Give Back Yoga Foundation

What Give Back Yoga Foundation does

Give Back Yoga Foundation is a Boulder, Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that operates grant and recognition programs to enable yoga teachers, health workers, and charitable organizations to deliver yoga to underserved and vulnerable populations. Its core programs include Mat Grants (distribution of yoga mats to qualifying organizations and teachers), Yoga Service Grants (scholarships and funding for service-yoga delivery), and the IAYT/GBYF Seva Awards co-presented with the International Association of Yoga Therapists to recognize excellence in service yoga. The foundation has reported reaching hundreds of thousands of beneficiaries over its 18-year history across six beneficiary verticals: cancer patients, veterans, individuals with eating disorders, those in addiction treatment, incarcerated persons, and broader marginalized communities.

Operationally, the foundation runs a lean team of 1-10 employees out of its headquarters at 900 Baseline Road, 13B, Boulder, Colorado, and depends on standard nonprofit technology infrastructure: a Squarespace-hosted website (givebackyoga.org), an integrated donation stack comprising Donorbox, Classy, PayPal, and Stripe, social-sign-on via Facebook and Twitter, a video library, and an e-commerce merchandise shop via Fourthwall. There is no proprietary software product or app; the technology layer exists to support donation capture, content distribution, and program administration rather than to deliver a software-as-a-service product.

The revenue model is purely philanthropic: tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations (one-time, recurring, and planned gifts including bequests), supplemented by GBYU education program fees (drop-in passes and subscriptions) and merchandise sales via Fourthwall. Distribution is direct-to-practitioner through grants and awards rather than channel-mediated, and go-to-market is community-led, relying on earned media (Bustle, Yoga Journal, HuffPost, Boulder Magazine, Elephant Journal, Goodnet, Business News Daily, beYogi), newsletter, and word-of-mouth within the yoga service community. Co-founder Rob Schware is the publicly identified founder.

Name

Give Back Yoga Foundation

Legal name

Give Back Yoga Foundation

Website

https://givebackyoga.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Give Back Yoga Foundation is a Boulder, Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2007 that runs Mat Grants, Yoga Service Grants, and the IAYT/GBYF Seva Awards to help yoga teachers and health workers deliver yoga to underserved populations including cancer patients, veterans, and incarcerated persons.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Wellness Programs

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Therapeutic/Adaptive Yoga & Clinical Pilates (HSADACAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Yoga Instruction (Hatha/Vinyasa/Flow) (HSADACAA)

Keywords

• Yoga grants
• Nonprofit yoga programs
• Service yoga
• Yoga accessibility
• Therapeutic yoga initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Boulder

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, Give Back Yoga Foundation generates revenue primarily through tax-deductible donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The foundation accepts one-time donations, recurring donations, planned gifts (bequests, life insurance beneficiaries), and donations in honor or memory of individuals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Give Back Yoga Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that distributes mat grants, yoga service grants, and the IAYT/GBYF Seva Awards to enable yoga teachers, health workers, and charitable organizations to deliver yoga to underserved and vulnerable populations including cancer patients, veterans, individuals with eating disorders, people in addiction treatment, and incarcerated persons. It also runs Give Back Yoga University (GBYU) training and educational programs for yoga service providers, supported by a video library and stories of impact.

Product overview

Give Back Yoga Foundation operates as a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of programs and services focused on making yoga accessible to underserved populations. The core offerings include: Mat Grants (providing yoga mats to those in need), Yoga Service Grants (scholarships for yoga teachers and organizations), Seva Awards (recognition program in partnership with IAYT), a Video Library (educational content), Stories of Impact (testimonials), and Give Back Yoga University (training programs including drop-in passes and subscriptions). The organization accepts donations through integrated payment platforms including Donorbox, Classy, PayPal, and Stripe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mat Grants

Quantifiable outcome

• Hundreds of thousands of people reached with yoga over 18+ years

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation partners with IAYT to co-present the annual IAYT/GBYF Seva Awards, recognizing excellence in yoga service. This partnership combines GBYF's mission of bringing yoga to vulnerable populations with IAYT's professional yoga therapy network.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Mind Body Green: Wellness media platform covering yoga, mindfulness, and holistic health. Comparable as a yoga ecosystem participant that has featured GBYF-adjacent content, though it operates as a for-profit media company rather than a nonprofit service organization.

Direct peers

• Bent on Learning: Nonprofit providing yoga and mindfulness programming to underserved students in NYC public schools. Directly comparable as a yoga service nonprofit with grant-funded programming for vulnerable/at-risk youth populations.
• Off the Mat, Into the World: Yoga-focused nonprofit founded by Seane Corn that mobilizes yoga communities for social justice and humanitarian service. Directly comparable as a yoga service nonprofit with grant and training programs targeting underserved populations.
• Exhale to Inhale: Nonprofit that brings trauma-informed yoga to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Directly comparable as a service yoga nonprofit targeting trauma-affected populations through teacher training programs.
• Street Yoga: Nonprofit that teaches yoga to youth and families experiencing homelessness, trauma, and systemic poverty. Directly comparable as a yoga service nonprofit using teacher training and grants to reach underserved youth populations.
• Warriors at Ease: Nonprofit that provides yoga and meditation training programs for military veterans, active-duty service members, and their families. Directly comparable as a service yoga nonprofit targeting one of GBYF's identified vulnerable populations (veterans).
• Prison Yoga Project: Nonprofit that brings trauma-informed yoga to incarcerated populations. Directly comparable as a yoga service nonprofit focused on one of GBYF's core underserved populations (correctional facilities), using a similar teacher-training and program model.

Broad incumbents

• Yoga Alliance: Largest national yoga credentialing and advocacy nonprofit in the US. Broadly comparable as a yoga nonprofit ecosystem player with overlapping teacher network, though its mission centers on standards and registry rather than service-yoga grantmaking.

Emerging players

• Center for Trauma & Embodiment: Nonprofit that trains mental health clinicians in body-based trauma therapies including yoga. Comparable as a mission-adjacent organization training practitioners to deliver somatic interventions to trauma-affected populations served by GBYF.
• International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT): Professional membership organization for yoga therapists that co-presents GBYF's Seva Awards. Comparable as a yoga therapy ecosystem player with shared mission of advancing therapeutic yoga, though it focuses on credentialing rather than direct grantmaking.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/givebackyoga
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/give-back-yoga-foundation

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Give Back Yoga Foundation