Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington
Transform lives, one wish at a time
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Since 1986, Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington has granted wishes to children with critical illnesses. This year, it's our goal to grant 406 wishes, though our waiting list is the biggest in our chapter's history with about 630 children waiting for their wishes. In addition to monetary and in-kind donations, we rely on the support of a large volunteer base to grant wishes. In particular, we are in need of more bilingual (Spanish and English) speaking volunteers.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Wish Granting
Who can refer a child?
Potential wish kids, medical professionals, parents, legal guardians and family members with detailed knowledge of the child's current medical condition can initiate the referral process.
Who qualifies for a wish?
A child with a critical illness who has reached the age of 2½ and is younger than 18 at the time of referral is potentially eligible for a wish.
What can a child wish for?
The child's imagination is always the driving force in determining, designing and coordinating the wish experience. Wish requests typically fall into one of five categories, but every wish is unique and powerful.
Where we work
Awards
Western Washington's Best Places to Work (finalist) 2010
Puget Sound Business Journal
Affiliations & memberships
Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 1991
External reviews
Videos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
It's our vision to grant a wish to every eligible child, but we can't do this important work alone. We need the help and support of our medical referral community to refer eligible children, we need volunteers to meet with wish children and their families to guide them and assist in the wish-granting process (from ideation to implementation and execution), and we need the help and support of our donors to fund our program.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Research shows that wishes are more than just nice, they are necessary. They have proven physical and emotional benefits that can give children with illnesses a higher chance of survival. For some, a wish is an incentive to comply with treatments. For others, it's a distraction from illness.
In order to reach as many children as possible, we are re-evaluating our program delivery to identify areas for greater efficiency, increased effectiveness with a lens toward equity, and strengthening our constituent relationships to deepen that impact.
We have hired key staff to diversify revenue streams and deepen relationships with wish families, volunteers and donors.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are making strides with our continuous improvement process aimed at helping our organization to achieve these goals with the leadership and support of our volunteer Board of Directors, our pro bono consulting partners, and paid staff.
We are working collaboratively together to identify solutions to these challenges and implement changes that will improve our effectiveness, deliver higher quality programming and strengthen our relationships.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We have realigned some staffing positions internally to optimize our staffing structure. We have partnered with in-kind consulting partners to identify areas of growth and improvement related to the wish process for both volunteer and wish families. We have diversified revenue streams with an increased focus on planned and major gifts fundraising.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Make-A-Wish Alaska and Washington
Board of directorsas of 11/27/2023
Jennifer Faley
Peter Krawiec
Amazon.com Inc
Bryan Adams
KPMG LLP
Marty Bask
Parker, Smith & Feek
Jila Javdani
Slalom Consulting
Barbara Carr
Sentinel Construction
Natalie Wright
Goodwin Group
Teri Barclay
Washington State Investment Board
Mike Connell
Washington State University
Jen Faley
Community Volunteer
Christi Kang
Costco
Dane Lenaker
SEARHC
Amanda Biddle
Continental Auto Group
Alex Ratner
Moss Adams
Travis Gelbrich
Petco
Cortney Erin
Microsoft
Dr. Eileen Klein
Seattle Children's Hospital
Scott Day
Alaska Airlines
Jason Evans
Rural Energy Enterprises
Abby Lee
Apple
Rachel Mohns
BDO USA, LLP
Leon Suh
The Pokémon Company International
Elizabeth Van Wyck
Halo Franchise at Microsoft
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/02/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.