National Parents Organization

What National Parents Organization does

National Parents Organization (NPO) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1998 and headquartered in Massachusetts, focused on shared parenting advocacy and family court reform across the United States. The organization promotes shared parenting as the presumption in custody decisions and supports legislative, judicial, and educational reforms aimed at preserving children's relationships with both parents after separation or divorce. Its core activities include research compilation (a library of more than 400 studies on shared parenting), publication of an annual Shared Parenting Report Card, operation of a nationwide grassroots advocacy network, and direct legislative lobbying in U.S. states.

NPO operates through a hub-and-spoke model: a small central staff (1-10 employees) coordinates with 28 volunteer-led state chapters that drive on-the-ground advocacy, testimony, and bill sponsorship at the state level. The organization has helped pass shared parenting legislation in seven states — Kentucky (2018), Arkansas (2021), West Virginia (2022), Florida (2023), Missouri (2023), Mississippi (2026), and Louisiana (2026) — establishing a compounding track record of policy wins. It maintains a 50,000+ mailing list and draws 280,000+ unique annual visitors to its website, with its advisory council of family court researchers supplying the academic credibility underpinning legislative testimony.

NPO's business model is a traditional nonprofit donation-and-grant model: revenue is generated from individual donations and merchandise sales, with an operating budget under $500,000 annually (placing it below the IRS audit threshold). There are no fee-for-service products, enterprise contracts, or proprietary technology platforms; the organization's "product" is policy change and public education, distributed via its website, mailing list, annual Report Card, and state chapter activity. Co-sponsorship of academic convenings such as the 4th World Congress on Joint Custody and Shared Parenting (ICSP 2017) extends its research and convening profile internationally.

Name

National Parents Organization

Legal name

National Parents Organization

Website

https://sharedparenting.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

National Parents Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1998 that advocates for shared parenting and family court reform through a 28-state chapter network, research library, and direct legislative lobbying, helping pass shared parenting laws in seven U.S. states.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Family Court Reform Advocacy

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Parenting Support Services (BPAGAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Parent Support Groups & Peer Networks (EDACALAG), Parent & Family Relations (EDALAOAK)

Keywords

• Shared parenting advocacy
• Family court reform
• Child custody research
• Parental rights nonprofit
• Child support policy

Headquarters

HQ city

Woburn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: NPO accepts tax-deductible donations as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 04-3409728). Donations are collected through Network for Good platform.
2. Merchandise Sales: NPO sells branded merchandise including t-shirts, tank tops, hoodies, totes, pins, and stickers through a partnership with TeePublic. Merchandise purchases are not tax-deductible.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

National Parents Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that conducts research, publishes report cards grading states on shared parenting statutes, advocates for legislative reform of family court and child support systems, and supports separated or divorced parents through educational resources and a network of volunteer state chapters. Its primary outputs are research publications (Shared Parenting Report Cards), model legislation, independent state polling, and grassroots advocacy that has driven the passage of equal shared parenting laws in seven U.S. states.

Product overview

National Parents Organization (NPO) is a 501c3 nonprofit advocacy organization that does not offer a unified software product but rather provides a portfolio of research reports, advocacy tools, educational resources, and awareness programs. The core offerings include the Shared Parenting Report Card series (2025, 2022 Child Support version, 2019, 2014), which grade states on their shared parenting laws; the Ned Holstein Shared Parenting Research Award for outstanding family law research; the annual Shared Parenting Day (April 26) awareness event; the Shared Parenting Hall of Fame recognition program; a network of state chapters for grassroots advocacy; research articles and handouts; video content on YouTube; Help for Parents resources; and NPO merchandise. The organization functions as a research-based advocacy group rather than a technology product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 2025 Shared Parenting Report Card Comprehensive evaluation of states' statutory provisions promoting shared parenting, grading all 50 states on their adoption of shared parenting laws. Distributed free to the public and policymakers.
• 2022 Child Support and Shared Parenting Report Card First-of-its-kind study examining child support guidelines of each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, grading them on the degree to which they encourage or discourage shared parenting. Distributed free to the public and policymakers.
• 2017 Shared Parenting Conference Conference co-organized with the International Council on Shared Parenting, convening leading researchers on child well-being and separated parenting. Conference session recordings were distributed free to the public via NPO's video library.
• NPO Merchandise Store Branded merchandise including t-shirts, stickers, pins, totes, and hoodies promoting shared parenting awareness, sold through the TeePublic online partnership. Merchandise purchases are not tax-deductible.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• Various State Organizations and LegislatorscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017NPO has worked with state organizations, volunteer advocates, and legislators to pass shared parenting legislation in Kentucky (2017, 2018), Arkansas (2021), West Virginia (2022), Florida (2023), Missouri (2023), Mississippi (2026), and Louisiana (2026).
• International Council on Shared Parenting (ICSP)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPO collaborated with ICSP in 2017 to organize and sponsor the most significant conference on child well-being and separated parenting, bringing together leading researchers from around the world. NPO made video recordings of conference sessions available free to the public at sharedparenting.net.
• Parental Alienation Study Group (PASG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPO partnered with PASG and prominent researchers to create a series of research handouts that clarify and promote the research on parental alienation. NPO also worked with PASG and PAS Intervention to counter messaging from UN Special Rapporteur regarding parental alienation.
• Arkansas Advocates for Parental Equality (AAPE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPO collaborated with AAPE in Arkansas, providing guidance, resources, and polling data to support the passage of SB18 establishing rebuttable presumption of joint custody in 2021.
• West Virginians for Shared ParentingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPO worked with West Virginians for Shared Parenting, a grassroots effort founded and led by Jeb Pinkerton, along with volunteers to pass West Virginia's shared parenting law in 2022.
• PAS InterventionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNPO worked with PAS Intervention to counter the messaging of UN Special Rapporteur Reem Alsalem's report calling parental alienation 'pseudo-science', resulting in the UN Human Rights Council not endorsing her report.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• American Coalition for Fathers and Children: ACFC is a national nonprofit advocating for fathers' and children's rights in family court, overlapping closely with NPO's core constituency and reform agenda. Both lobby for custody law reform and represent non-custodial parents in legislative and public discourse.
• National Fatherhood Initiative: National Fatherhood Initiative is a US nonprofit focused on father engagement and father-absent prevention, with similar advocacy, research, and resource-distribution models to NPO. Both target fathers affected by separation and work to shape family policy through public campaigns and research reports.
• Parents Action for Children: Parents Action for Children is a US nonprofit that educates parents and advocates for child- and family-friendly policy. It overlaps with NPO's parent-education and policy advocacy mission though with broader (not divorce-focused) framing.
• International Council on Shared Parenting (ICSP): ICSP is an international research organization advancing shared parenting evidence and policy, with whom NPO co-sponsored the landmark 2017 conference. Both organizations share the same research-driven shared parenting advocacy mission and academic advisory networks.

Broad incumbents

• Family Research Council: Family Research Council is a large US nonprofit advocating for family-oriented public policy and engaging legislators at state and federal levels. Comparable as a broader family-policy advocacy organization that shares NPO's legislative engagement model but operates at a larger scale.
• Children's Defense Fund: Children's Defense Fund is a large established child welfare and family policy advocacy nonprofit with significantly greater resources and policy influence than NPO. It addresses overlapping family-law and child well-being issues from a broader child-advocacy lens.

Others

• Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA): CASA is a national nonprofit mobilizing volunteers to advocate for children in family court proceedings. Its volunteer-advocate model and family court reform focus are directly comparable to NPO's grassroots chapter approach, though CASA represents children rather than parents.
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD): MADD is a national nonprofit advocacy organization that drove sweeping state-level legislative reform through grassroots chapters, public awareness, and research. Comparable as a model organization for how small nonprofits can achieve outsized state-by-state policy impact, the same trajectory NPO is pursuing.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: The National Domestic Violence Hotline is a major US nonprofit serving individuals affected by family conflict and abuse, frequently cited in policy debates alongside shared parenting advocacy. Comparable as a major national family-policy advocacy nonprofit with federal/funder backing.

Regional players

• Canadian Equal Parenting Council: The Canadian Equal Parenting Council advocates for equal parenting presumption in Canadian family law and shares board overlap with NPO via George Piskor. It operates the same shared parenting advocacy model in Canada.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCakmmrry1EdnwlAa5hp7btA
• Facebookfacebook.com/NPONewYork
• Xx.com/natlparentsorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-parents-organization

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Parents Organization