Big Sisters of Boston

What Big Sisters of Boston does

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts (also referenced in firmographic records as "Big Sisters of Boston") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth mentoring organization founded in 1951 and headquartered at 184 High Street, Boston. It provides one-to-one mentoring relationships between adult volunteer mentors ("Bigs") and youth ("Littles") aged roughly 6-18 across six regional territories in Eastern Massachusetts: Brockton, Cape Cod & Islands, Greater Boston, Lowell, Merrimack Valley, and South Coast. The organization serves over 4,000 youth annually through a portfolio of five programs: Big Futures Mentoring (college and career readiness), Community-Based Programs, Girls' Gender-Intentional Programming, School and Campus-Based Programs, and Site-Based Programs.

The organization operates without a proprietary technology platform; service delivery is driven by staff-led case management, volunteer recruitment, and family enrollment processes supported by standard digital channels (website portals, email newsletter, social media). Revenue is generated through three streams: individual charitable donations, corporate partnerships and sponsorships, and signature event fundraising. Notable annual events include the Boston Marathon team, the Falmouth Road Race, the Big 3 Fishing Tournament and Gala, and the Big Golf Tournament. The organization is affiliated with the national Big Brothers Big Sisters federation, which carries over 120 years of combined organizational history.

The go-to-market is community-led and event-driven: mentors are recruited through online applications, referral programs, and community outreach; youth enrollment is driven by families and community organization referrals; and corporate partners are engaged for both financial support and employee volunteer pipelines. Services are provided free of charge to youth and families, with funding sourced entirely from philanthropic contributions.

Name

Big Sisters of Boston

Legal name

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts

Website

https://bigsister.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides one-to-one youth mentoring across six Eastern Massachusetts regions, serving over 4,000 youth annually through volunteer adult mentors and programs funded by donations, corporate partnerships, and signature fundraising events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Mentoring Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Student Mentoring & Peer Support Programs (EDAJALAL)

Keywords

• Youth mentoring services
• Nonprofit volunteer programs
• Community-based mentoring
• Corporate partnership programs
• Charitable fundraising events

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Individual charitable donations from supporters, monthly donors, and one-time contributions to support youth mentorship programs.
2. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate sponsorships and partnerships from businesses supporting the organization through financial contributions, employee volunteer programs, and in-kind support.
3. Event Fundraising: Revenue generated from signature fundraising events including Boston Marathon team, Falmouth Road Race, fishing tournament, and golf tournament.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts delivers free, one-to-one youth mentoring programs that pair volunteer adult mentors (Bigs) with children and adolescents (Littles) aged 6-18 across Eastern Massachusetts. Services are organized into five program lines (Big Futures, Community-Based, Girls' Gender-Intentional, School/Campus-Based, and Site-Based) and are funded through donations, corporate partnerships, sponsorships, and signature fundraising events; the organization does not charge fees to participating youth or families.

Product overview

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts is a nonprofit mentorship organization offering a portfolio of youth mentoring programs. The organization provides five distinct program services: Big Futures Mentoring Programs (college and career preparation), Community-Based Programs (meeting in community settings), Girls' Gender-Intentional Programming (empowerment-focused for young women), School and Campus-Based Programs (educational setting mentoring), and Site Based Programs (partner site-facilitated matching). The organization is not a technology product company but rather a service-based nonprofit that connects volunteer mentors with youth.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Big Futures Mentoring Programs: Mentoring program focused on college access, career readiness, and post-secondary planning for youth
• Community-Based Programs
• Girls' Gender-Intentional Programming
• School and Campus-Based Programs
• Site Based Programs

Products and services

• Big Futures Mentoring Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Youth report their Big helped them make better choices
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Community Partners (General)coreOthersBBBSEM is powered by a growing network of corporate and community partners that provide resources, volunteer recruitment support, and community connections to help create meaningful impact for youth in Eastern Massachusetts.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Year Up: National workforce-development nonprofit providing mentoring, training, and career support for young adults. Comparable focus on career-readiness mentoring that overlaps with BBBSEM's Big Futures programming.
• Girls Inc. National nonprofit providing after-school and mentoring programming specifically for girls, directly overlapping with BBBSEM's Girls' Gender-Intentional Programming and Big Futures offerings.
• Jumpstart: National early-childhood education nonprofit headquartered in Boston using college-student mentors to support preschool-age children. Comparable mentor-matching model and Boston-area footprint, targeting adjacent age cohorts.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City: Largest direct peer affiliate within the BBBS federation, operating similar one-to-one youth mentoring programs in a major metro. Most structurally comparable affiliate for benchmarking operations, fundraising model, and program mix.

Regional players

• City Year Boston: Boston-based affiliate of City Year providing near-peer mentoring and academic support in schools. Comparable model of trained young-adult mentors serving at-risk youth in school settings, competing for school-site partnerships.
• Boys & Girls Club of Boston: Regional youth development organization serving Greater Boston youth with mentorship, academic support, and after-school programming. Directly competes for the same donor base, volunteers, and youth families in Eastern Massachusetts.
• United Way of Massachusetts Bay: Regional funder and convener of Eastern Massachusetts nonprofits. Comparable as a regional nonprofit competing for the same corporate workplace-giving campaigns and donor dollars.

Broad incumbents

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National federation under which BBBSEM operates; sets brand standards, federation grants, and program frameworks. Directly comparable as the parent network for youth mentoring one-to-one relationships across the U.S.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Largest U.S. youth development nonprofit serving 4M+ youth annually through club-based programs. Comparable as a national youth-mentoring and development organization competing for the same donor and corporate CSR dollars.

Others

• Mentor (National Mentoring Partnership): National umbrella organization supporting youth mentoring programs through advocacy, research, and resource distribution. Comparable as a backbone organization in the same mentoring ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bigsisterboston
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/BigBrothersBigSistersofEasternMassachusetts
• Facebookfacebook.com/33108570795
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/big-sister-association-of-greater-boston
• Instagraminstagram.com/emassbigs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Big Sisters of Boston