What Project Linus does

Project Linus is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation founded in 1995 that provides handmade blankets, free of charge, to children aged 0-18 in the United States who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. The organization operates through an all-volunteer chapter network with coordinators established in all 50 U.S. states plus DC; blankets are distributed primarily within the same communities where they are donated, and from time to time are shipped to areas of extraordinary need. National Headquarters is a mailing-only PO Box in Stockton, MO, with no paid staff structure described; chapter coordinators and community volunteers execute blanket collection, drop-off management, and distribution at the local level.

The organization's product and program surface consists of a national informational website (projectlinus.org) serving as the volunteer-coordination and chapter-locator hub, a Lightspeed-powered e-commerce storefront (store.projectlinus.org) selling digital knit and crochet patterns at $25 each for instant download and physical merchandise shipped via USPS, and a portfolio of recurring community event programs — Knit & Crochet Along, Make a Blanket Day, Virtual Blanket Contest, Scrappy Sewing With Patty, and Mystery Quilt Challenge. No proprietary technology platform is described; core operations are craft-based volunteer work supported by off-the-shelf Lightspeed e-commerce and a Facebook group for community engagement. Since founding, the organization has delivered 10,688,428+ blankets.

Revenue mechanics are a hybrid charitable and micro-commercial model. The primary revenue stream is monetary donations from the public, supplemented by material donations (yarn, fabric) accepted at chapter events and processed at chapter gatherings. A secondary revenue stream is one-time pattern licensing via the online store at $25 per digital pattern. Blankets are never sold. Distribution is entirely free to recipients, and pricing models do not extend beyond per-unit pattern sales. The customer base — defined as recipients — comprises children 0-18 in need, while the paying/donor base comprises the general public across all 50 states.

Name

Project Linus

Legal name

Project Linus National Headquarters

Website

https://projectlinus.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Project Linus is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1995 that delivers free handmade blankets to U.S. children aged 0-18 facing serious illness, trauma, or other needs. An all-volunteer chapter network spans all 50 states and has distributed over 10.6 million blankets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Stockton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Monetary Donations: Registered 501(c)(3) non-profit receiving tax-deductible donations from the public.
2. Pattern Sales: Online store sells knit and crochet patterns for $25 each as instant digital downloads. Past Knit & Crochet Along event patterns are available for purchase.
3. Material Donations: Chapter coordinators accept donated materials (yarn, fabric, etc.) to make blankets at chapter events.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Project Linus is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provides handmade blankets to children ages 0-18 in the United States who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. Blankets are hand-made by an all-volunteer network of chapter coordinators in all 50 states and distributed free of charge to children. The organization also operates an online store selling knit and crochet patterns ($25 each for instant download) and merchandise to support its charitable mission.

Product overview

Project Linus operates as a unified charitable organization combining a volunteer coordination platform with an e-commerce store and community event programs. The national website serves as the primary hub for chapter coordination, volunteer management, and organizational outreach, while the Lightspeed-powered online store handles merchandise and pattern sales. The core mission—blanket distribution—is supported by a nationwide chapter network (present in every U.S. state), blanket drop-off locations, and multiple event programs including Knit & Crochet Along, Virtual Blanket Contest, Make a Blanket Day, Scrappy Sewing With Patty, and Mystery Quilt Challenge. All products are hand-made by volunteers; the organization never sells blankets and all items are donated to children in need.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Handmade Blanket Distribution Program The organization's core charitable service: providing free handmade blankets hand-crafted by volunteers to children ages 0-18 across the United States who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need. Blankets are primarily distributed within the same communities where they are donated through a nationwide network of local volunteer chapters present in all 50 states plus DC. The organization never sells its blankets.
• Project Linus Online Store An e-commerce storefront selling digital knit and crochet blanket patterns ($25 each for instant download), past event patterns, and physical merchandise to support Project Linus's charitable mission. Customers include individual crafters, chapter coordinators, and members of the public; merchandise is shipped via USPS within the United States with a 3-business-day typical turnaround.
• Volunteer Chapter Network A nationwide network of all-volunteer local chapters serving all 50 U.S. states plus Washington DC. Each chapter coordinates blanket donations, manages blanket drop-off locations, and distributes handmade blankets to children in need within their local community. The network enables hyperlocal charitable distribution and provides the operational backbone for the organization's mission.

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Make-A-Wish Foundation: Grants life-changing wishes to children with critical illnesses. Serves a closely overlapping beneficiary population (seriously ill children) as Project Linus, though its offering (experiences vs. comfort items) and operational scale are very different.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities: Supports families of seriously ill or injured children with housing and resources near hospitals. Touches the same ill-child population Project Linus serves (its blankets are often distributed through RMH and similar channels) but operates at a vastly larger, professionally staffed scale.
• Starlight Children's Foundation: Delivers programs, toys, and comfort items to hospitalized children across the U.S. Operates in the same 'comfort for sick/traumatized children' space as Project Linus but at much larger scale, with professional staff and broader programming.
• St. Jude Children's Research Hospital: Treats pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases at no cost to families. Overlaps with Project Linus's beneficiary base (seriously ill children) but operates at the upper end of scale with hospitals, research, and paid professional staff.

Direct peers

• Comfort Cases: Provides backpacks filled with comfort and personal care items to children entering foster care. Comparable to Project Linus as a charity supplying handmade comfort items to vulnerable children, with a similar volunteer-driven collection and distribution model.
• Project Night Night: Provides 'Night Night' packages—including a security blanket, book, and stuffed animal—to homeless children aged 0-12 across the U.S. Highly comparable to Project Linus as a volunteer-driven charity distributing handmade comfort items to children in need.
• Warm Up America! Foundation: Collects and distributes handmade afghans and blankets to people in need across the U.S. through a network of volunteer knitters and crocheters. Directly comparable to Project Linus in handmade-blanket mission, volunteer-led production, and community distribution model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/378093519683046
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/project-linus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Project Linus