A Wish Come True

What A Wish Come True does

A Wish Come True, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1982 and headquartered in Coventry, Rhode Island, that grants wishes and provides family support services to children ages 3–18 diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses across Rhode Island, Central and Southeastern Massachusetts, and Eastern Connecticut. Its core product is wish fulfillment — trips to Give Kids The World Village in Florida, shopping sprees, bedroom makeovers, celebrity meetings, and other custom experiences — with an average per-wish cost of $5,000–$7,000. As of October 2025, the organization had granted its 1,900th wish, moving from 19 wishes in 2022 to 43 in 2023, 30 in 2024, and an anticipated 40 in 2025.

The organization broadened its mission in 2020 beyond the wish itself to an "embracing families" model, adding the Meghan K. Duffy Memorial Hardship Fund (financial assistance for groceries, utilities, mortgages), Hospital Hugs care packages, family photography, quarterly family events, and a recurring GEM giving program. Revenue is generated through individual donations, corporate sponsorships (Dream Maker $20K+, Giving Kids The World $15K+, Wish Upon a Star $10K+ tiers), the annual Wishes Take Flight Gala ($630K in 2024), recurring monthly giving, United Way contributions, and ancillary events. The organization operates with 6 full-time staff plus 1 part-time consultant, holds a Charity Navigator Four-Star rating and Candid Platinum Transparency Award, and channels referrals through healthcare providers, family, and community members rather than a traditional sales motion.

Name

A Wish Come True

Legal name

A Wish Come True, Inc.

Website

https://awish.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

A Wish Come True is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1982 that grants wishes and provides family support services to children ages 3–18 with life-threatening illnesses across Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Eastern Connecticut, operating with 6 full-time staff and a tiered donor and sponsor program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Coventry

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Direct donations from individuals supporting the wish granting mission. Can be one-time or recurring monthly gifts at various levels ($10-$100/month through GEM program).
2. Corporate Sponsorships and Partnerships: Corporate sponsors at various giving levels ($1,000+ to $20,000+) that directly support wish granting and family support programs.
3. Fundraising Events: Revenue from hosted events including annual gala ($630,000 raised in 2024), Rock n' Jock Charities, Polar Plunge, Shamrocks and Shenanigans, and other community fundraising events.
4. United Way and Employer Matching: Support through United Way and other employer matching gift programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

A Wish Come True grants magical wishes to children ages 3-18 with life-threatening illnesses living in Rhode Island, Central and Southeastern Massachusetts, and Eastern Connecticut, with an average wish cost of $5,000-$7,000. The organization also delivers ongoing family support through the Meghan K. Duffy Memorial Hardship Fund (financial assistance for groceries, utilities, mortgages), Hospital Hugs care packages, free family photography, and special-event tickets.

Product overview

A Wish Come True is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization operating as a single, unified charitable service rather than a platform. The core offering is a wish granting program for children ages 3-18 with life-threatening illnesses, supplemented by family support services including the Meghan K. Duffy Memorial Hardship Fund (financial assistance), Hospital Hugs Care Packages, family photography services, and special events/tickets programs. The organization also published the 'Resilient Hearts' book in 2025 and maintains Nap's Nook Family Room as a dedicated play space. The Refer a Child service is the entry point for families to access all programs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Meghan K. Duffy Memorial Hardship Fund: A fund created for AWCT families in need of support due to financial challenges, including groceries, electric bills, mortgages, etc.

Products and services

• Wish Granting Program Grants magical wishes to children ages 3-18 with life-threatening illnesses living in Rhode Island, Central and Southeastern Massachusetts, and Eastern Connecticut. Average wish cost ranges from $5,000 to $7,000 depending on the wish, family size, and special medical needs.
• Meghan K. Duffy Memorial Hardship Fund Financial assistance program providing support with groceries, electric bills, mortgages, and other basic needs for wish families in crisis. Has helped 155 families since inception through 2024.
• Hospital Hugs Care Package Care package delivered to wish families when a child needs to return to the hospital, providing comfort during challenging medical moments.
• Family Photography Services Free professional photography services for wish families, including dress-up photoshoots with wish kids through Kerri Stowik's studio and formal family portraits through Gene Hutnak Photography.
• Special Events and Tickets Program Provides tickets to local events including concerts, basketball games, car races, wrestling matches, and amusement parks, plus quarterly family activities such as picnics, trunk or treats, holiday parties, and movies.
• Resilient Hearts Book A published book sharing personal stories of 10 AWCT families to support other families caring for a child with a life-threatening illness, available for purchase on Amazon.
• Refer a Child Service Referral service allowing anyone to refer a child living in Rhode Island, Central and Southeastern Massachusetts, or Eastern Connecticut to be considered as a candidate for a wish. Submissions are accepted via online form at awish.org/child-referral-form, by phone (401-781-9199), or by email.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 in 4 families with a child with life-threatening illness end up filing for bankruptcy due to medical expenses
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Give Kids The WorldcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary destination partner for wish trips to Florida. A Wish Come True partners with this village built for sick children and their families, which in turn partners with local parks including Disney World, Universal, and SeaWorld for families to enjoy.
• Rock N' Jock CharitiesmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerWish Upon a Star sponsor ($10,000+) and annual event partner hosting the 26th Annual Rock n' Jock Charities event benefiting A Wish Come True.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Make-A-Wish America: The largest U.S. wish-granting nonprofit for children with critical illnesses. AWCT explicitly differentiates itself by being independent and unaffiliated with Make-A-Wish, yet both organizations pursue the same core mission of granting magical wishes to medically eligible children through community-driven fundraising.
• Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island: The regional Make-A-Wish chapter covering the same core territory as AWCT (Massachusetts and Rhode Island). Directly competes for the same eligible-child population, donor base, and corporate sponsors across AWCT's primary geography.
• Starlight Children's Foundation: National nonprofit delivering programs, games, and wish-like experiences to hospitalized and critically ill children. Highly comparable in mission (joy for seriously ill kids) and donor-driven model, though delivery mechanism is broader than single-wish granting.
• Kids Wish Network: National wish-granting organization serving children with life-threatening illnesses. Closely comparable in core offering (single-child wish experiences), beneficiary age range, and donation-funded model.
• Children's Wish Foundation International: Wish-granting nonprofit for children with life-threatening illnesses, operating across multiple U.S. regions and internationally. Comparable mission, beneficiary criteria (ages 3–18 with critical illness), and donation/sponsor revenue model.
• A Special Wish Foundation: Regional, community-based wish-granting nonprofit for seriously ill children. Closely comparable as a smaller, regionally focused wish-granting organization reliant on grassroots fundraising and corporate sponsorships.

Others

• Give Kids The World: AWCT's actual destination partner for trip-based wishes — the Florida 'village' that hosts AWCT families visiting Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld. Not a direct competitor; functions as an upstream infrastructure provider in the same wish-granting ecosystem.
• Ronald McDonald House Charities: National nonprofit supporting families of seriously ill children through housing, meals, and resources during medical treatment. Adjacent mission focus on pediatric illness families and comparable donation/sponsor funding model, though not a wish-granting organization.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/awctri
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@AWishComeTrueYT/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/AWishComeTrueAWCT
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/a-wish-come-true-inc.
• Instagraminstagram.com/awishcometrueinc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 A Wish Come True