The Bahá’í Faith

What The Bahá’í Faith does

The Bahá'í Faith is an independent world religion founded in 1863 by Bahá'u'lláh in Persia (modern-day Iran), now headquartered at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel. It serves approximately 5 million adherents established across more than 100,000 localities in virtually every country and territory worldwide. Governance is conducted through elected bodies — local Spiritual Assemblies, National Spiritual Assemblies in 180+ countries, and the Universal House of Justice (the international governing body first elected in 1963) — with no paid clergy, no commercial shareholders, and no parent company.

The organization's digital infrastructure comprises the official bahai.org website (available in 9 languages), the Bahá'í Reference Library (the authoritative online archive of sacred writings), the Bahá'í World News Service (the official news outlet publishing articles, videos, podcasts including 'In Conversation' and 'Insights from the field'), the Bahá'í Media Bank, and mobile applications on iOS and Android. The technology stack is explicitly described as standard web and media platforms with no proprietary AI/ML systems. Distribution extends through national community websites (e.g., us.bahai.org, uk.bahai.org), the Bahá'í International Community's offices at the UN in New York, Geneva, and Brussels, and pilgrimage to the World Centre's holy sites.

The Bahá'í Faith operates entirely on a non-commercial donation model funded exclusively through voluntary contributions from its members. There is no pricing model — all teachings, writings, news content, and community participation are freely accessible. Go-to-market is community-led via word-of-mouth, devotional meetings, study circles, children's classes, and youth programs. International advocacy is conducted through the Bahá'í International Community, an NGO representing the global community. The single identifiable revenue stream is voluntary contributions categorized as donations for a spiritual community.

Name

The Bahá’í Faith

Legal name

Bahá'í International Community

Website

https://bahai.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1863

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

The Bahá'í Faith is an independent world religion founded in 1863, headquartered at the Bahá'í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, serving approximately 5 million adherents across more than 100,000 localities worldwide. It operates entirely on voluntary member contributions through elected Spiritual Assemblies, with freely distributed teachings and digital content.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Organization

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG), Faith-Based Education & Formation (Seminaries, Religious Schools, Catechesis) (BPAGAJAD)

Keywords

• Religious community
• Spiritual education
• Faith teachings
• Community worship
• Interfaith dialogue

Headquarters

HQ city

Haifa

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Voluntary Contributions: The Bahá'í community operates through voluntary contributions from its members. There is no commercial revenue model; the Faith relies on believers' sacrifices and donations to support its activities, institutions, and the Bahá'í World Centre.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Bahá'í Faith is a world religion founded in 1863 by Bahá'u'lláh, providing spiritual teachings, devotional practices, and community programs centered on the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the oneness of humanity. Its core services include spiritual education through study circles, devotional gatherings, children's classes, youth programs, and moral empowerment initiatives, supported by an online Reference Library of sacred writings, a global news service, and a decentralized network of elected local and national Spiritual Assemblies.

Product overview

The Bahá'í Faith operates a unified digital platform centered on spiritual education and community engagement. The core offerings include the main bahai.org website with thematic content areas ('What Bahá'ís Believe' and 'What Bahá'ís Do'), the Bahá'í Reference Library as the authoritative source for sacred writings, the Bahá'í World News Service for news and media, and the Bahá'í Media Bank for media assets. The platform also maintains presence across national communities in over 100,000 localities worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bahá'í Reference Library
• Bahá'í World News Service (BWNS)
• Bahá'í Media Bank
• Bahá'í Pilgrimage to the World Centre
• Community Educational Programs

Quantifiable outcome

• Established in more than 100,000 localities worldwide
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Various Movements, Organizations, Groups and IndividualsminorOthersThe Bahá'í community enters into collaboration with an increasing number of movements, organizations, groups and individuals, establishing partnerships that strive to transform society and further the cause of unity, promote human welfare, and contribute to world solidarity. These are informal collaborative relationships rather than formal commercial partnerships.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ahmadiyya Muslim Community: A 19th-century-origin religious movement with a single founder figure, global khalif-led structure, systematic persecution in its birth region (Pakistan), and an international missionary footprint—sharing many of the Bahá'í Faith's distinctive features.
• Unification Church: A 20th-century new religious movement founded by a single modern figure, with global missionary expansion, centralized spiritual authority, and high-profile international infrastructure—comparable in trajectory and structure to the Bahá'í Faith.
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: A globally structured Christian denomination with no traditional paid clergy, lay-led local congregations, large-scale digital outreach, and a strong centralized administrative body—closely paralleling the Bahá'í Faith's decentralized-yet-unified model.
• Jehovah's Witnesses: A worldwide decentralized religious movement with no paid clergy, organized grassroots outreach, member-funded operations, and a heavily multilingual digital publishing platform—structurally similar to the Bahá'í Faith.
• Church of Scientology International: A newer world religion with centralized international headquarters, structured congregation-like local organizations, large media production capacity, and global public-affairs advocacy—comparable to the Bahá'í International Community's institutional footprint.
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON): A 20th-century global spiritual movement with a temple-based local congregation model, founder-driven origin narrative, and decentralized worldwide structure—directly comparable in form and scale to the Bahá'í Faith.

Emerging players

• Ramakrishna Mission: A globally distributed spiritual and social-service organization with affiliated monastic and lay branches, educational institutions, and headquarters in India—comparable to the Bahá'í Faith in combining devotional practice with structured social action.

Broad incumbents

• Seventh-day Adventist Church: A global Christian denomination with a centralized governing conference, extensive educational and publishing institutions, and member-funded operations across virtually every country—paralleling the Bahá'í Faith's worldwide institutional reach.
• Roman Catholic Church (Holy See): The largest globally organized religious institution with sovereign international status, UNESCO-listed holy sites, and diplomatic representation at the UN—serving as a scale benchmark for the Bahá'í Faith's World Centre and BIC.
• Salvation Army: A global church and charitable organization with quasi-membership structure, decentralized local corps, donor-funded model, and UN-style international advocacy presence—sharing the Bahá'í Faith's blended worship-and-social-action identity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bahai
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/TheBah%C3%A1%E2%80%99%C3%ADFaith
• Facebookfacebook.com/The.Bahai.Faith
• Instagraminstagram.com/bahaiorg

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 The Bahá’í Faith