Make-A-Wish
Make-A-Wish is one of those organizations that almost every American household recognizes when you ask, who are the better-known charities today. Their mission is compelling: fulfill the wishes children with a critical condition might have if they are between the ages of 2 ½ and 17 years. Every child. Not just some.
The charity got its start in 1980 when a seven-year-old with leukemia announced that he wanted to be a police officer. His Phoenix community came together and made his wish come true, and thus launched a wonderful effort to grant other children like Christopher James Greicius their wish.
Make-A-Wish believes anything is possible and that the gifts there are able to bestow through generous donors gives those children the strength to fight even harder against the illnesses that threaten to rob them of precious life.
2018 Contributions Received
$82,706,985
2018 Program Revenue Earned
$8,707,460
2018 Net Assets
$43,331,495
The Make-A-Wish organization works with and through chapters all around the nation raising funds through individual fundraisers, school fundraisers, corporate partnerships and grants, special events and many more activities. Their 2018 grants were in excess of $55 million in 2018.
2018 Salaries
$21,216,652 for 271 employees at the parent company
(approximately 23% of funds raised annually)
2018 Non-Salary, Non-Grant Expenses
$22,401,350
(approximately 25% of funds raised annually)
The charity is focused on raising gifts for children so that no child will ever go without that wish being fulfilled.
Current Board & Volunteers
23 Board Members all Independent of the Organization
70 Volunteers
President & CEO
Richard K. Davis (since 2019)
Previously Chairman of MasterCard
The obvious immediate challenge for Make-A-Wish:
To maintain the financial momentum necessary to help fund the national organization and its many approved local affiliates so that they can efficiently and effectively fund their mission to grant every child their wish when confronting a deadly disease.
Generosity Assessment: Make-A-Wish is a wonderful charity with a wonderfully easy mission to understand and embrace. We believe Make-A-Wish is a great candidate for support from:
Principal Gifts
Program Related Investments
Social Impact Funds
Public-Private-Philanthropic Partnerships
For more information on Make-A-Wish or to make a donation, please visit their web site at: