YWAM

What YWAM does

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a privately held, non-profit Christian missionary organization founded in 1960 by Loren and Darlene Cunningham and headquartered in Hideaway, Texas. It operates as a decentralized global movement rather than a traditional centralized corporation, with autonomous operating locations in nearly every nation and a network of more than 600 Discipleship Training School (DTS) sites worldwide. DTS, a five-to-six month introductory program combining classroom teaching with cross-cultural outreach, functions as the primary entry point for participants, who subsequently progress into longer-term staff roles, volunteer placements, or degree programs at the affiliated University of the Nations.

The organization's core technology is a WordPress-based web platform (ywam.org) running on Cloudways infrastructure behind Cloudflare, with Algolia powering site search, Stripe processing donations, MailerLite handling email communications, and Google Analytics plus Hotjar providing traffic and session analytics. A secondary platform, update.ywam.org, enables operating locations to self-manage directory listings. Beyond the digital layer, YWAM operates a maritime fleet of 20+ vessels delivering medical, dental, disaster-relief, and Bible distribution services, and runs specialty ministries including YWAM Frontier Missions, Create International (evangelistic media), YWAM Publishing, and an End Bible Poverty initiative.

YWAM's revenue model is donation-driven and decentralized. Staff and missionaries raise personal financial support directly from friends, family, churches, and individual donors, with donations processed centrally through Stripe; DTS participants pay location-variable fees covering housing, food, and training, and many YWAM.org team members volunteer their time without compensation. The primary customer segments are young adults seeking cross-cultural missionary service, DTS alumni pursuing long-term engagement, and peer mission organizations that partner on outreach initiatives. The organization serves no traditional paying customers in a commercial sense, and its scale metrics include 33,000+ monthly ywam.org visitors (of which 70% are exploring service opportunities) and a global workforce mobilized rather than employed.

Name

YWAM

Legal name

Youth With A Mission

Website

https://ywam.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1960

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Youth With A Mission is a decentralized, donation-funded Christian missionary organization operating in nearly every nation, offering a five-month Discipleship Training School at over 600 global locations as its primary entry point into long-term missionary service and affiliated University of the Nations degree programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Missionary Training and Discipleship Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (62431)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Language & Cross-Cultural Training (BPACANAL)

Keywords

• Missionary training
• Discipleship training
• Christian ministry
• Cross-cultural missions
• Volunteer missions

Headquarters

HQ city

Hideaway

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donor Support: Staff and missionaries raise personal financial support from friends, family, churches, and supporters. Each worker independently raises funds to meet their own financial needs. Supporters receive tax-deductible donations when the worker is on staff.
2. DTS Program Fees: Discipleship Training School fees charged to participants, covering housing, food, and training costs. Fees vary by location. Transportation to training is typically not included.
3. Volunteer Services: Many YWAM.org team members donate their time. Some raise financial support for their work with YWAM while others work outside of YWAM and volunteer their time on the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

YWAM is a global missionary movement that delivers training and outreach programs to mobilize individuals for cross-cultural Christian ministry. Its flagship offering is the Discipleship Training School (DTS), a five- to six-month program combining classroom teaching and field outreach, offered at 600+ locations worldwide. Adjacent offerings include degree programs through the University of the Nations, maritime medical and relief services via the YWAM Ships fleet, Bible distribution initiatives, and short-term outreach trips.

Product overview

YWAM (Youth With A Mission) operates as a global missionary movement offering a portfolio of interconnected programs and platforms. The core offering is the Discipleship Training School (DTS), a five-month training program available at over 600 locations worldwide, which serves as the primary gateway to YWAM involvement. Adjacent to DTS is the University of the Nations (UofN), YWAM's own degree-granting institution offering associate's through master's degrees in ministry-related fields. The organization also runs specialized ministry programs including YWAM Ships (maritime ministry with 20+ vessels), YWAM Frontier Missions, End Bible Poverty initiatives, and Create International for evangelistic media production. YWAM.org serves as the centralized web portal connecting visitors to all YWAM locations globally, while the update.ywam.org platform provides location management tools. The organization facilitates involvement through outreach trips, volunteer programs (Mission Builder), and long-term staff positions, all supported by resources for support raising and leadership development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• University of the Nations: YWAM's higher education institution offering associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees in various disciplines
• Discipleship Training School (DTS)
• YWAM Frontier Missions
• Create International
• YWAM Publishing

Products and services

• Discipleship Training School (DTS) YWAM's flagship five- to six-month introductory training program offered at over 600 locations worldwide, combining lecture-based learning with practical outreach experience in cross-cultural settings. Designed for young people driven by a passion to know God and make Him known.
• University of the Nations (UofN) YWAM's higher education institution offering associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees in areas such as Christian ministry, arts, education, counseling, and communication, with credits transferable to other institutions.
• YWAM Ships A fleet of more than 20 maritime vessels providing medical and dental care, disaster-relief supplies, Bible distribution, and community development services globally.
• Outreach Trips Short-term mission trip opportunities for volunteers seeking cross-cultural ministry experiences around the world.
• Mission Builder A ministry specializing in helping DTS graduates and volunteers find and engage in volunteer opportunities within YWAM locations worldwide.
• YWAM Frontier Missions A movement within YWAM focused on starting Jesus-centered fellowships among unreached people groups worldwide.
• Create International A YWAM ministry that produces evangelistic media for various people groups around the world.
• YWAM.org Website The official global portal for Youth With A Mission, connecting visitors to YWAM ministry centers worldwide and helping them take next steps to know God and serve His purposes.
• YWAM Update Platform A web-based data entry platform enabling YWAM Operating Locations to manage their location information, add schools, ministries, outreaches, photos, and descriptions.
• Support Raising Resources Comprehensive resources and guides to help YWAMers learn how to raise financial support, including the DTS Fundraising Guide, relational fundraising courses, and support raising best practices.

Named customers11 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of the Nations (UofN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYWAM's educational arm offering associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees. DTS programs are registered with UofN and earn credit hours toward degrees. Many YWAM ministry sites function as UofN campuses.
• EndBiblePovertyNow.comminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization connecting those translating and distributing the Bible with YWAM's Bible poverty initiatives.
• YWAM Frontier MissionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA movement within YWAM focusing on starting Jesus-centered fellowships within the world's unreached people groups.
• Create InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA YWAM ministry producing evangelistic media for a growing number of people groups worldwide.
• Thirty Days of Prayer for the Muslim WorldminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrayer movement helping people learn about Islam and pray for Muslims during designated 30-day periods.
• Call2AllcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal mission collaboration platform supporting spheres of society ministry and virtual conferences for YWAM and broader mission community.
• Social Media Platforms (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPlatforms used for collaboration and advertising purposes, connecting YWAM with supporters worldwide.
• YWAM AssociatescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlumni network for DTS graduates providing ongoing community connection and events for former YWAMers.
• Business as MissionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResource for those sensing God leading them to serve Him in business contexts, aligned with YWAM's teaching on Spheres of Society.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Compassion International: Large Christian child sponsorship organization operating in 25+ countries with fundraising, donor management, and field-program scale well beyond YWAM; comparable only at the broad faith-NGO level.
• World Vision: One of the largest Christian humanitarian NGOs with global child sponsorship, disaster response, and development programs; named YWAM partner with overlapping constituency though far larger and more institutional.

Direct peers

• Operation Mobilisation: Global evangelical mission agency mobilizing short- and long-term missionaries with similar DTS-style training, ships (Logos Hope), and presence in 100+ countries — a structural twin.
• Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ): Large U.S.-based interdenominational missionary organization with global university outreach and DTS-like training pathways; named YWAM partner with overlapping constituency of young adult disciples.
• Frontiers: Mission-sending organization focused exclusively on planting churches among unreached people groups — directly comparable to YWAM Frontier Missions in scope and theology.
• Mercy Ships: Global faith-based maritime hospital fleet providing free surgical and medical care in underserved nations — the most direct operational analog to YWAM Ships, focused on access-via-vessel ministry and volunteer mobilization.
• Pioneers: Faith-based organization mobilizing church-planting teams among unreached people groups; highly comparable training-and-deployment model with smaller scale.
• Samaritan's Purse: Franklin Graham–led evangelical relief and mission organization operating medical, disaster relief, and outreach programs globally; named YWAM peer partner with overlapping humanitarian-DNA.
• Wycliffe Bible Translators: Faith-based organization focused on Bible translation into remaining languages; named YWAM partner operating in closely adjacent fields of frontier Bible access.

Others

• Habitat for Humanity: Faith-based housing ministry and named YWAM partner with shared volunteer-mobilization DNA; comparable in mobilization mechanics but distinct in sector (housing vs. cross-cultural mission).

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ywam
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ywam
• Facebookfacebook.com/YouthWithAMission
• Instagraminstagram.com/ywam_org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries4 records

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 YWAM