So Hum Foundation

So Hum Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private foundation that has supported over 150 charitable organizations. Founded by Jerry Jones in 1999, So Hum currently partners with 63 charities.

About two-thirds of So Hum Foundation’s annual grants assist international work, with a historical focus on India, as well as neighboring Nepal, Tibet, and Afghanistan. In recent years, funding has expanded to include work in African and South American countries.

So Hum’s international charities serve some of the most needy members of society: the very poor, women and children, adults and children with physical and mental disabilities, as well as under-served rural communities.

Funding has been targeted towards health care and medical services (specifically surgeries to reverse blindness), children’s homes and schools, cultural and environmental preservation, and animal welfare.

So Hum Foundation typically partners with charitable organizations to fund a portion of their annual operating expense, and is especially interested in self-reliant and self-sustaining programs, ecologically sound practices, and high value for money donated.

The foundation’s grants to organizations within the USA provide funding for a wide range of educational, environmental, health and cultural work. The majority of these grants are given to relatively small organizations in Oregon and California.

Guiding Principles

So Hum Foundation funds charitable work inside and outside of the USA and may give preference to charitable work outside of the USA where the relative need may be greater and where US dollars may go much further to provide needed services.
In general, So Hum Foundation supports smaller “hands-on” organizations where our annual assistance is a meaningful amount of their annual budget. Annual Funding may not exceed 30% of an organization’s annual operating budget. Capital projects funding may be considered separately from operating funds. In general, So Hum does not fund corpus or endowments.
So Hum Foundation prefers to fund organizations that promote independence and self-reliance in their programs of service, and who reflect this in their annual budget.
To be eligible for funding, a charitable organization must be licensed by the appropriate governmental entities within the country in which it has been formed.
Eligible charities must have been formed and in operation for a minimum of three years.
So Hum does not provide startup funding.

Domestic Charities

Grants to organizations operating within the USA support a wide range of educational, environmental, animal welfare, health and cultural work. The majority of So Hum Foundation’s domestic charities are relatively small organizations based in Oregon and California.

International Charities

So Hum Foundation typically “partners” with charitable organizations to fund a portion of their annual operating expense, and is especially interested in self-reliant and self-sustaining programs, ecologically sound practices, and high value for money donated.