This policy explains what The So What Movement collects when you apply to the Movement Cohort or the Big Move Fund, why we collect it, who sees it, and how long we keep it. It covers this website and the application form. It does not cover any other site we link to.
The fund is operated by [legal entity name and state of incorporation, to be confirmed] ("we", "us").
| What | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Name, email, phone | To reach you about your application. Without one of email or phone we cannot process it. |
| City and ZIP code | To confirm you are in the Dallas Fort Worth service area, and to check the low-to-moderate income criterion. |
| Business details: name, industry, years trading, entity type, whether you have an EIN, employee count, revenue band, website | To assign your division and to score your application against the published rubric. |
| Your funding plan: the amount sought, how you would allocate it across the five areas, and your written use-of-funds narrative | This is 25 of the 100 points. It is the substance of what judges evaluate. |
| Consents, your typed signature, the date, and the IP address you submitted from | To evidence that you gave contact permission and acknowledged the tax position before entering, rather than afterwards. |
We do not ask for a Social Security number, a bank account number, an EIN or a credit report as part of applying. If you are awarded a grant we will need a W-9, which does contain a taxpayer identification number; that is collected separately and only from winners.
Semifinalists receive a private link to a second, longer form. It is the only place we collect detailed financial information, and it exists so that judges are looking at real numbers for a small shortlist rather than at rough ones for everybody.
| What | Why we need it |
|---|---|
| Products and pricing, customer numbers, and whether one customer is a large share of your revenue | To assess whether the business model works and where its risks sit. |
| Team: headcount, the split between employees and contractors, who does what | To judge founder capacity, and whether the business depends entirely on one person. |
| Profit and loss for the last twelve months: revenue, cost of goods, operating expenses, net | The core of the viability score. |
| Cash on hand, monthly running costs, existing debt and repayments, and who the debt is with | To understand runway, and whether an award would be swallowed by existing obligations. |
| Which bank or credit union you use, who keeps your books and in what, and whether tax filings are current | To see what has to be fixed before a lender would say yes. We never ask for an account number. |
| Optional documents: a profit and loss statement, business bank statements, formation documents | To corroborate the figures above. Nobody is scored down for not uploading anything. |
How uploaded documents are held. They are stored outside the public web root under a randomly generated filename, and the web server refuses to serve that location at all. They are not reachable by URL, not guessable, and not indexed. They can only be opened by program staff holding a separate administrative credential.
The private link to the second form is the only credential protecting your financials, so do not forward it. It stops working 30 days after we send it.
This is the part most applicants care about, so it is stated plainly.
If you would prefer a sponsor not to see your application, say so in writing when you apply and we will recuse the affected judge, or tell you plainly that we cannot run your entry that quarter. What we will not do is show it to them and not tell you.
SMS consent is optional and separate from the rest of the form. If you opt in, we may text you about your application and cohort dates. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or HELP for help. Opting out of texts does not withdraw your application, and we will fall back to email or phone.
We do not share your phone number with third parties for their own marketing.
You can ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it, or delete it. We will do so unless a grant, tax or legal obligation requires us to keep a record, in which case we will tell you which one. You can withdraw contact consent at any time.
To make a request, write to contact@sowhatmovement.com, or to [registered mailing address, to be confirmed].
Applications are transmitted over an encrypted connection and stored in an access-controlled database. Reading applications requires a separate administrative credential; the key used by the public form cannot read anything back. No system is perfect, and we do not claim otherwise.
This program is for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has submitted information, contact us and we will delete it.
This site does not set advertising cookies and does not embed third-party trackers. [If analytics are added later, this section has to be updated before they go live.]
If we change this policy we will update the version and effective date at the top. Material changes affecting people with an application in progress will be sent to them directly.
contact@sowhatmovement.com
[registered mailing address, to be confirmed]