Grateful

Charitable Giving Platformbegrateful.org

Grateful is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a digital platform that lets individuals and businesses send gratitude messages paired with charitable donations to over 1.5 million U.S. nonprofits, supported by iOS and Android apps, recurring giving, and collaborative Giving Councils.

Company typePrivate
Founded2023
HeadquartersDes Moines, United States
Headcount51–100
GTM typeB2C
OfferingServices

What Grateful does

Grateful is the consumer-facing brand of The Grateful Giving Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firmographic founding year is listed as 2019 while the Foundation itself was formally established as a 501(c)(3) in 2023. The organization operates a digital platform that lets individuals and businesses send "gratitude" messages paired with charitable donations to any of more than 1.5 million U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The product surface comprises the Grateful Giving web platform, native iOS and Android apps, a one-time Gratitude feature, a Monthly Giving subscription feature with an impact-tracking dashboard, and Giving Councils — a collaborative giving program with a $300/year minimum commitment and quarterly virtual meetings.

The Foundation has facilitated over $1 million in donations across 3,276 nonprofits and counts 300+ volunteers nationwide. It is GuideStar Platinum Transparency certified and is led by co-founders Jeffrey Wagner and Matt Ostanik. Business model economics are donation-routing rather than revenue-generating: the platform passes donations through to selected nonprofits with no disclosed take rate or fee structure, and the Foundation's own operating revenue (grants, contributions, corporate sponsorship) is not disclosed. The nonprofit competes in a crowded giving-platform market against Givebutter, GoFundMe, Donorbox, and Daffy, with its differentiation resting on the gratitude-message framing rather than fee economics or AI-driven personalization.

It is important to note that the input data also references a separately incorporated tech firm also named "Grateful" (website begrateful.org) that received £1.5 million in seed funding from Calculus Capital in October 2025 to build cashless tipping solutions for service industry workers. Per the source commentary, this entity is distinct from The Grateful Giving Foundation despite shared naming and Des Moines origin.

Grateful firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Grateful
Legal name: The Grateful Giving Foundation
Website: https://begrateful.org
Company type: Private
Founded year: 2023
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 51–100 employees
Short description: Grateful is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating a digital platform that lets individuals and businesses send gratitude messages paired with charitable donations to over 1.5 million U.S. nonprofits, supported by iOS and Android apps, recurring giving, and collaborative Giving Councils.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Where Grateful is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Des Moines
HQ country: United States
HQ region: North America

Markets served

Grateful business model

Business model

GTM type: B2C
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Technology or R&D, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Go-to-market motion1 record

Grateful product offering

Product offering

Core offering

The Grateful Giving Foundation operates a digital platform that lets individuals send a message of gratitude paired with a charitable donation to any of more than 1.5 million 501(c)(3) nonprofits. The platform is delivered as a web application and native iOS and Android apps, and is supported by structured programs including Monthly Giving (recurring donations) and Giving Councils ($300-per-year collaborative giving). The foundation is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Delaware with the stated mission of inspiring $1 billion in giving.

Product overview

Grateful operates as a unified platform combining gratitude expression with charitable giving. The core Grateful Giving Platform enables users to send appreciation messages paired with donations to over 1.5 million nonprofits. The ecosystem includes a Mobile App for iOS and Android, the Gratitude Feature for sharing thanks with gift donations, Monthly Giving for recurring contributions, and Giving Councils for collaborative philanthropy. The Grateful Giving Foundation, established in 2023 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, underpins the initiative with a $1 billion giving inspiration goal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

Grateful Giving Platform A web-based digital giving platform operated by The Grateful Giving Foundation (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) that enables individual users to send a message of gratitude paired with a charitable donation to any of more than 1.5 million U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofits. It is targeted at individual donors and is free to access.
Grateful Giving Mobile App Native iOS and Android mobile applications of the Grateful Giving platform that allow individual donors to browse the nonprofit directory, compose gratitude messages, and send donations to 501(c)(3) organizations from a mobile device.
Giving Councils A collaborative giving program run by The Grateful Giving Foundation with a $300-per-year commitment, allowing members to participate in structured, community-based charitable giving through the Grateful Giving platform.

Companies that use Grateful

Customer profile

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Grateful technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Grateful partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Grateful competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Benevity: Enterprise corporate-giving and employee-engagement platform powering donation matching, volunteer programs, and grants management for large employers. Adjacent to Grateful Giving but focused upstream on corporate giving programs that could eventually distribute through Grateful-style consumer channels.
PayPal Giving Fund: PayPal-operated donor-advised fund that channels PayPal, eBay, and Humble Bundle transactions to vetted U.S. nonprofits. A scaled incumbent in the same donor-to-nonprofit facilitation category Grateful Giving operates in, with massive distribution from the PayPal wallet.

Emerging players

Givebutter: Modern fundraising platform for nonprofits offering donation forms, events, peer-to-peer campaigns, and a free tier. Comparable to Grateful Giving as a younger, mobile-friendly donation platform targeting the same nonprofit and donor base.
Donorbox: Recurring donation platform for nonprofits with branded donation forms, crowdfunding campaigns, and membership management. Comparable to Grateful Giving on the recurring-giving mechanics and nonprofit self-service onboarding side.

Direct peers

Network for Good: Donor-advised giving platform that enables individuals and small businesses to donate to a large catalog of vetted U.S. nonprofits, with employer giving and event fundraising tools. Directly comparable to Grateful Giving as a multi-channel donation facilitation layer for the same donor and nonprofit segments.
JustGiving: Online giving platform for individuals and charities with branded fundraising pages, Gift Aid support, and event-driven donation flows. Highly comparable to Grateful Giving as a consumer-facing donation facilitation platform with mobile apps and recurring giving options.
DonorsChoose: Nonprofit crowdfunding platform that lets individuals fund specific classroom and community projects at U.S. schools and nonprofits. Comparable as a transparent, project-level donation platform with strong donor experience and nonprofit vetting — a model Grateful Giving's gratitude+donation flow emulates.
GoFundMe Charity: Charity arm of GoFundMe providing branded fundraising pages, donation processing, and donor management for nonprofits. Overlaps directly with Grateful Giving's donor-to-nonprofit donation flow and mobile giving experience.
GlobalGiving: Crowdfunding marketplace connecting individual donors with vetted nonprofits worldwide, with project-based giving and corporate partner programs. Comparable as a donor-discovery-and-donation platform with nonprofit vetting and recurring giving features similar to Grateful Giving Councils.

Others

Candid (GuideStar): Nonprofit data and transparency organization operating GuideStar (where Grateful holds Platinum Transparency) and Foundation Directory. An enabling/ecosystem peer — Grateful Giving uses GuideStar-style transparency standards to build donor trust, and Candid could be a partnership, data, or distribution channel.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Grateful compliance and trust

Trust signal

Compliance1 record

Grateful financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Grateful leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Grateful funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

Grateful M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Grateful

What does Grateful do?

Is Grateful a public or private company?

Grateful is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.

When was Grateful founded?

Grateful was founded in 2023. It employs 51 to 100 people.

Where is Grateful based?

Grateful is headquartered in Des Moines, United States, in the North America region.

Who are Grateful's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Benevity and PayPal Giving Fund. Emerging players are Givebutter and Donorbox. Direct peers are Network for Good, JustGiving, DonorsChoose, GoFundMe Charity and GlobalGiving. Candid (GuideStar) is listed as an others.

Does Grateful have an API?

No public API is recorded for Grateful.