $1000, or $2000 or $50 monthly.

We vote on which issues will be prioritized in that year of funding.

Members and the executive committee seek out small organizations around the country who work in the prioritized areas.

All members can nominate organizations for funding. We focus on small organizations with budgets under $5 million, however usually budgets are in the $1-$3 million range.

We research, evaluate and discuss the organizations that members want to support.

We do not require organizations to write proposals or do any work, with the exception of one or two phones calls. We think it’s more important that they spend time on their mission.

There is a meeting where members present the organizations who have made the final list. Members who can’t make the meeting can read write-ups and presentations on each proposed organization.

We vote on which organizations we will support, and how much we will give each organization. Generally, our grants range from $10,000 to $15,000 per organization.

All members get an equal vote on how we distribute our funds.

Our fiscal conduit is Mass Philanthropy, a non-profit that holds our funds and distributes our grants.

Note: our grantees are identified and nominated by SOAR members. We do not accept grant requests, but feel free to contact us if you would like to be considered.

2025 Grant Timeline:

General meeting: January 2025

Collect donations and nominations: February -  March, 2025

Meet in March to present, vote, and decide on grantees

Make grants to organizations - end of April, 2025

Results since 2017:

Recruited over 65 members who have donated over $300,000 in funds;

Received over 150 nominations from our membership for organizations all over the country;

Made donations to 34 organizations, with grants ranging from $2,500 to $15,000;

Grantees work on issues such as reproductive rights, migrant asylum representation, LGBTQ organizing, anti-racism action, immigrant rights, voter rights and election organizing, gun violence prevention, and criminal justice reform.