FreeWill

FreeWill is a public benefit corporation and certified B Corp that has revolutionized planned giving and estate planning for the nonprofit sector. Founded at Stanford University in 2017 by Jennifer Xia Spradling and Patrick Schmitt, FreeWill provides free online estate planning tools that simultaneously democratize access to legal services for individuals and unlock billions in charitable donations for nonprofits.

The company has facilitated over one million free estate plans and generated more than $10 billion in committed charitable giving for over 1,500 nonprofit partners. FreeWill's innovative platform encompasses wills, living trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, and sophisticated fundraising tools for stock gifts, cryptocurrency donations, donor-advised fund grants, and qualified charitable distributions from IRAs. The average bequest through FreeWill is $48,000, compared to typical cash gifts of $120, demonstrating the platform's transformative impact on nonprofit fundraising.

In 2024, FreeWill made a strategic acquisition of Grant Assistant, an AI-powered grant proposal platform, expanding its mission globally and adding grant writing capabilities to its suite. With 200 employees across the U.S. and now internationally (Washington D.C. and Lahore, Pakistan through the acquisition), FreeWill has raised $30 million in Series B funding led by Bain Capital Double Impact. The company's co-CEOs lead from Seattle and Miami, with Jenny Spradling overseeing product and engineering while Patrick Schmitt leads sales and customer success.

FreeWill's data shows remarkable impact: 16% of FreeWill users include charitable bequests in their estate plans, compared to just 2-5% of the general population. The platform has processed average stock gifts of $10,000 and crypto gifts of $7,000, far exceeding typical cash donations. Through partnerships with leading DAF providers via DAFpay and automatic liquidation services, FreeWill has removed friction from complex giving instruments, making transformational philanthropy accessible to nonprofits of all sizes.