Blue Sea Foundation

What Blue Sea Foundation does

Blue Sea Foundation is a Canadian-incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 and headquartered in Kitchener, Canada, that operates a peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising platform organized around five signature branded events: Coldest Night of the Year (a February winter walk), Ride for Refuge (a cycling fundraiser), The Grand Parade, Steps for Pets (an animal-welfare walk), and Between a Walk and a Hard Place (a September USA-focused walk). These events mobilize communities across Canada and the USA to raise funds for charity partners serving people facing hurt, hunger, homelessness, displacement, vulnerability, and exploitation, as well as pet-welfare causes, with operating geographies spanning both countries.

The underlying platform provides charity partners with turnkey event infrastructure, including registration technology, marketing materials, campaign guidance, donor and sponsor acquisition support, and post-event fund disbursement, with Blue Sea stating that participation can be managed in as few as 5 hours per week by charity staff. The organization monetizes through partnership fees on a transaction/take-rate basis tied to event participation, anchoring its pitch on a $0 upfront investment model for charity partners. Typical campaign outcomes cited are $20,000 to $200,000+ raised per partner, along with hundreds of new donor/email relationships and introductions to corporate sponsors, with 100% of net proceeds retained in the local community where the partner operates.

The customer base consists primarily of small-to-mid-sized nonprofit organizations spanning social services, homelessness prevention, women's services, family services, affordable housing, and community outreach; named partners visible in the source include Micah Ministries, Micah Ecumenical Ministries, WATTS, Miriam's House, Illinois Valley PADS, Portsmouth Volunteers, New Journey Community Outreach, Community Cares, River Valley Charities, Serving Bucks Together, Pottstown Beacon of Hope, YWCA Jamestown, Eden Village, and Family Promise. Blue Sea acquires partners via direct website application, live Zoom educational calls, a blog, a newsletter ('A Little Good in Your Inbox'), a free downloadable P2P guide, and Corporate and Community Challenge programs. The organization operates with 11–50 employees, runs from Kitchener with a St. Charles (USA) mailing address, and has no disclosed management team, parent company, subsidiaries, funding rounds, M&A activity, or revenue figures in the input data.

Name

Blue Sea Foundation

Legal name

Blue Sea Foundation

Website

https://blueseafoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Blue Sea Foundation is a nonprofit organization operating a peer-to-peer fundraising platform built around five signature branded events—Coldest Night of the Year, Ride for Refuge, The Grand Parade, Steps for Pets, and Between a Walk and a Hard Place—enabling charity partners across Canada and the USA to raise $20,000–$200,000+ per campaign with no upfront investment and net proceeds retained locally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Fundraising Services

NAICS

Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Peer-to-peer fundraising events
• Nonprofit fundraising platform
• Charity walk fundraising
• Signature community events
• Intermediary fundraising partner

Headquarters

HQ city

Kitchener

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Event Partnership Fees: Blue Sea Foundation generates revenue through partnership fees charged to charity partners who participate in Blue Sea's signature peer-to-peer fundraising events. While the exact fee structure is not publicly disclosed, the organization operates on a model where charity partners pay to participate in events with the benefit of full event support, branding, and platform access. Net proceeds from events stay in local communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Blue Sea Foundation organizes and licenses five signature peer-to-peer fundraising events (Coldest Night of the Year, Ride for Refuge, The Grand Parade, Steps for Pets, and Between a Walk and a Hard Place) that nonprofit charity partners in Canada and the United States can join. The foundation provides the branded event experience, a P2P fundraising platform, and operational infrastructure so partner charities can recruit participants and collect donations without building their own fundraising systems.

Product overview

Blue Sea Foundation offers a peer-to-peer fundraising platform organized around five signature branded events: Coldest Night of the Year (winter walk, February), Ride for Refuge (cycling event), The Grand Parade (parade event), Steps for Pets (pet-focused walk), and Between a Walk and a Hard Place (USA walk, September). The platform enables charities to run campaigns with $0 upfront investment, typically raising $20,000-$200,000+ per campaign while acquiring hundreds of new donors. All net proceeds stay in the local community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coldest Night of the Year

Quantifiable outcome

• $20,000 - $200,000+ raised in a single campaign
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Micah Ecumenical MinistriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner participating in Blue Sea's peer-to-peer fundraising events. Featured in trusted partners section with logo display. Represents organizations serving people facing hurt, hunger, and homelessness.
• WATTScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner featured in trusted partners section. Participates in Blue Sea's P2P fundraising ecosystem.
• Miriam's HousecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner serving people facing homelessness. Featured logo in trusted partners section.
• Illinois Valley PADScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner serving homeless populations. Featured logo in trusted partners section.
• Portsmouth VolunteerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner featured in trusted partners section. Community-based volunteer organization.
• New Journey Community OutreachcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner featured in trusted partners section with logo display.
• Community CarescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner featured in trusted partners section. Participates in Blue Sea P2P fundraising events.
• River Valley CharitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner featured in trusted partners section.
• Serving Bucks TogethercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner serving Bucks County community. Featured in trusted partners section.
• Pottstown Beacon of HopecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner featured in trusted partners section with logo display.
• YWCA JamestowncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner serving women and families. Featured in trusted partners section.
• Eden VillagecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner providing affordable housing solutions. Featured in trusted partners section.
• Family PromisecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharity partner serving families in need. Featured in trusted partners section.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Givebutter: Givebutter is a modern P2P and online fundraising platform offering nonprofits a free-tier, digital-first alternative to traditional event fundraising. Directly comparable to Blue Sea's charity-partner model, with stronger emphasis on digital-first giving.
• Funraise: Funraise is a nonprofit fundraising platform with peer-to-peer campaign capabilities, donor CRM, and event tools. Comparable to Blue Sea as a P2P fundraising platform serving nonprofit charity partners.
• DoJiggy: DoJiggy provides online fundraising and event management software specifically for peer-to-peer walk, run, and ride events hosted by nonprofits. Directly comparable to Blue Sea's walk/ride event franchise model.
• Classy: Classy (now part of Bonterra) is one of the leading peer-to-peer fundraising software platforms for nonprofits, enabling charities to run branded fundraising campaigns. Directly comparable to Blue Sea as a P2P fundraising infrastructure provider for the nonprofit sector, though delivered as software rather than as an event-franchise.
• Qgiv: Qgiv is a peer-to-peer and online fundraising platform serving nonprofits with event registration, donation forms, and campaign management. Directly comparable to Blue Sea's P2P and event fundraising offerings.
• OneCause: OneCause provides fundraising event software for nonprofits, specializing in auctions, galas, and peer-to-peer events. Comparable to Blue Sea for its event-driven P2P fundraising focus on nonprofit partners.
• RallyUp: RallyUp is a fundraising platform offering peer-to-peer campaigns, online auctions, and event tools for nonprofits. Comparable to Blue Sea's P2P fundraising and event-driven approach.

Broad incumbents

• Active Network: Active Network is a registration and event-management platform used for charity runs, walks, and rides. Comparable to Blue Sea as a backend provider for nonprofit community events, though it serves a much broader event market beyond charity fundraising.
• Bonterra: Bonterra (parent of Classy and former Network for Good) is a broad nonprofit technology suite covering fundraising, CRM, and grantmaking. Comparable to Blue Sea at the platform layer for nonprofit fundraising, though it operates as a broad incumbent rather than a focused P2P event franchise.
• FrontStream: FrontStream is a larger nonprofit and corporate fundraising platform with donation processing, event tools, and auction software. Comparable to Blue Sea's broader fundraising-event functionality, but as a broad incumbent with a wider portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Blue Sea Foundation