Grandma's Gifts Inc. was founded in 1993 by Emily Elizabeth Douglas, at the age of eleven, of Powell, Ohio. Emily founded this organization in memory of her grandmother Norma Ackison of Ironton, Ohio, who died in 1991 of breast cancer. Since 2002, Grandma’s Gifts has operated as a donor advise fund through the Columbus Foundation. Since its inception, Grandma's Gifts has raised over $12,000,000 worth of goods, educational grants, and services while never paying its volunteers.