Wesley Foundation

What Wesley Foundation does

Wesley Foundation, also operating as Wesley Campus Ministry, is a nonprofit faith-based organization founded in 1992 and headquartered at 2717 Clifton Avenue in Cincinnati, Ohio, directly across from the University of Cincinnati. It serves college students and young adults seeking a welcoming environment to explore faith, ask difficult questions, and build authentic community without the pressure to perform or hold uniform beliefs. The ministry publicly positions itself as fully affirming of LGBTQ+ individuals and integrates faith practice with justice-oriented service, with 101–250 employees supporting its programming.

The ministry's core product is its in-person campus community program, anchored at the Wesley House and centered on weekly Tuesday night gatherings ("Tuesday Thing") that combine shared meals, conversation, and spiritual exploration. The organization has extended its reach digitally through The Wesley Pod, an official podcast distributed on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and through a Mailchimp-powered email/SMS newsletter ("Stay Connected"). A merchandise line, Wesley House Coffee, is offered in partnership with La Terza Coffee through their online marketplace and includes branded "Radical Love," decaf, and espresso blends. Operational tooling consists of a Squarespace website, SignUpGenius for community meal coordination, and PayPal/Venmo for donation processing. There is no proprietary technology platform; the offering is fundamentally relational rather than technology-mediated.

Wesley Foundation operates as a donation-supported nonprofit with no commercial product pricing. Revenue derives from voluntary individual financial contributions processed via PayPal and Venmo, supplemented by modest proceeds from Wesley House Coffee sales. The go-to-market motion is community-led: members are acquired through word-of-mouth, peer invitation, organic podcast listenership, and in-person gathering attendance rather than paid advertising. The addressable customer segment is narrowly defined as college students and young adults in proximity to the University of Cincinnati, with an individual donor base rather than institutional or corporate funders. The organization has no disclosed subsidiaries, no funding rounds, no M&A activity, and no geographic expansion beyond its single Cincinnati site.

Name

Wesley Foundation

Legal name

Wesley Foundation

Website

https://wesleyuc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Wesley Foundation is a Cincinnati-based nonprofit campus ministry serving University of Cincinnati students and young adults through community gatherings, faith exploration programming, a podcast, and a coffee merchandise partnership, funded primarily by individual donations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Campus Ministry and Religious Community Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Campus Spiritual & Religious Life (EDALAHAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG), Faith-Based Missions & Evangelism Organizations (Domestic & International) (BPAGAJAE)

Keywords

• Campus ministry
• Faith community
• Religious programs
• Student ministry
• Community services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cincinnati

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Financial Gifts: The Wesley Foundation accepts financial donations through PayPal and Venmo platforms. Donations support the ministry's mission of creating safe space for college students to explore faith, disciple young adults, and invest in student leaders.
2. Wesley House Coffee Sales: Wesley has partnered with La Terza to sell branded coffee (including Radical Love Coffee, decaf, and espresso blends) through La Terza's marketplace. Proceeds support the ministry's campus operations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Wesley Foundation operates Wesley Campus Ministry, a faith-based community program serving college students and young adults near the University of Cincinnati. It provides weekly gatherings (Tuesday Thing), a podcast (The Wesley Pod), pastoral community and faith exploration, and accepts donations and sells branded coffee to fund its operations. The ministry explicitly welcomes LGBTQ+ individuals and emphasizes radical love, authentic community, and faithful exploration.

Product overview

Wesley Foundation operates as a single unified campus ministry program rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is the Wesley Campus Ministry, a community-focused faith program for college students. The organization extends its reach through The Wesley Pod podcast, offers Wesley House Coffee as a revenue-generating product, provides a Donation Program for financial support, and runs the Tuesday Thing weekly gathering. These offerings are interconnected—donations and coffee sales fund the ministry, while The Wesley Pod and Tuesday Thing serve as primary engagement channels for students and supporters.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Wesley Pod: Official podcast of Wesley Campus Ministry covering faith and student life topics with guest appearances.

Products and services

• Wesley Campus Ministry A campus ministry program providing a welcoming, affirming community for college students and young adults to explore faith, build authentic relationships, and live out their values through service, conversations, and gatherings. Located at 2717 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, across from the University of Cincinnati.
• The Wesley Pod The official podcast of Wesley Campus Ministry featuring discussions on faith and student life, with guest appearances. Available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
• Wesley House Coffee Branded coffee products sold in partnership with La Terza to support the ministry. Includes Radical Love, decaf, and espresso blends available for purchase through La Terza's marketplace. Proceeds support campus operations.
• Donation Program Financial giving program allowing supporters to donate via PayPal or Venmo to support student discipleship, leadership development, and ministry operations.
• Tuesday Thing Gathering Weekly Tuesday night gathering at The Wesley House featuring shared dinner, community building, and faith exploration. Volunteers and community members sign up via SignUpGenius to supply meals for the gathering.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• La TerzacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWesley has partnered with La Terza to offer Wesley House Coffee, including their branded Radical Love Coffee blend, decaf, and espresso options. The coffee is sold through La Terza's marketplace. This partnership provides a sustainable revenue stream for the ministry while offering supporters a tangible product to purchase.
• PayPalminorOthersPayPal's donation platform is used to accept financial gifts to support Wesley's campus ministry operations, student leadership development, and faith exploration programming.
• VenmominorOthersVenmo's peer payment platform is used to accept financial gifts to support Wesley's campus ministry operations.

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• Hillel International: Hillel is the foundation for Jewish campus life, serving students at hundreds of universities with community, education, and identity-affirming programming. It is comparable to Wesley as a long-standing, identity-affirming religious campus community organization, though serving a different faith tradition.

Direct peers

• Navigators Collegiate: Navigators runs a collegiate ministry focused on disciple-making among college students through small groups, mentoring, and missions. It is directly comparable to Wesley in target audience and faith-exploration model, with overlapping programs in spiritual growth and leadership development.
• Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ): Cru is a large interdenominational campus ministry active at hundreds of U.S. universities, focused on evangelism, discipleship, and leadership development among college students. It mirrors Wesley's core mission of helping students explore faith in a community setting, though Cru operates at significantly greater scale.
• Canterbury (Episcopal Campus Ministry): Canterbury is the Episcopal Church's network of campus ministries offering worship, formation, and community to college students. It is a direct peer in being a mainline-denominational campus ministry with similar weekly gathering models, theological openness, and small-scale local operations.
• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship: InterVarsity is one of the largest interdenominational campus ministries in the U.S., serving college students with Bible studies, missions, and community gatherings. It is directly comparable to Wesley in mission (campus discipleship) and target market (U.S. college students), though it maintains a more traditional theological stance.
• UKirk (Presbyterian Campus Ministry): UKirk is the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) network of campus ministries, serving students at dozens of universities with worship, small groups, and community. It is structurally a direct peer to Wesley as a mainline-Protestant campus ministry serving college students through weekly gatherings and discipleship.
• Young Life College: Young Life College extends the well-known Young Life youth ministry model to college campuses, providing community, mentoring, and faith exploration for students. It shares Wesley's emphasis on authentic relationships and welcoming environment, with comparable target demographic and weekly gathering formats.
• Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM): Baptist Collegiate Ministries are state-convention-supported campus ministries active at hundreds of U.S. universities, providing Bible study, fellowship, and missions engagement. They are a direct peer in mission and target audience, though typically more conservative theologically than Wesley.
• Newman Connection (Catholic Campus Ministry): Newman Centers and Catholic campus ministries serve U.S. college students with Mass, fellowship, and faith formation. They are a direct peer in operating faith-based community programs for the same demographic, though Catholic in tradition rather than Methodist/affirming Protestant.

Emerging players

• Q Christian Fellowship: Q Christian Fellowship is a network of LGBTQ+ affirming Christians, including student chapters on college campuses, focused on creating safe space for queer Christians to explore faith. It is closely comparable to Wesley's affirming identity and faith-exploration model, with emerging rather than established scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/wesleyuc
• Facebookfacebook.com/cincywesley

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Wesley Foundation