SADD Nation

What SADD Nation does

SADD Nation (legally SADD, INC., also known as Students Against Destructive Decisions) is a U.S. nonprofit organization founded in 1981 and headquartered in Glendale, Arizona. It operates a national network of student-led chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges, mobilizing teens, engaging parents, and activating communities around three programmatic pillars: traffic safety, substance use prevention, and personal health and safety. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors and led by President & CEO Rick Birt, with a staff of 11-50 employees.

SADD's core "product" is its free peer-to-peer prevention programming, delivered through school-based chapters and digital channels. Key offerings include MySADD (a student membership platform and app), Driving Skills 101, NRSF Passport to Safe Driving, TextLess Live More (distracted-driving prevention in partnership), National Passenger Safety Week (January), National Teen Driver Safety Week (October), Erika's Lighthouse (mental health and suicide prevention), Safe Sips (nightlife safety), the Fentanyl Awareness Program, vaping prevention, the NIAAA Challenge video contest, Red Ribbon Week support, quarterly newsletters, and a Mental Health Toolkit. The Merge Initiative, sponsored by General Motors, was launched in February 2026 to mark the organization's 45th anniversary and extend programming to families and workplaces.

SADD's business model is donation- and sponsorship-driven. Programs are offered free of charge to students, schools, and communities; the organization does not sell products or charge fees. Revenue comes from individual donations received through sadd.org, corporate sponsorships (most prominently General Motors), co-created campaigns with peer nonprofits such as We Save Lives and the National Road Safety Foundation, and state-level funders. SADD is a privately held nonprofit incorporated in Arizona with no parent company, no venture backing, and no publicly disclosed financials.

Name

SADD Nation

Legal name

SADD, INC.

Website

https://sadd.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SADD Nation (Students Against Destructive Decisions) is a U.S. nonprofit, founded in 1981, operating a national network of student-led chapters in schools and colleges to deliver free youth health and safety programming on traffic safety, substance use, and personal health.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Health and Safety Education

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Child and Youth Services (624110), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAJAIAG

Student Wellness & Prevention Programs (Substance Use, Sexual Health, Bullying)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Student Health, Safety & Wellbeing Services (Counseling, Mental Health, SEL, Safeguarding)

SECONDARYEDAKAMAI

Suicide Prevention, Self-Harm Prevention & Threat Assessment Programs

Education/Special Education & Learning Support Services/Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Mental Health Supports (School-Based)

SECONDARYEDAJAIAD

Safeguarding, Child Protection & Reporting Services

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Student Health, Safety & Wellbeing Services (Counseling, Mental Health, SEL, Safeguarding)

SECONDARYBPAGADAM

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

SECONDARYBPAGABAG

Child Protection & Child Rights

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/International Development & Poverty Alleviation

Keywords

• Youth safety education
• Substance abuse prevention
• Traffic safety programs
• Peer-led prevention
• Nonprofit health organization

Headquarters

HQ city

Glendale

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: SADD receives donations from individuals and organizations through their website and fundraising campaigns to support their programs and operations.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: SADD receives sponsorship funding from corporate partners like General Motors for specific programs such as The Merge Initiative.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SADD Nation operates a national peer-to-peer youth health and safety prevention platform delivered through student-led chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges. The organization provides educational programming on traffic safety, substance use prevention, and personal health and safety, supported by the MySADD digital membership platform and free to students, schools, and communities.

Product overview

SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) is the nation's premier youth health and safety organization, operating as a peer-led prevention platform with a network of student chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges. The organization offers a comprehensive suite of programs and resources centered on three core pillars: traffic safety, substance abuse prevention, and personal health and safety. Key offerings include MySADD (the membership platform), Driving Skills 101 (driver education), TextLess Live More (distracted driving prevention), Safe Sips (nightlife safety), National Passenger Safety Week and National Teen Driver Safety Week campaigns, Erika's Lighthouse (mental health), and various contests like the NIAAA Challenge. The organization publishes quarterly newsletters and provides chapter engagement guides, all designed to empower teens to advocate for change in their schools and communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MySADD: Digital platform/app for student members to access SADD resources and programming

Products and services

• MySADD

Quantifiable outcome

• Motor vehicle crashes remain one of the leading causes of death for teens and young adults
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• General MotorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 February 2026General Motors sponsors The Merge Initiative, a traffic safety program launched by SADD to celebrate its 45th anniversary. The program promotes safe driving behaviors among teens and their families through community and workplace initiatives.
• We Save LivescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Co-creator of National Passenger Safety Week (January 19-25), a campaign encouraging passengers to speak up against unsafe driving behaviors including impaired driving, speeding, distracted driving, and unbuckled occupants.
• The National Road Safety FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 January 2026Co-creator of National Passenger Safety Week, working with approximately 70 traffic safety organizations to address passenger vehicle fatalities and promote safety interventions.
• TextLess Live MorecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSADD's premiere distracted driving partner, focused on promoting digital wellness and the connection between distracted driving prevention and overall well-being. Includes student involvement in program development.
• Erika's LighthouseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMental health nonprofit that provides free depression education and suicide prevention programs. SADD chapters can register as Affiliate Clubs to access materials including 60+ schoolwide Awareness into Action Activities.
• Alco Prevention CanadaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCanadian organization providing drink spiking protection products and alcohol breathalyzer kits. Content shared with SADD audience during Halloween safety awareness.
• The Harris ProjectminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration focused on youth health and safety initiatives, referenced in SADD blog posts about community engagement and prevention programming.
• University of Pennsylvania Annenberg School for CommunicationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject SMART (Social Media Anti-Vaping Messages to Reduce ENDS Use among Sexual and Gender Minority Teens) partnership with SADD for youth engagement in anti-vaping research specifically designed for LGBTQ+ youth.
• IntoxalockminorGTM or Marketing PartnerShared content partnership where Intoxalock provides information about safe driving and impaired driving prevention, featured on SADD blog and resources.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• National Family Partnership (Red Ribbon Week): Nonprofit that organizes Red Ribbon Week, the nation's largest drug prevention awareness campaign. Directly comparable to SADD's Red Ribbon Week Support and substance abuse prevention programs for K–12 audiences.
• We Save Lives: Traffic safety advocacy coalition co-leading National Passenger Safety Week with SADD. Focuses on impaired driving, speeding, and passenger empowerment—directly overlapping SADD's core traffic safety mission and audience.
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD): Long-established nonprofit focused on impaired driving prevention and traffic safety, with a similar mix of school-based education, public campaigns, and victim advocacy. SADD originated from a MADD spinoff, making it the closest direct peer in mission, target audience, and funding model.
• Students Against Drunk Driving (original SADD): SADD Nation (Students Against Destructive Decisions) is itself the re-named successor to the original SADD, which now operates under this name following a 1997 rebranding. Included here for completeness as the most direct historical peer and namesake organization in youth traffic safety prevention.
• National Road Safety Foundation (NRSF): Nonprofit dedicated to reducing road fatalities through education and awareness, co-creator with SADD of National Passenger Safety Week. Operates in the same teen driver safety space with overlapping school and family-targeted programs.

Broad incumbents

• National Safety Council (NSC): Large, established workplace and road safety organization offering overlapping teen driver and substance use prevention programming as part of a broader safety portfolio. A broader incumbent that competes for the same corporate and government safety budgets as SADD.
• AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety: Research and education arm of AAA focused on traffic safety, including teen and new driver programs. Operates at significantly larger scale than SADD with comparable youth-driver education objectives.

Emerging players

• Erika's Lighthouse: Mental health nonprofit providing depression and suicide prevention education in schools; an SADD partner. Operates in the same school chapter and student wellbeing space with overlapping mental health programming.
• TextLess Live More: Distracted driving and digital wellness nonprofit; named SADD's "premiere distracted driving partner". Shares program IP and student audiences with SADD in a narrowly defined distracted driving category.
• End Distracted Driving (EndDD): Advocacy and education nonprofit focused specifically on distracted driving prevention, overlapping with SADD's TextLess Live More and Driving Skills 101 programs. Smaller and more narrowly focused than SADD but competes for the same school and parent audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/saddnation
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SADDNational
• Facebookfacebook.com/saddnation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sadd
• Instagraminstagram.com/saddnation
• TikToktiktok.com/@saddnation?

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 SADD Nation