wish kid Abby and their mom on the balcony of their hotel in Hawaii

2022 Wish Report

In our 2022 fiscal year, we granted 274 wishes to children with critical illnesses and assisted with 83 wishes from other chapters.

With fewer restrictions on travel and gatherings, we were thrilled to be able to send our wish kids on trips and grant their party and in-person celebrity wishes once again. The return of travel helped us to almost double our wish numbers from last fiscal year.

Thanks to the support of our donors, volunteers, and partners, we are well on our way to pre-pandemic levels of wish granting! 

FY22 wish stats: 274 wishes granted | 83 wish assists | 376 new referrals

Wishes granted by type

Wishes are as unique as the child but generally fall into five categories: I wish to have, I wish to meet, I wish to go, I wish to be, and I wish to give.

 

Wishes granted by type FY 22

Wishes granted by medical condition and ethnicity

Research shows that children who have wishes granted build the physical and emotional strength they need to fight a critical illness. This improves their quality of life and produces better health outcomes.

Demographic data by ethnicity is self-reported and optional for each wish family. We are committed to championing diversity, equity, and inclusion in wish granting and continue to serve a diverse span of ethnic groups.

Wishes granted by medical condition and ethnicity FY22
Wishes granted by county FY22

Wishes granted by county

Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area was founded in 1984 and has fulfilled the wishes of more than 9,000 children in its 39-year history. The Greater Bay Area chapter serves 17 Northern California counties from Monterey County to the Oregon border: Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Marin, Monterey, San Benito, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Siskiyou, Solano, and Sonoma.

*Map does not include wishes granted through Make-A-Wish America’s Wish Exchange program, wish assists, or wish families who moved out of our territory during the wish process.

How our funds are raised

We are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that relies on the generous contributions of individuals, corporate partnerships, planned gifts, and grants to make life-changing wishes possible. In-kind donations of goods and services also help finance our mission. In normal years, we receive no federal or state funding. However, our grant line for the 2022 fiscal year reflects a COVID-19 PPP loan. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our grants were received from private foundations and typically represented closer to one percent of our total funds raised.

How our money was raised & spent FY22

How our funds are spent

Like many nonprofits, our program expense ratio was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a comparison, in FY19—the year prior to the pandemic—we used more than 75 percent of our funds in support of wish granting, far exceeding the program service allocation standards set forth by the nation’s leading charity watchdog groups, including the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Wise Giving Alliance.

Although our program expense ratio improved by 9 percent from FY21, we still had limitations in wish granting due to ongoing travel restrictions for cruises and international travel, supply chain and service shortage issues, and wish postponement related to COVID-19. It’s important to note that, as our spending on wish granting was reduced, we also increased our cash reserves during these fiscal years. This was done to ensure that, as restrictions ease and we are able to grant more wishes, we will have the funds to ensure that no child waits longer than necessary to receive a life-changing wish.

Download the full report