Advocare Foundation

The AdvoCare Foundation is a small, family-directed private foundation created in 2015 by the Ragus family (founders of the AdvoCare nutrition company) and now governed by three of founder Charles Ragus's daughters — Debbie Ragus Cook (President), Stacey Ragus Cernicky (Sec./Treas.), and Jenni Ragus McGaha (Director) — with day-to-day grantmaking run by Executive Director Whitney Strauss. Unlike most foundations of its size ($4.1M in assets), it runs a fully public, single-issue application process rather than an invitation-only model, making it genuinely accessible to first-time applicants who fit its narrow mission of fighting childhood obesity through activity, nutrition education, and food access.

The grantee data shows a strong preference for direct-service, community-rooted nonprofits over large national headquarters organizations: recipients include local YMCA and Boys & Girls Club chapters, food banks, and community health nonprofits, almost always funded at the local-affiliate level even when the parent brand is national (e.g., YMCA of Metro Dallas, not YMCA of the USA). Ten of the roughly fifteen organizations funded in recent cycles have received grants in all four tracked years at a consistent ~$25,000/year, totaling $100,000 apiece — evidence that the Foundation builds long-term, renewing partnerships rather than one-off awards, and that new-applicant slots each cycle are limited (typically 3-6 of ~15 total awards).

First-time applicants should understand the relationship progression starts with the annual written application (no LOI-then-full-proposal staging is documented; it is a single detailed application), followed by board review, and — per the Foundation's own materials — active site visits to grantees throughout the year. There is no indication of a competitive multi-stage funnel beyond the single annual form, but the heavy weighting toward renewal partners means realistic near-term expectations for a new applicant should be a one-year, ~$25,000 award rather than the upper end of the publicized $10,000-$250,000 range, which the data suggests is rarely if ever used at the top. Organizations should demonstrate a track record of local community engagement, measurable outcomes, and explicit alignment with the Foundation's three-pillar framework before applying.

Grants paid have held steady at $330,000 in both FY2023 and FY2022 (990 data), following $295,000 (FY2021), $285,000 (FY2020), $304,334 (FY2019), and $205,000 (FY2018) — a gradual ramp from the Foundation's 2015 founding year, when it paid $0 in grants against a $500,000 initial contribution. FY2024 total_giving was not yet reported in the filing captured here, but revenue fell sharply to $172,658 (versus $563,900 in FY2021), consistent with a foundation now funding grants substantially out of a shrinking pool of net investment income and asset drawdown rather than fresh contributions — contributions_received was $0 in FY2023 and just $349,000 in FY2022.

Total assets have held in a narrow $4.06M-$4.12M band since 2020, down from a $4.9M peak in FY2021, indicating the Foundation is spending close to or slightly above its investment returns. The Foundation's own public reporting puts cumulative giving since 2015 at over $2.3 million as of November 2025.

At the grant level, the typical award is remarkably consistent: median $25,000, average $23,750, with a tracked range of $10,000-$25,000 across a same-size sample of 12 grants. Across 57 tracked grants totaling $1,275,000 (average $22,368), the largest cumulative relationships — Alliance for a Healthier Generation, La's Best, Mission2Move, Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, Servicios De La Raza, United Way of Metro Dallas, Vetri Community Partnership, YMCA of Metro Dallas, Choices, and Iowa Healthiest State Initiative — each received exactly $100,000 across 4 grants ($25,000/year), while smaller or newer relationships trail off to $75,000/3 grants, $40,000/4 grants (The Concilio, ~$10,000/year), $30,000/3 grants (North Texas Food Bank), and single awards as low as $10,000-$25,000.

Geographically, Texas dominates with 18 of 57 tracked grants — unsurprising given the Foundation's Richardson, TX headquarters — followed by Georgia (7), and smaller clusters of 3-5 grants each in California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Ohio, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. All giving is concentrated in a single program area: childhood health, nutrition, and physical-activity programming (NTEE T20), with zero diversification into other causes.

All five peer foundations are asset-matched to AdvoCare almost to the dollar (each in the $4.11M-$4.12M range) and share its "Philanthropy & Grantmaking" NTEE classification, but none maintain a public website or disclosed application process — a strong signal that these are closed, founder- or trustee-directed vehicles that do not accept unsolicited requests. AdvoCare Foundation stands out in this asset tier as a genuinely open, single-issue funder with a published application, named contact, and stated deadline — making it a comparatively rare, accessible option for childhood-health nonprofits despite its modest size and correspondingly modest ~$25,000 typical award.

The Foundation's most recent fully documented grant cycle closed on October 10, 2024, when it announced $330,000 distributed to 15 nonprofits for the 2024-2025 program year, including Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Boys & Girls Club of Dallas, CHOICES, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative, LA's BEST, Mission2Move, North Texas Food Bank, Optimist Youth Services, Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi, Servicios De La Raza, The Concilio, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Urban Youth Impact, Vetri Community Partnership, and YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. Executive Director Whitney Strauss said the Foundation witnesses "significant improvements among the families we support through our partnerships with grantees," and North Texas Food Bank's Major Gift Officer Colbi White noted the gift would fund 30,000 meals through the Food 4 Kids weekend backpack program.

On November 4, 2025, the Foundation marked its 10-year anniversary, reporting cumulative giving of over $2.3 million since 2015 and reaffirming its commitment to founder Charles Ragus's original vision under Strauss's leadership. The 2025-2026 cycle ran on the Foundation's now-standard calendar (applications due June 2, 2025; awards announced June-July 2025).

Most recently, the Foundation posted its 2026-2027 grant application in February 2026, with a stated deadline of June 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM, submitted by email to wstrauss@advocarefoundation.org. No leadership changes, new program lines, or strategic pivots were identified — the same three-sister board and Strauss as Executive Director have run the Foundation continuously since at least 2022, and the three-pillar mission (activity, nutrition education, food access) has not changed since inception.

Apply only during the Foundation's annual window — materials are typically posted online in February-April, with a firm deadline historically in early June (June 2, 2025 for the 2025-2026 cycle; June 5, 2026, 5:00 PM for 2026-2027). There is no online portal; the complete application PDF is emailed directly to Executive Director Whitney Strauss at wstrauss@advocarefoundation.org.

Address the Foundation's three-pillar framework explicitly in your narrative — physical activity, nutrition education, and food access — using that language, since the application is structured around it. The Foundation has stated in its own guidance that successful proposals emphasize year-round programming rather than single events, camps, or short-term activities, and that it values organizations with demonstrated local community engagement over national organizations without a strong local track record.

The required package is specific and the Foundation explicitly warns against padding it: organization mission summary, statement of need, description of beneficiaries (number and profile), project timeline (start-up through fund expenditure), desired impact with an evaluation methodology, a list of other entities providing significant financial support to the same program, organizational budget, project budget, most recent AUDITED financial statement, current board of directors list, and IRS tax-exemption determination letter. Brochures, newsletters, letters of recommendation, or any other unsolicited attachment will not be reviewed — trim the submission to exactly what's asked.

Do not request endowment funding; this is an automatic disqualifier per the application restrictions. Budget your ask realistically: while public materials cite a $10,000-$250,000 range for multi-year awards, the actual grant data shows every tracked recipient capped at $25,000/year (the median and average award), with no evidence of six-figure single-year checks. First-time applicants should also recognize that roughly two-thirds of the Foundation's dollars go to organizations already in a 3-4 year renewal relationship, so treat a first award as the opening of a multi-year relationship rather than a one-time transaction, and be prepared to host a site visit — the Foundation states it visits grantees throughout the year to track progress toward the program's stated outcomes.