It was co-founded by educator Nínive Clements Calegari and author Dave Eggers, who also founded the independent publishing house McSweeney's.

In April 2010, Dave Eggers founded ScholarMatch, a nonprofit organization that aims to make higher education possible for underserved youth.

ScholarMatch posts profiles of students on their crowdfunding website in order to foster connections with donors and scholarship opportunities, interested in sponsoring that "scholar" in his/her pursuit of higher education.

826 National is an independent nonprofit organization that provides strategic leadership, administration, and other resources to ensure the success of its writing and tutoring centers.

826 Digital supports educators through its new online pay-what- you-wish platform designed to help teach and ignite a love of writing.