Giveback Homes

What Giveback Homes does

Giveback Homes is a community-led organization that connects real estate professionals with housing-related charitable projects in the United States and Latin America. Founded in August 2013 by Blake Andrews and Caroline Pinal — both former TOMS employees inspired by the one-for-one social entrepreneurship model — the company operates a membership platform through which individual agents, teams, and brokerages fundraise, volunteer, and participate in building homes for families in need. The core product is a recurring membership program that provides members with digital marketing toolkits, brand assets, and (at the Pro tier) in-house marketing and design support, while donations are channeled through a separate 501(c)(3) entity called Business For Social Good, enabling 100% tax-deductible contributions to build partners such as Habitat for Humanity, Union Rescue Mission, The Ronald McDonald House, and Waves for Water.

The platform does not rely on proprietary technology in a traditional software sense; it is structured around community organizing, fundraising workflows, and marketing enablement, with build projects segmented into domestic U.S. Builds ($100,000–$250,000 per home via $5,000 incremental fundraising goals) and International Build Trips (approximately $5,000 per home in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Mexico, and Puerto Rico). Distribution occurs through direct brokerage relationships — including channel partners The Agency, Engel & Völkers, The Boutique Real Estate Group, and multiple regional brokerages — supplemented by content marketing, social media, a founder-hosted podcast, and earned media coverage. Notable strategic relationships include a 2019 Zillow disaster-relief partnership with a $1-for-$1 match up to $20,000 and a board seat held by Mauricio Umansky of The Agency.

The business is structured as a privately held California LLC domiciled in Manhattan Beach/Redondo Beach, with 1–10 employees, no disclosed outside funding, and revenue derived from undisclosed monthly membership fees plus donations routed through the non-profit entity. With a small core team and no external capital, Giveback Homes has scaled primarily through community momentum, expanding to 15+ U.S. cities and four international markets while maintaining a low operating footprint.

Name

Giveback Homes

Legal name

Giveback Homes

Website

https://givebackhomes.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Giveback Homes is a privately held community platform that connects real estate professionals with housing charitable projects, enabling members to fundraise and volunteer for home builds in 15+ U.S. cities and four international markets through a recurring membership model and a 501(c)(3) donation arm.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Estate Social Impact Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211)

SIC

Services-To Dwellings & Other Buildings (7340)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGALAC

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Social Enterprises & Impact Organizations

Keywords

• Real estate membership
• Social impact housing
• Home building charity
• Real estate community
• Charitable fundraising platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Manhattan Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Real estate professionals pay monthly membership fees to join Giveback Homes. The fees provide tools and resources for branding, access to in-house design/marketing/PR team, and ensure 100% of contributions go directly to Build Projects. No minimum contribution is required for donations.
2. Donations and Contributions: Members and the public make donations to fund home building projects. In the U.S., fundraising events secure increments of $5,000 for home builds. International builds in Nicaragua cost approximately $5,000 (USD). All contributions are 100% tax-deductible through their non-profit entity Business For Social Good.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Giveback Homes operates a membership-based community platform that connects real estate professionals with housing-related charitable projects. Members pay recurring fees to gain marketing tools, digital toolkits, brand differentiation assets, and access to in-house design/marketing/PR teams, while fundraising and volunteering for home-building initiatives in the U.S. and internationally. The organization also accepts public donations (100% tax-deductible through its 501(c)(3) entity, Business For Social Good) directed to home construction with non-profit building partners such as Habitat for Humanity.

Product overview

Giveback Homes is a professional organization for real estate professionals that operates as a unified platform connecting members with housing charitable initiatives. The core offering is the Membership Program, which provides access to a home building projects platform for fundraising, a digital marketing toolkit for brand differentiation, and opportunities to participate in both international build trips and U.S.-based build days. All donations made through the platform go directly to building partners with no operating costs deducted.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Giveback Homes Membership Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Members can build homes from $5,000 internationally to $100,000-$250,000 domestically through incremental fundraising
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Habitat for HumanitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary building partner for home construction projects in the U.S. and internationally. Habitat for Humanity provides the building infrastructure and expertise while Giveback Homes mobilizes real estate professionals to fundraise and volunteer.
• Business For Social GoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit entity that maintains 501C 3 status, enabling all member contributions to be 100% tax-deductible. This partnership ensures financial transparency and legal compliance for charitable donations.
• The AgencycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLuxury real estate brokerage with over 100 offices and 2,000+ agents. Multiple agents from The Agency participate in Giveback Homes as members, including founder Mauricio Umansky who serves as board member.
• Intero Real Estate HoustonminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHouston-based real estate brokerage partner whose agents participate in Giveback Homes program.
• Related Realty ChicagominorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorChicago-based real estate brokerage partner with agents involved in Giveback Homes.
• The Boutique Real Estate GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCalifornia-based boutique brokerage led by Raj Qsar, with agents participating in home building initiatives.
• Keller Williams SarasotaminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorKeller Williams franchise in Sarasota with agents involved in Giveback Homes program.
• Lanier Property GroupminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReal estate group partner with agents participating in home building projects.
• Costello Real Estate and InvestmentsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReal estate investment firm partner with agents involved in Giveback Homes.
• Union Rescue MissioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuilding partner organization providing housing support services. One of the non-profit partners ensuring tangible results of impact.
• The Ronald McDonald HousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBuilding partner supporting housing-related charitable projects. Non-profit partner ensuring 100% of donations go directly to intended causes.
• Waves for WaterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWater charity partner providing water filters to communities in El Salvador and Puerto Rico alongside home building efforts.
• Concierge AuctionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLuxury real estate auction firm partnership providing marketing and operational support.
• ZillowminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartnership on disaster relief fund where Zillow committed to provide $1 for $1 match up to $20,000 to support the real estate community during disasters.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Warby Parker: Warby Parker's 'buy a pair, give a pair' model is the for-profit analog of the TOMS template that inspired Giveback Homes. Comparable in social-entrepreneurship DNA but unrelated in product category.
• Bombas: Bombas donates one clothing item for every item purchased — another one-for-one social enterprise. Comparable in mission structure and the recurring-give-back framework, but apparel-focused rather than housing.
• Pencils of Promise: Pencils of Promise is a 'build a school' nonprofit with a similar incremental-funding, donor-storytelling approach. Different cause (education) but materially comparable in operating model and donor-experience design.
• charity: water: charity: water runs a cause-specific donation platform with strong storytelling and 100%-to-program transparency messaging — closely paralleling Giveback Homes' Business For Social Good structure. Different cause (water vs. housing) but adjacent donor-engagement mechanics.

Others

• buildOn: buildOn mobilizes volunteers (including youth) to build schools in developing countries — comparable in volunteer-driven, international build-trip format to Giveback Homes' Build Trips, though focused on schools.
• Room to Read: Room to Read is a large international nonprofit with similar storytelling, donor-milestone, and build-project mechanics, though focused on education and literacy rather than housing.

Direct peers

• New Story: New Story is a nonprofit that funds and builds homes for families in need internationally, using incremental fundraising milestones similar to Giveback Homes' $5,000-per-increment model. Both organizations leverage donor storytelling and crowdfunding-style build financing.
• TOMS: TOMS pioneered the one-for-one social entrepreneurship model that directly inspired Giveback Homes' founders, who both worked at TOMS. While TOMS operates in footwear/eyewear rather than housing, the underlying member/donor-driven give-back engine is structurally identical.
• HomeAid America: HomeAid mobilizes the building industry (similar to how Giveback Homes mobilizes real estate professionals) to build housing for those experiencing homelessness. Strong operational overlap in industry-driven, volunteer-led home construction.

Broad incumbents

• Habitat for Humanity: Habitat for Humanity is the dominant affordable housing nonprofit and serves as Giveback Homes' primary building partner. They share the core mission of building homes for families in need but operate at vastly greater scale and own construction assets directly.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/givebackhomes
• Xx.com/givebackhomes

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Giveback Homes