KlaasKids Foundation

What KlaasKids Foundation does

KlaasKids Foundation was a 501(c)(3) public benefit nonprofit established in 1994 by Marc Klaas following the 1993 kidnapping and murder of his 12-year-old daughter Polly Hannah Klaas in Petaluma, California. Its stated mission was to stop crimes against children, delivered through two primary programs: the Print-A-Thon child identification service, which used state-of-the-art computerized equipment to fingerprint and photograph more than 1,000,000 children free of charge between 1995 and 2023 without databasing personal information; and the KlaasKids Search Center, a professional search-and-rescue operation that served over 1,500 families of missing persons, conducted more than 500 searches, and trained more than 1,600 volunteers since inception.

The foundation's product surface also included the Megan's Law information portal providing state-by-state comparative analysis of sex offender registration, home DNA and fingerprint kits for do-it-yourself child identification, and the KlaasKids Search & Rescue Community Resource Manual, an e-book consolidating three decades of SAR operational knowledge. All services were delivered at no cost to families and communities, with operations funded exclusively by public donations (no government funding was received) and supplemented by an adjacent operating subsidiary, BeyondMissing, Inc. Marc Klaas served as President and was the public face of the foundation, with Brad Dennis leading day-to-day search operations.

The foundation generated earned media rather than paid marketing, leveraging Marc Klaas's standing in criminal justice advocacy and relationships with federal, state, and local law enforcement (including embedded participation in the Blitz the Traffickers Super Bowl XLVIII operation with the FBI and NJ State Police in 2014). After 30 years of advocacy and operations, Marc Klaas announced on October 8, 2024 that the foundation was closing.

Name

KlaasKids Foundation

Legal name

KlaasKids Foundation

Website

https://klaaskids.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

KlaasKids Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivered free child safety, identification, and search-and-rescue services to families and communities. Operating since 1994, the foundation announced its closure in October 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Child Safety Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (624110), Individual and Family Services (6241), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Safeguarding, Child Protection & Reporting Services (EDAJAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Protection, Child Protection & Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Response (BPAGAAAG), Child Protection & Child Rights (BPAGABAG), Child Safety & Exploitation Prevention Operations (CSAM detection workflows, escalation) (BPAAALAK)

Keywords

• Child safety advocacy
• Missing persons search
• Child identification services
• Search and rescue
• Sex offender registry

Headquarters

HQ city

Sausalito

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, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: As a 501(c)(3) public benefit nonprofit organization, KlaasKids Foundation relies on public donations and potentially government grants. The organization notes it receives no government funding for its operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

KlaasKids Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers free child safety, child identification, and search and rescue services to families and communities. Its two flagship programs are the Print-A-Thon child identification service (discontinued in 2023 after fingerprinting over 1 million children) and the KlaasKids Search and Rescue team, supplemented by safety education resources, a Megan's Law information portal, and a community resource manual.

Product overview

KlaasKids Foundation is a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) established in 1994 to stop crimes against children. The organization operates primarily through two core programs: the Print-A-Thon child identification service (discontinued in 2023 after serving 1 million+ children) and the Search and Rescue team (serving 1,500+ families, conducting 500+ searches). Related offerings include the Search & Rescue Community Resource Manual E-book, home DNA and fingerprint kits for continued child identification, and the Megan's Law information portal providing sex offender registry analysis across states. All services focus on child safety, missing person recovery, and advocacy for child protection legislation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Print-A-Thon Child Identification Program A child identification program that used state-of-the-art computerized equipment to fingerprint and photograph children free of charge without databasing personal or private information. Operated from 1995 to 2023 and served more than 1,000,000 children and their families.
• KlaasKids Search and Rescue Professional Search and Rescue service that has assisted more than 1,500 families searching for missing relatives, conducted over 500 searches, and trained more than 1,600 professional search and rescue volunteers since 1994.
• KlaasKids Search & Rescue Community Resource Manual Comprehensive E-book consolidating three decades of search and rescue knowledge, outlining critical elements of volunteer kidnap recovery efforts, strategies for rapid response, inter-agency cooperation, and community involvement organizing across urban, suburban, and rural environments.
• Do-It-Yourself DNA Sampling Kit Home DNA kit made available after the Print-A-Thon program was discontinued, allowing parents to collect and store their child's DNA samples independently for identification purposes.
• Home Fingerprint Kit Home fingerprint kit available for parents to independently capture and store their child's fingerprints for identification purposes after the Print-A-Thon program ended.
• Megan's Law Information Portal The Internet's most comprehensive Megan's Law destination, providing comparative analysis of every state's Megan's Law, up-to-date sex offender statistics (e.g., 984,672 registered sex offenders in the U.S. as of March 2023), and community notification information.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1 million children fingerprinted/photographed at no cost between 1995-2023
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• New Jersey State PolicecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 January 2014KlaasKids worked with New Jersey State Police since May 2013, participating in sting operations leading up to Super Bowl XLVIII. Embedded with law enforcement operation from January 28-February 1, providing intelligence analysis on online advertisements and deep-web searches for indicators of child exploitation.
• FBIcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 January 2014Collaborated with FBI on Blitz the Traffickers Super Bowl operation. Provided direct contact with Federal and State intelligence analysts, supplied leads on online advertisements with indicators of commercial sexual exploitation of children, and conducted deep-web searches for corroborative information.
• Nita Belles (Anti-Trafficking Coalition)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPensacola-based anti-trafficking advocate who worked with New Jersey Attorney General's office and local trafficking task forces to overcome operational obstacles and ensure success of Blitz the Traffickers operation.
• Called2RescueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided monitoring services of online escort ads and forwarded over 200 leads to the KlaasKids team in New Jersey. KlaasKids scrubbed those leads for additional corroboration and submitted 23 specific leads to law enforcement.
• Free InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with StudentReach to develop a school assembly program featuring state-of-the-art 3D multi-media production to prevent child exploitation, featuring posters of missing children to 30 schools and 6 colleges in New Jersey.
• StudentReachminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with Free International on school assembly program featuring 3D multi-media production to prevent child exploitation, featuring missing children posters to schools and colleges in New Jersey.
• Global Child RescueminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered in Blitz the Traffickers coalition, mobilizing local faith-based partners to disseminate awareness posters and missing child books throughout New York and New Jersey.
• Stop Sex ExploitationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered in nonprofit coalition for Blitz the Traffickers operation, mobilizing local faith-based partners to disseminate awareness materials.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Direct peers

• National Child Advocacy Center: Nonprofit providing training, prevention, and treatment services related to child abuse, with strong law-enforcement and MDT partnerships — comparable to KlaasKids' multi-disciplinary, law-enforcement-embedded approach.
• Childhelp: National nonprofit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse, operating a national hotline, advocacy programs, and the Childhelp Children's Center of Virginia — directly comparable in mission, advocacy focus, and donor-funded nonprofit model.
• Darkness to Light: Nonprofit focused on preventing child sexual abuse through adult education and the Stewards of Children program — comparable in child safety education mission and donor-funded nonprofit model.
• National Children's Alliance: Accrediting body and advocacy organization for Children's Advocacy Centers serving child abuse victims — comparable in mission alignment with child protection, advocacy, and law-enforcement coordination.
• International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children: Global nonprofit working to protect children from abduction, sexual abuse, and exploitation through policy, training, and advocacy — directly comparable to KlaasKids' child protection and legislative advocacy work, with a broader international footprint.
• Prevent Child Abuse America: National nonprofit focused on child abuse prevention through education, advocacy, and the Pinwheels for Prevention campaign — comparable to KlaasKids' child safety education and legislative advocacy tracks.
• National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: The leading U.S. nonprofit focused on missing and exploited children, operating a 24/7 hotline, case management, AMBER Alert coordination, and SAR support — directly comparable to KlaasKids' missing-person SAR and child identification missions.
• A Child Is Missing: Nonprofit that provides alert and search assistance for missing children and vulnerable adults using mass-notification technology — directly comparable to KlaasKids Search Center's family-of-missing-persons support and community coordination.

Broad incumbents

• AMBER Alert: Government-coordinated child abduction alert system broadly serving the missing-children space in which KlaasKids operated its SAR program — overlapping mission but government-run rather than nonprofit, and operating at far greater scale.

Others

• BeyondMissing, Inc. Adjacent operating subsidiary of the KlaasKids ecosystem, also led by Marc Klaas — the most natural peer given shared leadership, overlapping missing-persons mission, and potential to absorb KlaasKids programs post-closure.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/klaaskids
• Facebookfacebook.com/KlaasKidsFoundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 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 KlaasKids Foundation