Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island

What Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island does

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation (EIN 22-2867371) operating as a regional chapter of the national Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. Founded in 2006, the chapter serves children ages 2.5–17 with critical illnesses across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, having granted more than 11,000 wishes since inception. The organization's core function is wish-granting: referred children are matched with trained volunteers who design and execute transformative experiences intended to provide hope, strength, and emotional respite during medical treatment. The chapter also maintains a secondary service of child-referral intake for medical professionals and families.

The chapter's product portfolio is a set of interconnected programs rather than a technology platform. Core offerings include a wish-granting program, a child-referral intake process, an online donation platform supporting monthly and one-time contributions, a community fundraising platform (powered by Givesmart), a vehicle donation program, a volunteer program with virtual training, and a charity streaming platform (Stream FTW). The underlying technology is largely third-party commodity software — no proprietary platform, AI capabilities, or patented systems are disclosed. Three physical offices (Boston headquarters, West Springfield regional office, Providence regional office) provide geographic coverage across the two-state territory, supported by a 57-person staff and a broader volunteer network.

The business model is donation-dependent with no pricing or revenue from families. Five revenue streams are documented: individual donations (one-time and monthly recurring), community fundraising campaigns, vehicle donations, corporate partnerships (sponsorships, cause marketing, employee giving), and event revenue. Go-to-market is community-led and event-driven, relying on word-of-mouth referrals from healthcare providers, families, and the wish alumni network, as well as multi-channel digital marketing through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Constant Contact email. The organization is actively operating and not publicly traded, with no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, or leadership changes.

Name

Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island

Legal name

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Massachusetts & Rhode Island

Website

https://massri.wish.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit chapter granting wishes to children with critical illnesses across Massachusetts and Rhode Island, funded through individual donations, corporate partnerships, and community fundraising events, with 57 staff across three regional offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Wish-Granting Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Maternal, Child & Family Health Organizations (BPAGACAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Rare Disease & Special Needs Support Organizations (BPAGACAM)

Keywords

• Wish granting services
• Charitable giving programs
• Nonprofit fundraising
• Community volunteer programs
• Corporate philanthropy partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and monthly donations from individual supporters. Monthly giving program allows donors to contribute recurring gifts to support wishes year-round.
2. Fundraising Campaigns: Community members and supporters raise funds through personal fundraising pages and passion-aligned campaigns. The organization uses Givesmart fundraising platform.
3. Vehicle Donations: Accepts donations of used cars, boats, and other vehicles (running or not) to help grant wishes.
4. Corporate Partnerships: Corporate partners support the mission through sponsorships, cause marketing, and employee giving programs. The chapter maintains a corporate partners program.
5. Event Revenue: Revenue generated from hosted charity events and virtual streaming events where supporters can host or watch charity streams.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit chapter that grants wishes to children ages 2.5-17 diagnosed with critical illnesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The chapter funds its mission entirely through individual donations, recurring monthly giving, corporate partnerships, community fundraising campaigns, vehicle donations, and charity events, with no products or services sold to families. Trained volunteers and donors collaborate to design and fulfill each wish, and the organization also operates a child referral intake process, a charity streaming initiative, and a structured volunteer program.

Product overview

Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island is a nonprofit organization operating as a single, unified charitable service rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The organization offers a portfolio of interconnected programs including wish referrals for critically ill children, a donation platform supporting monthly and one-time contributions, vehicle donation options, a fundraising platform for community-driven campaigns, volunteer opportunities with virtual training, and charity streaming capabilities. All programs work together toward the central mission of granting wishes, with the organization having celebrated over 11,000 wishes granted across Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wish Granting Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 11,000+ wishes granted in Massachusetts and Rhode Island
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Special Wish Foundation: Smaller regional wish-granting organization serving medically eligible children. Comparable mission and program structure but with smaller scale and narrower geographic footprint.
• National Children's Cancer Society: Nonprofit serving children with cancer and their families through financial assistance and wish-adjacent programs. Comparable in serving the pediatric critical-illness population and competing for similar donor dollars.
• Sunshine Kids Foundation: Nonprofit providing group activities and events for children with cancer and other critical illnesses. Overlaps in delivering transformative experiences to seriously ill children through a donation-driven model.

Direct peers

• Starlight Children's Foundation: National nonprofit delivering programs and experiences to seriously ill children and their families, including wish-like offerings and hospital-based programs. Closest direct mission peer to Make-A-Wish in serving critically ill children's emotional well-being.
• Kids Wish Network: National wish-granting charity serving children with life-threatening illnesses. Direct competitor for donor dollars and wish referrals, with similar event-based and corporate fundraising tactics.
• Children's Wish Foundation International: Wish-granting nonprofit serving children with life-threatening illnesses globally. Direct mission peer with overlapping wish-granting services and donor-driven funding model.

Regional players

• Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation: Pediatric cancer nonprofit funding research and family support with strong peer-to-peer fundraising model. Comparable in donation-driven, story-led fundraising for critically ill children, though research-focused.
• Boston Children's Hospital Trust: Philanthropic arm of Boston Children's Hospital, a major regional pediatric institution. Shares overlapping family populations and donor pools in the MA/RI geography, and is a comparable regional nonprofit serving critically ill children.

Broad incumbents

• Make-A-Wish Foundation of America: National parent organization and namesake brand. Operates the same wish-granting mission at scale across the U.S.; the Massachusetts and Rhode Island chapter is a direct subsidiary, making it the most structurally and operationally comparable entity.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities: Major pediatric-focused nonprofit operating family lodging near hospitals, plus grant programs. Comparable in serving families of critically ill children, donation-driven model, and regional chapter structure across MA/RI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/MakeAWishMassRI
• Facebookfacebook.com/massriwish
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/make-a-wish-massachusetts-and-rhode-island
• Instagraminstagram.com/makeawishmari

Compliance1 record

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 Make-A-Wish® Massachusetts and Rhode Island