← The So What Movement

Grant Agreement

The So What Movement · The Big Move Fund · Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

Version 1.0 · Effective 2026-08-19

This is the agreement a Big Move Fund winner signs before any funds are released. It is published in advance so nobody discovers the conditions after they have won. Defined terms follow the Official Competition Rules.

Between [legal entity name and state of incorporation, to be confirmed] (the "Fund") and the award recipient (the "Grantee").

1. The grant

The Fund awards the Grantee a restricted charitable grant in the amount stated in the award notice. The grant is made in furtherance of the Fund's charitable purpose: strengthening small businesses that serve low-to-moderate income communities in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex.

The grant is not a loan. There is nothing to repay, and no interest, provided the funds are used as agreed.

2. Approved use of funds

Funds are applied across the five areas below, in the allocation set out in the schedule to this agreement, which is based on the plan the Grantee submitted and the Fund approved.

AreaApproved spend
The Visibility Move
Marketing · So people can find you and believe you
A website that takes bookings or orders, not just a Facebook page; Professional photographs of you, your team and your actual work; Google Business Profile set up properly so you come up in local search; Truck lettering, yard signs, uniforms; 90 days of ad spend with somebody watching the numbers weekly; Cards, flyers and door hangers that do not look homemade
The People Move
Hiring and people · So the business is not just you
Job description and a real pay band written, posting placed, applicants screened; Payroll set up properly, with W2 and 1099 sorted out correctly; Workers compensation quoted and placed; Handbook, offer letters, and the I-9 and W-4 pack you are supposed to keep; 90 days of payroll runway for one new hire while they get productive
The Protection Move
Legal and compliance · So one bad day cannot end the business
Entity formed, EIN obtained, registered agent paid for a year; Operating agreement, so ownership is written down; Your customer contract or service agreement drafted for your trade; Licenses and permits identified and actually filed; General liability and commercial auto quoted and placed; A bank of attorney hours for the year, for when something comes up
The Bankable Move
Finance and capital · So a lender can say yes
Twelve months of books cleaned up and caught up; QuickBooks set up on your actual business and paid for a year; A bookkeeper for twelve months, so they stay clean; Business bank account opened and separated from your personal money; A business credit file started, with net-30 vendor accounts reporting; A profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow a lender will actually read; Loan package assembled, and a warm introduction to a lender who lends here
The Systems Move
Technology and systems · So the work stops living in your head
Point of sale or scheduling software set up and paid for a year; A CRM, so leads stop dying in your phone; Business email on your own domain instead of a gmail address; Invoicing that gets you paid in days instead of weeks; The laptop, tablet or printer, when that is genuinely the blocker; A password manager and backups, so one lost phone is not a catastrophe

Indicative costs for each line are published on the program page. Across all five areas the full list comes to roughly $29,950 to $69,650. Those are market ranges to help build a plan, not quotes; the approved allocation schedule attached to this agreement sets the actual amounts.

Not approved

The Grantee selects its own vendors. The Fund does not receive, and will not accept, any commission or benefit from a vendor the Grantee uses.

3. Release of funds

PaymentShareCondition of release
140%Execution of this agreement, a completed Form W-9, and the approved allocation schedule
235%An accepted 90-day report showing the first payment was applied as approved
325%An accepted 180-day report against the agreed milestones

The Fund may pay an approved vendor directly, or reimburse the Grantee against receipts, whichever is cleaner for a given item.

4. Changing the plan

Plans move, and that is expected. The Grantee may request a reallocation between areas in writing at any time. The Fund will not unreasonably withhold approval. What the Fund cannot do is release a payment for spending that has not happened, or that falls outside this agreement.

5. Reporting

The Grantee will provide, at 90 and 180 days:

The Fund needs these to meet its own obligations to funders and to the IRS. Reports may be summarized in the Fund's public reporting; the Grantee's underlying financial records are not published.

6. Records and inspection

The Grantee will keep records of grant expenditure for four years and will allow the Fund, on reasonable notice, to inspect records relating to the grant. The Grantee will keep grant funds identifiable in its accounts.

7. Return of funds

The Grantee will return any portion of the grant that is: unspent at the end of the grant period and not subject to an approved extension; spent outside the approved uses; or obtained through a material misstatement in the application. The Fund will raise any concern in writing and give the Grantee 30 days to respond or cure before requiring return.

8. Taxes

The grant is taxable income to the Grantee, and the fact that its use is restricted does not change that. The Fund will issue a Form 1099 as required. The Grantee is solely responsible for its own taxes and should consult its own tax adviser. The Fund does not give tax advice.

9. Publicity

The Grantee agrees the Fund may name the business and describe the funded project in its reporting and publicity. Personal likeness use is optional and handled under the media release in the Participation Agreement.

10. Relationship of the parties

Nothing here makes the parties partners, joint venturers, employer and employee, or agents of one another. The Fund takes no ownership interest, no equity, no revenue share and no security interest in the Grantee's business.

11. No advice, no guarantee

The Fund is not the Grantee's attorney, accountant, banker or investment adviser. Nothing in the program is legal, tax, accounting or investment advice, and the Fund does not guarantee any business result or that any lender will extend credit.

12. Governing law

Texas law governs this agreement. Venue is [county, to be confirmed] County, Texas.

13. Signatures

[Signature blocks for the Fund and the Grantee, the award amount, and the allocation schedule, are attached to the executed version. This published page is the template, not an executed agreement.]