Soccer & Literacy Committee Dashboard

2025-26 reflects strong revenue growth, expanded program infrastructure, and increased confidence from funders and partners. As we move into 2026-27, the focus is on sustainability, research, partner organization growth, and building the systems needed to support long-term impact.

Revenue Growth

~22%

Approximate increase in 2025-26 revenue. Final numbers to be reviewed by Jessica.

NCH HNHF

$230K

Major support from Nationwide Children’s Hospital Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families.

County Grant

$150K

$75K allocated toward this work through the Franklin County grant.

City Funding

$49K

City of Columbus funding secured, with a portion supporting Soccer & Literacy programming.

Battelle

$75K

Funding secured for 2026-27, with a portion supporting Soccer & Literacy and Summer Camp programming.

Program Fee Model

$5K+

Standard 10-week pricing remains stable while supporting expanded evaluation capacity.

Cleveland Pilot

Cleveland Soccer Foundation partnership to pilot two Soccer & Literacy programs.

Funding Snapshot

Franklin County Grant $150,000

Allocation from County Grant $75,000

NCH Healthy Neighborhoods Healthy Families $230,000

PNC Grow Up Great $20,000

YMCA Partnership Funding $10,000

United Way $7,500

City of Columbus Funding $49,000

Battelle $75,000

Important Funding Note

Title Funds have decreased significantly and are not expected to be a meaningful source of support going into 2026-27. This makes diversified grant funding, partner support, and organizational infrastructure even more important.

Program Pricing & Sustainability Model

Final Third Foundation has intentionally maintained stable program pricing while continuing to invest in staffing, curriculum development, program quality, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems.

10-Week Soccer & Literacy Program: 1x per week $5,000

10-Week Soccer & Literacy Program: 2x per week $7,500

County-Funded Enhanced Evaluation Model $6,250

Standard Soccer & Literacy pricing remains unchanged at $5,000 for a 10-week program delivered once per week and $7,500 for a 10-week program delivered twice per week.

For Franklin County-funded programs that require enhanced monitoring, reporting, pre/post assessments, attendance tracking, and outcome measurement, F3 has developed a $6,250 program model. The additional investment helps support the organization's growing data infrastructure and evaluation team while ensuring compliance with funder requirements and strengthening our ability to demonstrate impact.

2026-27 Outlook

Going into 2026-27, Soccer & Literacy is positioned to maintain strong funding momentum while becoming more intentional about scale, quality, and long-term sustainability.

With City of Columbus and Battelle funding already secured for next year, along with continued support from key funders and partners, the program is moving from a period of rapid growth into a more mature phase of implementation. The Cleveland Soccer Foundation pilot also creates an opportunity to test how F3 can support partner-led Soccer & Literacy implementation beyond Central Ohio. The focus is no longer simply on adding sites, but on strengthening the systems behind the work: staffing, training, evaluation, research, partner support, and financial sustainability.

As traditional educational funding sources continue to decline, F3 is successfully diversifying revenue through grants, partnerships, fee-for-service programming, and strategic investments in data and evaluation.

The long-term goal is to establish Soccer & Literacy as a national model for how community-based organizations can deliver high-quality, research-informed programming while generating a surplus that strengthens the broader mission and future sustainability of Final Third Foundation.

Strategic Priorities

Sustainability Research Partner Growth Cleveland Pilot Data Infrastructure Program Quality Summer Camp Health & Nutrition

2026-27 Areas of Focus

Partner Organization Expansion

Grow Soccer & Literacy through trusted community-based partners while maintaining quality, alignment with F3’s curriculum, and clear implementation expectations.

Cleveland Soccer Foundation Pilot

Launch two pilot Soccer & Literacy programs with Cleveland Soccer Foundation to test partner-led implementation, training, evaluation, and reporting systems.

Research & Vibrant Vowels

Continue building research capacity and explore additional opportunities connected to literacy, learning, and program outcomes.

Data & Evaluation Infrastructure

Strengthen attendance tracking, pre/post surveys, reporting systems, and outcome measurement across programs.

Summer Camp Growth

Use secured grant funding to integrate Soccer & Literacy into Summer Camp and expand access for families.

Program Quality & Site Visits

Support consistency through site visits, quality assurance, staff training, and stronger implementation support.

Health & Nutrition Integration

Continue expanding the Health & Nutrition Program across after-school programs, including curriculum, snacks, and meals.

Sustainability & Surplus Generation

Create a stronger financial model that supports reinvestment into staffing, infrastructure, data systems, and future growth.

Stronger Organizational Structure

Education & Wellness bi-weekly meetings overseen by the Director of Education.
Taylor Boveine and Murjan Osman providing administrative support for program operations.
Rafael de Oliveira, Assistant Director of Soccer & Literacy, supporting Jessica with site visits and quality assurance.
Program Managers are now trained in Soccer & Literacy and Sprouts, strengthening consistency across schools, after-school programs, and Summer Camp.