The Family Giving Tree

What The Family Giving Tree does

The Family Giving Tree is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1990 by Jennifer Cullenbine and headquartered at 280 Martin Ave., Suite 6, Santa Clara, California, with warehouse and distribution operations in Palo Alto and Milpitas. It operates two core annual programs: the Holiday Wish Drive, which fulfills recipient-selected gift wishes for children, adults, and seniors through a network of more than 250 partner agencies, and the Back-to-School Drive, which provides backpacks filled with grade-appropriate school supplies to K-12 students from families facing financial hardship. Since its founding, the organization has served more than 2.25 million recipients across nine Bay Area counties (Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, San Francisco, Contra Costa, Marin, Sonoma, Napa, and Solano).

The organization is run by a small staff of 11 full-time and 6 part-time employees, supplemented by 1,500 Drive Leaders and 8,500 community volunteers annually. Its technology stack centers on Salesforce CRM for donor and recipient data management, a proprietary Holiday Wish App that lets approved partner agencies submit client wish selections that auto-populate into Salesforce, and RFID-tagged physical wish cards that are scanned on return to mark wishes as fulfilled and track inventory. Revenue comes from individual donations (one-time, monthly Community Champions, stock, legacy, employer matching, donor-advised funds), corporate sponsorship at Teacher/Student/Corporate Partner tiers, backpack sponsorships at $50 per backpack, Holiday Wish sponsorships, and foundation grants (including The David and Lucile Packard Foundation). Its go-to-market combines community-led donation drives, direct-to-consumer online giving, event-driven Corporate Backpack Builds, and sales-led corporate partnership development. Jill Mitsch has served as CEO since 2024, succeeding founder Jennifer Cullenbine after 35 years. The organization has earned Charity Navigator's 4-star rating and Candid's Platinum transparency seal.

Name

The Family Giving Tree

Legal name

Family Giving Tree

Website

https://familygivingtree.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Charitable Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

Keywords

• Holiday wish programs
• Back-to-school drives
• Nonprofit charitable services
• Community donation drives
• Corporate giving partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Milpitas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and recurring donations from individuals. Options include direct monetary donations, monthly giving program (Community Champions), stock donations, legacy bequests, and employer matching.
2. Corporate Sponsorship: Corporate partners provide funds that allow FGT to bulk-purchase backpacks and gifts at deep discounts, stretching contributions and increasing impact. Sponsorship tiers include Teacher Level, Student Level, and Corporate Partner levels.
3. Backpack Sponsorship: $50 donation provides one fully stocked backpack to a Bay Area student. $100 provides two backpacks. Backpacks retail for $100 or more but bulk purchasing allows greater reach.
4. Holiday Wish Sponsorship: Donors can sponsor specific holiday wishes for children, adults, and seniors in need through the online giving portal.
5. Foundation Grants: Grant funding from foundations such as The David and Lucile Packard Foundation to support strategic planning and organizational capacity.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

The Family Giving Tree is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs two flagship annual programs: the Holiday Wish Drive, which fulfills the exact holiday gift wishes of Bay Area children, adults, and seniors in need through a partner-agency network, and the Back-to-School Drive, which provides backpacks filled with grade-appropriate essential school supplies to K-12 students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. Supporting programs include a Drive Leader Program enabling organizations and community groups to organize their own donation drives, a Volunteer Program, a Corporate Partnership Program, an online Donation Portal for individual giving, and a Seedlings blog for impact storytelling.

Product overview

The Family Giving Tree operates as a nonprofit charitable organization offering two primary annual programs: the Holiday Wish Drive and the Back-to-School Drive. The Holiday Wish Drive fulfills exact holiday gift wishes for children, adults, and seniors through a network of over 300 partner agencies, while the Back-to-School Drive provides backpacks filled with essential school supplies to K-12 students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. Supporting these core drives are additional programs including a Drive Leader Program for community-organized donation drives, a Volunteer Program offering year-round opportunities, a Corporate Partnership Program with sponsorship and Backpack Build options, and a Seedlings Blog for communications. The organization also operates a Donation Portal for various giving mechanisms and sells branded merchandise through FGT Merch. Technology infrastructure includes a proprietary Holiday Wish App integrated with Salesforce for agency wish management and RFID-tagged wish cards for warehouse tracking. The organization does not offer a commercial software product but rather delivers charitable giving programs to the Bay Area community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Holiday Wish Drive Annual program that fulfills exact holiday gift wishes for Bay Area children, adults, and seniors experiencing financial hardship, operating through over 250 partner agencies. Recipients select first and second wish choices via the proprietary Holiday Wish App, and gifts are tagged with RFID-enabled wish cards for fulfillment tracking.
• Back-to-School Drive Annual program providing K-12 students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families with fully stocked backpacks containing grade-appropriate essential school supplies. Schools with 75%+ students classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged per California School Dashboard qualify. Bulk purchasing enables $50 donations to provide backpacks that retail at $100+.
• Online Donation Portal Online giving platform (Give Locus-powered) offering one-time donations, monthly recurring giving (Community Champions), stock donations, legacy giving, employer matching, donor-advised funds, backpack sponsorship, and wish sponsorship.
• Corporate Partnership Program Corporate sponsorship program with tiered levels (Teacher, Student, Corporate Partner) that funds bulk purchases of backpacks and gifts at deep discounts, plus onsite Backpack Build volunteer experiences for employees at company offices. Partners include eBay, Star One Credit Union, ASML, CoStar, Dolby, Lam Research, Samsung Semiconductor, and Tech CU.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 2 million recipients served since 1990
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• eBaycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Teacher Level Sponsor for Back-to-School Drive. eBay and eBay Foundation support educational equity initiatives in the Bay Area through sponsorship of FGT programs.
• Star One Credit UnioncoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Teacher Level Sponsor and Holiday Wish Drive sponsor since 2017. One of Silicon Valley's largest member-owned financial institutions. Named one of Silicon Valley Business Journal's Top 50 Corporate Philanthropists in 2022.
• ASMLcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Corporate Partner providing support for FGT's Holiday Wish and Back-to-School Drives. Technology company committed to Bay Area community giving.
• CoStarcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Corporate Partner supporting FGT's community programs through financial sponsorship and employee engagement.
• Dolby LaboratoriescoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Corporate Partner for FGT drives, contributing to educational equity and holiday gift programs in the Bay Area.
• Lam ResearchcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Corporate Partner supporting FGT programs. Semiconductor equipment company investing in local community.
• Samsung SemiconductorcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Corporate Partner celebrating 20 years of volunteer partnership with FGT. Samsung employees regularly volunteer for Backpack Builds and drive events.
• Tech CUcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Corporate Partner credit union supporting FGT community programs through sponsorship.
• Abbott, Stringham & LynchsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Student Level Sponsor for Back-to-School Drive. Accounting firm supporting educational equity in the Bay Area.
• MiraStarsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Student Level Sponsor for Back-to-School Drive. Credit union supporting students in need.
• Coleman Camping CompanysupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partnered with FGT in 2020 to provide weatherproof sleeping bags and tents for unhoused individuals served through FGT's partner agencies.
• Ecumenical Hunger ProgramcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024East Palo Alto partner agency serving community for 50+ years with food pantry, clothing closet, furniture distribution, and garden programs. FGT staff conducted volunteer day at their facility. Children from their programs receive backpacks and holiday gifts through FGT.
• Elevating Good (Christine Jeffers)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2021Consulting firm led by Christine Jeffers that facilitated FGT's strategic planning process. Led staff and board through four-month virtual sessions to develop mission, vision, values, and 3-year Strategic Plan.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• DonorsChoose: Online crowdfunding platform where teachers post classroom project requests and donors fund specific supplies. Adjacent to FGT's Back-to-School Drive in the school-supplies-for-low-income-students category, but uses a marketplace model rather than bulk drives.

Direct peers

• Baby2Baby: National nonprofit providing diapers, clothing, and basic necessities to children in poverty. Highly comparable to FGT in mission (essential items for low-income children), corporate partnership model (large corporate sponsors including tech firms), and warehouse-based distribution.
• Schoolhouse Supplies: Portland-based nonprofit operating a Free Store for Teachers that provides free school supplies to teachers in high-need schools. Comparable to FGT's Back-to-School Drive in direct supplies-to-schools model, though anchored to one metropolitan area.
• Kids In Need Foundation: National nonprofit that supplies free school supplies to teachers and students in need through Supply Packs and teacher-resource centers. Directly comparable to FGT's Back-to-School Drive in product category (grade-appropriate school supplies) and beneficiary population.
• Toys for Tots: U.S. Marine Corps Reserve–run national toy collection and distribution program. Most directly comparable to FGT's Holiday Wish Drive in that it mobilizes community donation drives to fulfill gifts for economically disadvantaged children, operating on a similar volunteer-and-distribution-hub model.
• Cradles to Crayons: Nonprofit that provides children from birth through age 12 living in low-income situations with essential items (clothing, school supplies, toys). Comparable to FGT in target population, item-based giving model, and volunteer-driven distribution through agency partners.
• Salvation Army Angel Tree: National holiday gift-adoption program that lets donors fulfill specific wish requests from children and seniors in need. Closely aligned with FGT's exact-wish-fulfillment model and choice-based approach, scaled nationally through a partner agency network.
• Adopt-a-Family: Holiday adoption programs that connect donors with specific low-income families to fulfill wish lists and provide practical support. Closely comparable to FGT's Holiday Wish Drive in wish-fulfillment orientation and donor-to-family matching.
• Volunteers of America - Operation Backpack: Annual backpack and school supplies donation drive run by Volunteers of America chapters serving children experiencing homelessness. Directly comparable to FGT's Back-to-School Drive in product, mission, and donor-driven drive model.

Broad incumbents

• United Way Bay Area: Regional umbrella nonprofit operating across the same 9-county Bay Area geography FGT serves. Comparable as a corporate-giving channel and community partner, though it does not directly compete on drives/goods distribution and operates a broader grantmaking and convening role.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fgttweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/familygivingtree
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-family-giving-tree

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 The Family Giving Tree