TreesUpstate
TreesUpstate is a Greenville, South Carolina-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2005 that plants and gives away free trees across five Upstate counties (Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens, Oconee) through volunteer events, corporate partnerships, and Duke Energy Foundation-funded programs, having distributed 60,000+ trees cumulatively.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersGreenville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What TreesUpstate does
TreesUpstate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2005 in Greenville, South Carolina, originally as TreesGreenville, that plants, promotes, and protects trees across the Upstate region's five counties (Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens, and Oconee). The organization runs a portfolio of core programs including the NeighborWoods neighborhood tree-distribution initiative, the Duke Energy Foundation-funded Energy-Saving Trees program (which has delivered 30,371+ trees), the Storm ReLEAF emergency-response program, free tree giveaway events held across the region, and a volunteer tree-planting season that runs Saturday mornings from October through March. Cumulative output has reached 60,000+ trees planted and given away since inception, with 13,000+ of those planted directly by volunteers.
The underlying technology stack is operational rather than product-centric: Galaxy Digital handles volunteer sign-up and event coordination, Network for Good processes online donations, Constant Contact runs the email newsletter, and the public i-Tree tool (design.itreetools.org) is referenced for resident-facing energy-savings calculations. Supporting services include corporate volunteer team-building events with named partners such as Michelin N.A., TD Bank N.A., GE Energy, Sage Automotive Interiors, Johnson Controls, Scansource, Duke Energy, and SageSure Insurance; Tree Keepers training aligned with International Society of Arboriculture standards; a Workforce Development program in urban forestry and arboriculture; and the Living Legacy Fund offering $50 Tree Tribute and $500 Living Legacy Tree commemorative giving tiers via treesupstate.networkforgood.com.
TreesUpstate's business model is donation- and grant-driven rather than revenue-generating. Income is sourced from foundation grants (Duke Energy Foundation is the largest disclosed counterparty, including the $100,000 America250 grant awarded in 2026), corporate partnerships and sponsorships for volunteer events, individual donations through tribute and memorial programs, and a Red Maple Society / planned-giving pipeline. The customer base is dual-sided: Upstate South Carolina residents receive free trees at community events, while corporate and institutional partners provide funding and volunteer labor. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors and operated by a staff led by Executive Director Aaron Davis, with no private equity, venture capital, or parent-company ownership structure.
TreesUpstate firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- TreesUpstate
- Legal name
- TreesUpstate
- Website
- https://treesupstate.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- TreesUpstate is a Greenville, South Carolina-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2005 that plants and gives away free trees across five Upstate counties (Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson, Pickens, Oconee) through volunteer events, corporate partnerships, and Duke Energy Foundation-funded programs, having distributed 60,000+ trees cumulatively.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
TreesUpstate industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Community Forestry and Environmental Conservation Services
- NAICS
- Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Landscaping Services (561730)
- SIC
- Forestry (800)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Urban & Community Reforestation / Street Tree Planting (AFAMACAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Tree Care & Arborist Services (IMAIAIAB), Replanting, Infilling & Stand Rehabilitation (AFAMACAI), Tree Health Care (Diagnosis, Treatment, Fertilization) (HSAIADAD)
Keywords
Where TreesUpstate is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Greenville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
TreesUpstate business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Grants and Foundation Funding: TreesUpstate receives grant funding from organizations like the Duke Energy Foundation for environmental projects including tree planting, parks revitalization, and litter prevention
- Corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships: Corporate partners sponsor volunteer events, tree giveaways, and sustainability initiatives. Partners include Michelin, TD Bank, Duke Energy, and others who fund and participate in tree planting activities
- Donations and Tributes: Individual donations including Tree Tributes ($50 for 3-gallon tree planting) and Living Legacy Trees ($500 for 15-gallon tree with plaque) for memorials and honorariums
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Tree Tribute - $50 donation plants a 3-gallon shade tree |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Living Legacy Tree - $500 donation plants a 15-gallon tree with custom plaque |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
TreesUpstate product offering
Product offeringCore offering
TreesUpstate is a nonprofit organization that plants trees in parks, schools, neighborhoods, and greenspaces across Upstate South Carolina with emphasis on sites that have little to no existing canopy. The organization runs the NeighborWoods Program for neighborhood tree distribution, the Energy-Saving Trees and Storm ReLEAF programs supported by Duke Energy Foundation grants, free community tree giveaways across five counties, volunteer planting events, corporate volunteer engagements, commemorative tree tributes, and workforce training in urban forestry.
Product overview
TreesUpstate operates a platform of interconnected environmental programs centered on urban tree planting and stewardship. The core offerings include the NeighborWoods Program for neighborhood tree distribution, the Energy-Saving Trees and Storm ReLEAF programs supported by Duke Energy Foundation grants, and free community tree giveaways. Supporting services include volunteer-driven planting events (October-March), corporate volunteer team-building events, the Living Legacy Fund for commemorative tree tributes and memorials, Tree Keepers community education, and workforce development training. The organization connects these programs through volunteer coordination via Galaxy Digital, donation processing via Network for Good, and email communications via Constant Contact.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- NeighborWoods Program
Quantifiable outcome
- One mature tree can remove up to 11,000 miles of car emissions equivalent each year
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use TreesUpstate
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles3 records
TreesUpstate technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature1 record
TreesUpstate partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Michelin N.A.coreCorporate partner that participates in corporate volunteer events and tree planting activities with TreesUpstate.
- TD Bank N.A.coreCorporate partner that participates in corporate volunteer events and tree planting activities with TreesUpstate.
- GE EnergyminorCorporate partner that participates in corporate volunteer events and tree planting activities with TreesUpstate.
- Sage Automotive InteriorsminorCorporate partner that participates in corporate volunteer events and tree planting activities with TreesUpstate.
- Johnson ControlsminorCorporate partner that participates in corporate volunteer events and tree planting activities with TreesUpstate.
- ScansourceminorCorporate partner that participates in corporate volunteer events and tree planting activities with TreesUpstate.
- Arbor Day FoundationcorePartnership with Arbor Day Foundation for tree giveaways, including events like the Cherrydale Elementary School tree giveaway.
- SageSure InsuranceminorCo-sponsor of tree giveaway events, partnering on community tree planting initiatives.
- BMW Charity Pro-AmcoreIn 2022, BMW Charity Pro-Am partnered with TreesUpstate for a carbon neutral event tree giveaway program, giving away 2,080 trees across 4 events. Sponsors included IAC Group, Rabble Wine Co., and Milliken.
- PalmettoPride ChaptersminorAlso received $50,000 grant from Duke Energy Foundation America250 initiative for environmental projects including litter prevention.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
TreesUpstate competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- American Forests: National nonprofit focused on reforestation and urban forestry, including tree-planting equity programs. American Forests operates at a larger national scale but shares TreesUpstate's mission of expanding urban tree canopy and reforestation.
- One Tree Planted: Nonprofit that partners with corporations and individuals to fund reforestation and urban tree planting worldwide. One Tree Planted mirrors TreesUpstate's donation-and-partnership funding model and free-tree community programs.
- TreePeople: Los Angeles–based community tree-planting nonprofit that plants and gives away shade trees to residents and runs volunteer planting events. TreePeople operates a near-identical urban canopy, volunteer-driven model to TreesUpstate, making it a strong regional analogue.
- Keep America Beautiful: National nonprofit running community-based environmental improvement programs including litter prevention, tree planting, and beautification. TreesUpstate is a regional affiliate-style implementer of the same community-environmental model.
- Arbor Day Foundation: National nonprofit dedicated to tree planting and stewardship. Arbor Day Foundation is an active strategic partner of TreesUpstate (e.g., Cherrydale Elementary School giveaway) and runs the Alliance for Community Trees network, making it the closest mission-aligned peer.
Broad incumbents
- The Nature Conservancy: One of the largest global environmental nonprofits, with forestry and reforestation work overlapping TreesUpstate's planting mission. TNC operates at vastly larger scale and on conservation land rather than urban canopy, making it a broader environmental incumbent.
Emerging players
- Plant-for-the-Planet: Global youth-led tree-planting initiative. It overlaps with TreesUpstate's mission and crowd-based funding approach but operates internationally and at a much broader scale, with different geographic and partnership structures.
Others
- Sustainable Forestry Initiative: Forestry standards and certification organization with adjacent sustainability mission. It is not a planting operator but represents an enabling/standards body that interacts with nonprofits like TreesUpstate through workforce and arboriculture training pipelines.
- i-Tree (USDA Forest Service): Free USDA Forest Service software TreesUpstate integrates with to quantify tree benefits. i-Tree is an enabling/ecosystem tool rather than a direct peer, but its use shows TreesUpstate's analytical alignment with federal urban-forestry measurement standards.
Regional players
- City of Trees (Manchester): UK-based nonprofit that plants trees in urban and community settings. While operating in a different geography, it executes a directly comparable urban-canopy, volunteer-and-partnership-driven model to TreesUpstate.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
TreesUpstate social profiles
Digital presenceTreesUpstate financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
TreesUpstate leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
TreesUpstate funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
TreesUpstate M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about TreesUpstate
What does TreesUpstate do?
TreesUpstate is a nonprofit organization that plants trees in parks, schools, neighborhoods, and greenspaces across Upstate South Carolina with emphasis on sites that have little to no existing canopy. The organization runs the NeighborWoods Program for neighborhood tree distribution, the Energy-Saving Trees and Storm ReLEAF programs supported by Duke Energy Foundation grants, free community tree giveaways across five counties, volunteer planting events, corporate volunteer engagements, commemorative tree tributes, and workforce training in urban forestry.
Is TreesUpstate a public or private company?
TreesUpstate is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was TreesUpstate founded?
TreesUpstate was founded in 2005. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is TreesUpstate based?
TreesUpstate is headquartered in Greenville, United States, in the North America region.
How does TreesUpstate make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Grants and Foundation Funding is the primary driver. The others are corporate Partnerships and Sponsorships and donations and Tributes.
Who are TreesUpstate's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are American Forests, One Tree Planted, TreePeople, Keep America Beautiful and Arbor Day Foundation. The Nature Conservancy is listed as a broad incumbent. Plant-for-the-Planet is listed as an emerging player. Others are Sustainable Forestry Initiative and i-Tree (USDA Forest Service). City of Trees (Manchester) is listed as a regional player.
Does TreesUpstate have an API?
No public API is recorded for TreesUpstate.
What industry is TreesUpstate in?
TreesUpstate's product category is Community Forestry and Environmental Conservation Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAMACAL, Urban & Community Reforestation / Street Tree Planting, with a secondary code of IMAIAIAB, Tree Care & Arborist Services. Its NAICS code is 1153 and its SIC code is 800.