Families for Depression Awareness

What Families for Depression Awareness does

Families for Depression Awareness (FFDA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2001 and headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, that provides free educational resources, validated screening tools, and peer-support content to family caregivers of individuals living with depression or bipolar disorder. Its product ecosystem includes online screening tools based on the PHQ-9, MDQ, Perceived Stress Scale, and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; a Mental Health Family Tree tool; webinars on topics spanning teen depression, PTSD, eating disorders, and caregiver self-care; on-site and virtual workshops targeted at Massachusetts schools and community organizations; a 60+ page caregiver handbook; downloadable templates such as a Family Action Plan; and a curated library of family stories and expert interviews. FFDA does not operate a proprietary technology platform; its offerings are web-based educational instruments built around validated clinical questionnaires and a content library. The organization operates a community-led, direct-to-consumer digital go-to-market model, distributing all educational resources free of charge via familyaware.org and its social channels.

FFDA's revenue is generated entirely through voluntary donations rather than product sales, including individual giving (one-time, multi-year, memorial, and legacy gifts), corporate member and friend sponsorships from pharmaceutical companies (Sage Biogen, Lundbeck, Alkermes, JNJ Innovative Medicine, Neurocrine, Takeda, and GeneSight), foundation grants, and event-based fundraising through its annual Evening of Hope and Discovery comedy fundraiser and Strides Against Stigma peer-to-peer walks, runs, and bike-a-thons. The organization refers individuals in crisis to external hotlines such as 988 and the Crisis Text Line rather than providing direct clinical services. Customer segments include family caregivers of people with mood disorders (primary), parents and caring adults of teens, Massachusetts schools and community organizations, and individuals with mood disorders seeking self-screening and information. In 2025-2026, FFDA underwent financial restructuring following identification of a revenue-expense gap, narrowing its operational focus to the New England region, reducing positions, and onboarding Brian Fuss, Ph.D. as Executive Director on March 23, 2026.

Name

Families for Depression Awareness

Legal name

Families for Depression Awareness, Inc.

Website

https://familyaware.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Families for Depression Awareness is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free educational resources, validated online screening tools, webinars, publications, and workshops to family caregivers of individuals living with depression or bipolar disorder, primarily across the U.S. and concentrated in New England.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mental Health Nonprofit Education and Caregiver Support

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Family Engagement & Caregiver Support Programs (SEL/Mental Health) (EDAKAMAK), Parent Mental Health, Stress Management & Wellness Programs (EDACALAJ)

Keywords

• Mental health education
• Family caregiver support
• Mood disorder awareness
• Suicide prevention resources
• Nonprofit caregiver training

Headquarters

HQ city

Waltham

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations from Individuals: FFDA relies primarily on individual donations, with suggested giving amounts starting at $50 to provide suicide prevention training to ten families. The organization accepts one-time and multi-year gifts, memorial donations, and legacy/planned gifts.
2. Corporate Membership and Sponsorship: Corporate members (Sage Biogen, Lundbeck) and corporate friends (Alkermes, JNJ Innovative Medicine, Neurocrine, Takeda, GeneSight) provide funding support through membership programs at various levels.
3. Grants: FFDA receives grant funding from foundations and organizations. The Starbucks Foundation Neighborhood Grants Program awarded a $1,000 grant. Federal tax ID 04-3546730; EIN noted for donor-advised fund giving.
4. Event-Based Fundraising: Annual Evening of Hope and Discovery is a comedy fundraiser that generates proceeds supporting FFDA programs and operations. Peer-to-peer Strides Against Stigma walks, runs, and bike-a-thons also generate donations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Families for Depression Awareness (FFDA) is a nonprofit organization that provides free educational resources, screening tools, webinars, publications, and workshops to help family caregivers recognize, cope with, and support loved ones living with depression or bipolar disorder. Its offerings focus on caregiver empowerment, stigma reduction, and upstream suicide prevention through awareness and education.

Product overview

Families for Depression Awareness (FFDA) is a nonprofit organization that offers a suite of educational products and services for family caregivers of people living with depression or bipolar disorder. The core offerings include online screening tests (Depression and Bipolar Test, Caregiver Stress Test, Perinatal Depression Screening Tool, Mental Health Family Tree), educational webinars and workshops, downloadable publications including a 60+ page caregiver handbook, and peer-support content through family stories and expert interviews. These products work together as an integrated resource ecosystem where caregivers can screen themselves and loved ones, access training materials, download practical tools like the Family Action Plan Template, and learn from expert interviews and peer stories. Massachusetts-based workshops provide in-person and virtual training options for teens, families, and school personnel.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Strides Against Stigma: Annual fundraising event to raise awareness about the stigma of mental health conditions.
• Evening of Hope and Discovery

Products and services

• Depression and Bipolar Test Online screening tool based on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) for screening depression or bipolar disorder. Users can print results to share with medical professionals.
• Mental Health Family Tree Tool to reconstruct family medical history, helping professionals determine if depression or bipolar disorder may be the correct diagnosis.
• Caregiver Stress Test Stress assessment based on the Perceived Stress Scale that helps caregivers understand their stress level and provides resources to reduce and manage stress.
• Perinatal Depression Screening Tool Screening tool to help identify symptoms of postpartum depression and determine how soon users should talk to their healthcare provider. Also offers an option for caregivers to take the test.
• Webinars Online presentations with mental health professionals covering teen depression, adult depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, stress management, mental health in the workplace, and suicide prevention.
• Massachusetts Workshops Onsite and virtual trainings for teens, young adults, parents, school personnel, and caring adults, including Understanding Teen Depression Workshop, Addressing Black Youth Mental Health, Addressing Family Stress and Depression Workshop, #TurnTo Events, and Stress Survival Guide Workshop.
• Teen Depression Resource Cards Custom folded cards describing depression symptoms, how to get help, and self-care practices in teen-accessible language, sized to fit in wallets and on the back of phones.
• Helping Someone Living with Depression or Bipolar Disorder Handbook 60+ page handbook for families and caregivers covering essential topics for caregiving, including boundaries, communication, and accessing care.
• Family Stories Program Collection of real-life stories from families experiencing depression or bipolar disorder, shared through blog posts and videos to help caregivers feel less alone and inspire hope.
• Expert Interviews Interviews with mental health professionals and experts providing insights on topics including depression treatment, PTSD, postpartum depression, and suicide prevention.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% of people treated for depression start getting better within 4 to 6 weeks (referenced in FFDA educational content as a general statistic to provide hope to caregivers)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered partner (major), friend (supporting) and minor.

• Sage Biogenpartner (major)GTM or Marketing PartnerSage Biogen is listed as a Corporate Partner of FFDA through its Corporate Members Program. The partnership allows Sage Biogen to support FFDA's mission while associating its brand with FFDA's life-saving mental health work.
• Lundbeckpartner (major)GTM or Marketing PartnerLundbeck is listed as a Corporate Partner of FFDA through its Corporate Members Program. The partnership enables Lundbeck to contribute to FFDA's ongoing operations and programs.
• Alkermesfriend (supporting)GTM or Marketing PartnerAlkermes is listed as a Corporate Friend of FFDA, indicating a supporting relationship through the Corporate Members Program.
• Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicinefriend (supporting)GTM or Marketing PartnerJNJ Innovative Medicine is listed as a Corporate Friend of FFDA through the Corporate Members Program.
• Neurocrinefriend (supporting)GTM or Marketing PartnerNeurocrine is listed as a Corporate Friend of FFDA through the Corporate Members Program.
• Takedafriend (supporting)GTM or Marketing PartnerTakeda is listed as a Corporate Friend of FFDA through the Corporate Members Program.
• GeneSight (Assurex Health)friend (supporting)GTM or Marketing PartnerGeneSight partnered with FFDA to produce educational content about depression and bipolar disorder, specifically featuring family caregiver stories. This is a content collaboration to provide educational information to caregivers.
• National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFFDA collaborated with NEDA to present a webinar on supporting teens addressing depression and eating disorders together, indicating a co-presented educational partnership.
• Rural MindsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFFDA featured an expert interview with Rural Minds Executive Director Chuck Strand about overcoming barriers to mental health treatment for family caregivers in rural America, indicating a content collaboration.
• Postpartum Support InternationalminorOthersListed as an external resource partner for postpartum depression support on FFDA's resources for new moms page. PSI provides fact sheets, local chapter groups, and a mental health providers directory referenced by FFDA.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): Largest U.S. grassroots mental health nonprofit, providing education, support groups, and advocacy for individuals and families affected by mental illness. Directly comparable as both serve family caregivers of people with mental illness and provide free education, helplines, and community programs.
• Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA): U.S. nonprofit focused specifically on depression and bipolar disorder, providing peer support groups, educational resources, and screening tools. Direct overlap with FFDA's condition-specific mission and caregiver education model.
• Mental Health America (MHA): Community-based nonprofit addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and promoting mental health nationwide. Comparable as it operates free online screening tools (similar to FFDA's PHQ-9-based test) and broad public education campaigns.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP): Leading suicide prevention nonprofit funding research, advocating for policy, and supporting survivors of suicide loss. Directly comparable mission overlap given FFDA's upstream suicide-prevention framing; AFSP also operates community walks/peer-to-peer fundraising (similar to Strides Against Stigma).

Emerging players

• The Trevor Project: Nonprofit focused on crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, operating a 24/7 helpline, digital community, and education programs. Comparable as a peer in youth mental-health education and family/caregiver resources, though narrower demographic focus.
• JED Foundation: Nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide among teens and young adults through school-based programs and partnerships. Comparable as a peer in teen mental-health education and family/school engagement, complementing FFDA's Massachusetts teen workshop program.
• Postpartum Support International (PSI): Nonprofit dedicated to perinatal mental health, providing support, training, and resources for pregnant and postpartum individuals and their families. Already a referral partner of FFDA and directly comparable on the perinatal-depression screening tool offering.
• Bring Change to Mind: Mental-health nonprofit co-founded by Glenn Close that uses storytelling to end stigma and support young people with mental illness. Comparable in storytelling-driven stigma reduction and youth-focused programming, though with a celebrity-led brand identity.
• Child Mind Institute: Independent nonprofit dedicated to transforming mental health care for children and adolescents through clinical care, research, and education. Comparable on family-education content and child/adolescent mental-health focus, though with a clinical-care arm FFDA lacks.
• National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA): Nonprofit supporting individuals and families affected by eating disorders through education, resources, and advocacy. Already a webinar co-presenter with FFDA, indicating direct program overlap and partnership alignment on caregiver and teen education.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/familyaware
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/FFDA1
• Facebookfacebook.com/familyaware
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/families-for-depression-awareness
• Instagraminstagram.com/familyaware

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 Families for Depression Awareness