big brothers big sisters of the ocean state

What big brothers big sisters of the ocean state does

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State, legally operated as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island (BBBSRI), is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1966 and headquartered at 188 Valley St, Suite 125, Providence, Rhode Island. The organization delivers one-to-one youth mentoring by matching adult volunteers ("Bigs") with children and adolescents ("Littles") across the state of Rhode Island. Its core service is supported by Enrollment Specialists who meet with families to assess youth needs, interests, and preferences, and by ongoing training, tools, and guidance provided to volunteer mentors. Branching out from the traditional mentorship model, BBBSRI also runs an Alumni Program, a Big Believer community, and a Brand Ambassador pathway to engage former participants and supporters. Programming is positioned as evidence-based, referencing a longitudinal economic study on the long-term impacts of mentors.

The organization operates a secondary revenue-generating program called DonateRI, a sustainable textile recycling initiative that collects clothing and linen donations through bins, drop-off sites, home pickups, and hosted clothing drives. Proceeds from DonateRI fund youth mentorship operations. Together with direct financial contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations, these two streams form the organization's revenue base. There are no fees charged to youth or mentors; the services are free to participants.

Distribution is community-led and grassroots, with volunteer recruitment, youth enrollment, and donor engagement handled through the organization's website (bigsri.org), phone, email, community events, and an active social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. BBBSRI is an independent local affiliate of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters brand and is geographically restricted to Rhode Island.

Name

big brothers big sisters of the ocean state

Legal name

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island

Website

https://bbbsos.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State is a Rhode Island nonprofit founded in 1966 that delivers one-to-one youth mentoring by matching adult volunteers with children, funded by financial donations and its DonateRI textile recycling program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Mentorship Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

Keywords

• Youth mentorship programs
• One-to-one mentoring
• Volunteer mentoring services
• Nonprofit youth development
• Textile donation recycling

Headquarters

HQ city

Providence

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. Financial Donations: The organization accepts monetary contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations to fund youth mentorship programs, operations, and community support services. This is a primary revenue stream for sustaining mentoring relationships and organizational operations.
2. Clothing and Textile Donations: BBBSRI operates a clothing donation program (DonateRI) that collects cloth and linen donations through bins, drop-off sites, home pickups, and clothing drives. These donations are recycled sustainably and proceeds fund youth mentorship programs.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ocean State (BBBSRI) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships between adult volunteer mentors (Bigs) and youth (Littles) across Rhode Island. Enrollment Specialists personally match youth with mentors based on interests, personality, and preferences. The organization also operates the DonateRI clothing and textile donation program, collecting clothing and linens through bins, drop-off sites, and home pickups, with proceeds funding youth mentorship programs.

Product overview

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island (BBBSRI) operates as a single, unified non-profit mentoring organization rather than a technology platform. The core offering is youth mentorship through one-to-one mentoring relationships, supported by clothing/textile donation programs that fund operations, and financial contribution opportunities. Services include enrollment support, volunteer coordination, alumni engagement, and event programming. Founded in 1966, the organization connects adult volunteers with youth in Rhode Island to foster educational success, higher aspirations, and avoidance of risky behaviors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Youth Mentorship Programs One-to-one mentoring relationships connecting adult volunteers (Big Brothers, Big Sisters, Big Couples) with young people (Littles) to support youth development, educational success, higher aspirations, and avoidance of risky behaviors; available in formats that fit different volunteer schedules.
• DonateRI Clothing and Textile Donation Program Sustainable textile recycling program accepting clothing and linen donations from Rhode Island residents and partners, with proceeds directed to fund youth mentorship services.
• Enrollment and Matching Services Personalized enrollment service in which an Enrollment Specialist meets with families to understand the child's needs, interests, personality, and preferences, and matches the youth with an appropriate volunteer mentor.
• Financial Contribution Program Fundraising program through which individuals, corporations, and foundations provide monetary contributions to sustain youth mentorship and community programs.
• Volunteer Opportunities Roster of volunteer pathways for community members, including one-time activities, ongoing mentoring roles (Big Brother, Big Sister, Big Couple), brand ambassador roles, and event participation.
• Alumni Program Community program engaging former Bigs and Littles to maintain relationships and continue involvement with BBBSRI.
• Hosted Clothing Drive Organized effort led by individuals or community groups to host their own clothing drives, with BBBSRI providing a toolkit and resources to support textile collection.

Quantifiable outcome

• Research study 'The Long-Term Impacts of Mentors: Evidence from Experimental and Administrative Data' confirms mentoring delivers real, measurable economic outcomes for youth

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Broad incumbents

• 4-H (National 4-H Council): National youth-development organization offering mentoring-style programs, volunteer-led clubs, and youth leadership outcomes. Comparable on volunteer-driven model, donor funding, and youth-development outcomes.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National nonprofit network providing youth development services, including mentoring, after-school programming, and family support. Comparable donor base, mission, and youth-outcomes orientation, though broader in scope than pure mentorship.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National parent organization and federation of which BBBSRI is an independent local affiliate. Operates the same one-to-one youth-mentorship methodology, branding, and outcome-research platform, making it the most direct upstream peer.

Direct peers

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Eastern Massachusetts: Sibling Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate serving an adjacent New England metro with the same one-to-one mentoring model, volunteer-driven GTM, and donor-funded revenue structure — a direct operating peer.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut: Another state-level BBBS affiliate running identical youth-mentorship programming, enrollment specialism, and clothing/textile-fundraiser variants; structurally and operationally comparable to BBBSRI.
• Mentoring Partnership of Rhode Island: State-level mentoring partnership that recruits mentors, supports mentoring programs, and advances youth-mentorship policy statewide — directly comparable in mission, geography, and constituency.

Regional players

• United Way of Rhode Island: Rhode Island's primary community-funding nonprofit that aggregates donor dollars and funds youth-serving agencies including mentorship programs. Comparable state-level nonprofit fundraising model and donor relationships.
• YMCA of Greater Providence: Regional Rhode Island YMCA delivering youth development, mentoring-adjacent programming, and community services. Comparable state-level youth-development mission, donor base, and volunteer recruitment channel.
• Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England: Regional Girl Scouts council covering Rhode Island that delivers volunteer-led youth mentoring, leadership programming, and donor/foundation fundraising — comparable volunteer model and youth-outcome mission.
• Boys & Girls Club of Providence: Providence, RI-located member club offering youth-mentoring and youth-development programming. Operates within the same city and competes for the same volunteer and donor pool as BBBSRI.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCX1wBg17NGqyA-kD3nboavQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/BBBSRhodeIsland
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bigbrothersbigsistersofri
• Instagraminstagram.com/bbbsrhodeisland

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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