Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas

What Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas does

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas (BBBSNWA) is an independently operated, 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters network, founded in 1995 and headquartered at 97 W. Colt Square Drive in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The organization creates and supports professionally supported one-to-one mentoring relationships between adult volunteer mentors ("Bigs") and youth ages 6 to 18 ("Littles") across Benton, Crawford, Sebastian, and Washington counties in Arkansas. In 2025, BBBSNWA reported 259 active mentoring matches and 417 youth served with a total of 2,264 lives impacted, alongside a 30-child waiting list that signals unmet demand. A Fort Smith regional office at 51 S. 6th Street was launched in 2026 to extend service into the Fort Smith metro, staffed by a dedicated Program Director and targeted at 50 new mentor-mentee matches in its first year.

The core product set consists of two primary delivery models — Community-Based Mentoring Matches (pairs meeting 2–4 times monthly for low-cost activities in the community) and Site-Based Mentoring Matches (weekly one-hour meetings at the child's school) — supplemented by Big Couple and Big Family program variants that allow co-volunteers to be matched to the same Little. Each match is supported by a Match Support Specialist, and the organization runs free monthly group activities for participants. There is no proprietary software platform disclosed in source data; technology posture is limited to operational tooling (a Squarespace-hosted website, email newsletter via Mailchimp, and PCI-DSS-compliant third-party payment processing for donations) plus privacy/security compliance with NIST CSF, GDPR, and CCPA. Volunteer screening is rigorous and standardized: a formal application, a two-hour interview, background checks, and child-safety training.

Revenue derives entirely from charitable contributions and event fundraising rather than fees for service. Streams include individual donations (one-time and recurring via the Match Maker monthly program starting at $10/month), a portfolio of five signature fundraising events (The Big Bet poker tournament, Big Business Brunch series, The Big Event gala, Battle of the Banks bowling, Summer Swing golf), corporate impact sponsorships, planned giving through trusts and retirement assets, appreciated-stock donations, and endowment contributions through the Arkansas Community Foundation. The go-to-market is community-led: volunteers and youth families are recruited through the website, community outreach, school partnerships, and referrals, while corporate sponsors are cultivated through a Board of Directors that includes representatives from Walmart, EY, Kimberly-Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Arvest Bank, General Mills, and Bayer Health. First-year Fort Smith expansion carries a published budget of $144,000, of which $50,000 is targeted from regional fundraising.

Name

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas

Legal name

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas

Website

https://bbbsnwa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that matches adult volunteer mentors with youth ages 6–18 across four Arkansas counties and the Fort Smith metro, supported by individual donations, signature fundraising events, and corporate sponsorships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Mentoring Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Student Mentoring & Peer Support Programs (EDAJALAL)

Keywords

• Youth mentoring programs
• One-to-one mentoring
• Mentorship services
• Volunteer mentoring
• Youth development services

Headquarters

HQ city

Fayetteville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: One-time and monthly recurring donations from individual supporters. Monthly Match Maker program starting at $10/month provides consistent funding for mentoring relationships.
2. Event Fundraising: Annual signature events including The Big Event, Big Business Brunch, Battle of the Banks, Summer Swing, and The Big Bet poker tournament generate significant fundraising revenue. 100% of funds raised stay local.
3. Regional Fundraising (Fort Smith Expansion): Targeting $50,000 to be raised from Fort Smith region for first-year expansion budget of $144,000.
4. Planned Giving & Endowments: Charitable estate gifting through trusts, retirement assets, life insurance beneficiaries, and stock donations. Endowment contributions through Arkansas Community Foundation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas operates a one-to-one youth mentoring program that screens and matches adult volunteer mentors ("Bigs") with youth ages 6-18 ("Littles") in Benton, Crawford, Sebastian, and Washington counties. The organization delivers matches through two primary models — community-based mentoring (pairs meeting 2-4 times monthly in the community) and site-based mentoring at schools (weekly meetings during the school day) — supported by free group activities, professional Match Support Specialists, and a rigorous volunteer screening process.

Product overview

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas operates a one-to-one youth mentoring program with two primary service delivery models: Community-Based Mentoring Matches where volunteer Bigs and youth Littles meet 2-4 times monthly in the community for low-cost activities, and Site-Based Mentoring Matches where pairs meet weekly at the child's school during the academic year. The organization also offers Big Couple and Big Family program variants for volunteers who prefer shared mentoring experiences. Supplementary offerings include a portfolio of fundraising events (The Big Bet poker tournament, Big Business Brunch series, The Big Event, Battle of the Banks bowling, and Summer Swing golf), multiple donation vehicles (Match Maker monthly giving, planned giving through trusts and estate planning, stock donations, and endowment contributions), and enrollment pathways for both volunteers and youth. Founded in 1995, the nonprofit serves Benton, Crawford, Sebastian, and Washington counties in Arkansas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community-Based Mentoring Matches One-to-one mentoring relationship between a screened adult volunteer (Big) and a youth (Little, ages 6-18); pairs meet 2-4 times per month for approximately 4 hours to engage in low-to-no-cost community activities such as baking, sports, parks, and concerts. Provided free of charge to families in Benton, Crawford, Sebastian, and Washington counties, Arkansas.
• Site-Based Mentoring Matches One-to-one mentoring delivered at the child's school, where Bigs and Littles meet on the same day and time each week for approximately one hour during the school year, doing activities like eating lunch, playing games, or tutoring. Available to youth whose families enroll them via the BBBSNWA website.
• Big Couple Program
• Big Family Program A family of volunteers (parents and children) matched together to the same Little Brother or Little Sister, allowing the whole family to participate in mentoring activities together. Offered to families in the four-county service area.

Quantifiable outcome

• Higher aspirations, greater confidence, and better relationships for youth participants
• +2 more outcomes

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

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• ArcBestminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate Impact Sponsor listed on BBBSNWA website. ArcBest is a logistics and freight company headquartered in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
• Johnson DermatologyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate Impact Sponsor listed on BBBSNWA website. Local dermatology practice supporting youth mentorship programs.
• WalmartcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerCorporate sponsor represented on Board of Directors. Major employer in Northwest Arkansas with significant community investment.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Girls Inc. A national nonprofit delivering youth-development programming to a similar age range as BBBSNWA, with comparable corporate-partner fundraising mechanics and outcome-driven programming.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: The national umbrella organization for all local BBBS affiliates including BBBSNWA. Operates the shared brand, national standards, and volunteer-safety framework under which BBBSNWA delivers its programs, making it the closest institutional peer despite its broader portfolio role.
• MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership: The national umbrella and advocacy organization for the youth mentoring sector, of which BBBSNWA is a constituent. Operates industry standards, research, and public policy work that directly influence BBBSNWA's operating environment.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: The national parent of the Boys & Girls Club network that competes with BBBSNWA in the broader youth-development nonprofit space. Useful as a benchmark for national brand, fundraising, and youth-outcomes positioning.

Direct peers

• iMentor: A national nonprofit running structured one-to-one youth mentoring with strong technology infrastructure. Comparable in one-to-one model, but with a heavier technology orientation than BBBSNWA's locally-delivered approach.
• Boys & Girls Club of Benton County: A youth-development nonprofit serving the same Northwest Arkansas geography as BBBSNWA, providing after-school and out-of-school programming for at-risk youth. It competes for the same local youth, families, and corporate sponsorship dollars.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Missouri: A mid-sized BBBS affiliate running community- and site-based mentoring across a multi-county region, providing a comparable benchmark for staffing, fundraising, and match-volume scaling.
• YMCA of Northwest Arkansas: A youth- and family-serving nonprofit in the same NWA footprint, with after-school programming, youth development, and corporate sponsorship overlap comparable to BBBSNWA.
• United Way of Northwest Arkansas: A regional nonprofit that funds and convenes youth- and family-serving organizations across the same four-county NWA footprint as BBBSNWA, with overlapping corporate partner relationships and donor base.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles: A larger urban BBBS affiliate operating under the same national brand, model, and screening standards as BBBSNWA. Useful as a scaling benchmark for a multi-site, multi-program BBBS affiliate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/bbbsnwa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/big-brothers-big-sisters-of-northwest-arkansas

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

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 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northwest Arkansas