Sitters for Scholars

What Sitters for Scholars does

Sitters for Scholars was a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization incorporated in Massachusetts and headquartered at 769 Centre St., Suite #203, Boston, serving the Greater Boston area. Founded in 2014-2015 under the original name 'Sitters Without Borders' and rebranded to Sitters for Scholars, the organization provided free, in-home babysitting services to low-income student parents pursuing education, enabling them to attend classes and study while their children were cared for. Service was delivered between 8:00am and 10:00pm, seven days a week, by volunteer babysitters who were screened through CORI/SORI background checks, professional and personal reference checks, CPR/First Aid training, and family home safety inspections, with post-session feedback forms feeding continuous improvement.

The organization operated as a community-led volunteer model with no proprietary technology platform, using a Squarespace website, email newsletter, social media, VolunteerMatch, and educational institution partnerships for outreach and recruitment. It was funded entirely through individual donations, institutional funders, and grants, with services provided at no cost to qualifying families. After ten years of operation, COVID-19 service suspension in 2020-2021, resumption in early 2022, and a 2023 strategic planning process that introduced paid sitters to fill volunteer gaps, the Board determined in 2025 that no scalable and sustainable program model existed. On December 22, 2025, the Board announced closure of the organization and began the legal process of dissolution, with remaining funds to be disbursed to another compatible nonprofit.

Name

Sitters for Scholars

Legal name

Sitters For Scholars

Website

https://sittersforscholars.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sitters for Scholars was a Boston-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 2014-2015, that provided free in-home babysitting to low-income student parents in Greater Boston so they could attend classes and study. The organization ceased operations in December 2025 and is undergoing dissolution.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Childcare Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Child Care Services (6244), Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Parent’s Helper (Non-Infant) & Child Supervision (HSAAAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Babysitter/Nanny Placement Agencies (HSAAALAA)

Keywords

• Nonprofit childcare services
• Volunteer babysitting program
• Student parent support
• Free in-home childcare
• Community volunteer matching

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

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, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Nonprofit funded through individual donations, institutional funders, and grant funding. The organization received support from donors throughout its 10 years of operation and was beginning dissolution process to disburse remaining funds to another compatible nonprofit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sitters for Scholars provided free, in-home babysitting services to low-income student parents in the Greater Boston area so that parents could attend classes or study. The organization recruited, screened (CORI and SORI background checks, professional and personal references, home safety inspections), and trained volunteer babysitters (CPR and First Aid) and matched them with qualifying families for sittings scheduled between 8:00am and 10:00pm, Sunday through Saturday. All services were provided at no cost to beneficiaries and funded through donations and grants.

Product overview

Sitters for Scholars is a nonprofit organization offering a single core service: free in-home babysitting to low-income student parents in Greater Boston. The organization operates through a Volunteer Sitter Program that recruits, screens, trains, and matches volunteer babysitters with student parent families. The volunteer program includes background checks (CORI and SORI), CPR and First Aid training, family home safety inspections, and post-session feedback evaluations. The two named offerings work together as the volunteer program provides the staffing infrastructure that enables the free babysitting service to operate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free In-Home Babysitting Services Free in-home babysitting provided by volunteer (and later some paid) sitters to low-income student parents in the Greater Boston area between 8:00am and 10:00pm, Sunday through Saturday, enabling parents to attend classes and study.
• Volunteer Sitter Program Program that recruits, screens (CORI and SORI background checks, reference checks, interviews), trains (CPR and First Aid), and matches volunteer babysitters with qualifying low-income student parent families, including family home safety inspections and post-session feedback.

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped many student parents graduate and achieve educational goals in the Greater Boston area over 10 years of operation

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

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Educational InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnerships with colleges and universities in the Greater Boston area whose students were served by the babysitting program. Organization connected with educational institution staff to support their student parents.
• Community Nonprofit PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborations with other nonprofit organizations in the Boston community serving low-income families and student parents. Organization consulted with nonprofit partners during strategic planning process.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Emerging players

• Bambino: Bambino is a neighborhood-based babysitter matching app that helps families find vetted sitters through social-network-style referrals. Comparable in its community-driven matching model but operated commercially.
• Helpr: Helpr is an on-demand child care benefit platform that partners with employers to provide backup childcare. Relevant as a corporate-sponsored channel addressing the same student-parent/working-parent childcare access barrier that Sitters for Scholars tackled through philanthropic funding.
• Wonderschool: Wonderschool is a platform that supports childcare providers in launching and running in-home and center-based child care programs. Comparable as an enabling infrastructure player for the broader childcare ecosystem, though more focused on licensed in-home daycare programs.

Others

• Parents as Teachers: Parents as Teachers is a national nonprofit providing home-visiting parent education and family support programs for young children. Comparable as a national-scale home-visiting nonprofit serving low-income families, relevant to the parent education and family engagement angle adjacent to Sitters for Scholars' mission.
• Child Care Aware of America: Child Care Aware is a national nonprofit that supports families and child care providers through resource and referral services. Comparable as a nonprofit infrastructure organization operating in the same childcare access space, though focused on referrals and education rather than direct in-home service delivery.

Direct peers

• UrbanSitter: UrbanSitter is an online platform that matches parents with vetted babysitters and nannies in their local area, relying on community connections and reviews. Closely comparable to Sitters for Scholars' in-home babysitter matching motion, though with a paid commercial model.
• Sittercity: Sittercity is a babysitter and nanny matching marketplace that connects families with caregivers for in-home childcare. Directly comparable to Sitters for Scholars on the matching/placement of sitters to families, though operating as a paid commercial marketplace rather than a free volunteer-based service.

Broad incumbents

• Care.com: Care.com is a large online marketplace for finding and managing family care, including babysitting, nannying, senior care, and special needs care. A broader incumbent that overlaps with Sitters for Scholars on the babysitter-matching use case while operating across many care categories.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

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 Sitters for Scholars