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Ben & Miriam Lau Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Ben & Miriam Lau Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$194k
Granted FY2024still arriving
17
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$40k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0198% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Health$455kEducation$334kFood & Nutrition$288kPhilanthropy$185kArts & Culture$157kPublic Safety & Disaster$55kHousing & Shelter$38kRecreation & Sports$34kOther$0
02FY2024 · 17 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k10 grants · $35k
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $159k
$5,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.7M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
VOLUNTEER ALLY$40,000
HAWAII PACIFIC HEALTH$35,000
THE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER$30,000
ALOHA UNITED WAY$20,000
HAWAII FOODBANK$14,000
KUNIA COUNTRY FARMS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH$10,000
KAPIOLANI HEALTH FOUNDATION$10,000
THE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER$7,000
AMERICAN RED CROSS$5,000
HAWAII RUSH SOCCER CLUB$5,000
PUNAHOU SCHOOL$5,000
MILILANI HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC FOUNDATION$5,000
MILILANI MAUKA SCHOOL PTO INC$2,500
HAWAIIAN ISLAND TWISTERS$2,500
HAWAII HOME PROJECT$2,500
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $69k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%YMCA OF HONOLULU: $500 → 9%LANAKILA PACIFIC: $25k → 9%THE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $15k → 9%THE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $7k → 9%THE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $7k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII STATE CHAPTER: $10k → 9%AMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII STATE CHAPTER: $5k → 9%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.4M · 24 repeat orgs$168k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +65% since the first grant, against +30% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 15 still active in FY2024, 9 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
15

Total granted

$1.4M
$165k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+65%
+30%

Still filing today

71%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
HealthHuman ServicesFood & NutritionEducationRecreation & SportsArts & CultureOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • UF
    UH FOUNDATION
    7× · 2017–2024 · $211k · revenue +56%
  • TQ
    THE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER
    5× · 2017–2024 · $210k · revenue +65%
  • AU
    ALOHA UNITED WAY
    8× · 2017–2024 · $155k · revenue +97%

Funded once

  • DH
    DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE
    one grant, 2020 · $34k · revenue -17%
  • AR
    AMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII CHAPTER
    one grant, 2018 · $25k
  • LP
    LANAKILA PACIFICgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $25k · revenue +28%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Hawaii - American Nurses Association Foundation
Environment
2
Kapi'olani Medical Specialists

Kapi'olani medical specialists (dba hawai'i pacific health medical group) is a multispecialty provider group dedicated to providing world-class care for adults and children across hawai'i and the pacific region working in partnership with…

Health
3
Hawaii Maritime Center
—
4
Hawaii Education Institute
—
5
E Kupaku Ka Aina - the Hawaii Land Restoration Institute
Environment
6
Kaua'i Medical Clinic

Kaua'i medical clinic, an affliate of hawai'i pacific health, is a multi-specialty clinic dedicated to providing world-class care for adults and children across hawai'i and the pacific region in partnership with kapi'olani medical center…

Health
7
Hui Pohala

Palliative care is a win-win-win-win. expanding access to palliative care benefits all parts of the healthcare system. people living with serious illness are better able to manage physical and emotional symptoms and have peace of mind that…

Health
8
Pali Momi Foundation

The mission of pali momi foundation is to create a healthier hawai'i.

Health
9
Waianae Distr Comprehensive Health &

The waianae coast comprehensive health center ("the health center") is a healing center that provides accessible and affordable medical and traditional healing services with aloha. the health center is a learning center that offers health…

Health
10
Hawaii Book and Music Festival
Arts & Culture
11
Na Kua Aina O Waimanalo
Arts & Culture
12
Hawaii Medical Association

Hawaii medical association is dedicated to serving physicians, their patients and community through representation, advocacy, and public service. core activities: advocacy, education

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific; the most unlike its peers is Kunia Country Farms Educational Outreach. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

29 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 29 of the 42 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
29/29
Grantees still filing
24/29
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER: $210,000 · HealthTHE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTERHAWAII PACIFIC HEALTH: $115,000 · HealthHAWAII PACIFIC HEALTHSTRAUB FOUNDATION: $45,500 · HealthSTRAUB FOUNDATIONREHABILITATION HOSPITAL OF THE PACIFIC: $20,000 · HealthKAPIOLANI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $13,500 · HealthUH FOUNDATION: $210,843 · EducationUH FOUNDATIONPUNAHOU SCHOOL: $95,000 · EducationPUNAHOU SCHOOLLANAKILA MEALS ON WHEELS: $60,000 · OtherLANAKILA MEALS ON WHEE…DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE: $34,000 · OtherDIAMOND HEAD THEATREAMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII CHAPTER: $25,000 · OtherAMERICAN RED CROSS HAW…BLOOD BANK OF HAWAII: $25,000 · OtherBLOOD BANK OF HAWAIIHAWAII LITERACY INC: $20,000 · OtherHAWAII LITERACY INCRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE OF HAWAII: $20,000 · OtherRONALD MCDONALD HOUSE …AMERICAN RED CROSS: $15,000 · OtherMILILANI HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC FOUNDATION: $15,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES: $30,500 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SE…HAWAII RUSH SOCCER CLUB: $16,000 · Other+14 more: $52,675 · Other+14 moreHAWAII FOODBANK: $147,000 · Food & NutritionHAWAII FOODBAN…KUNIA COUNTRY FARMS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH: $42,500 · Food & NutritionKUNIA COUNTRY …HAWAII MEALS ON WHEELS: $10,000 · Food & NutritionALOHA UNITED WAY: $155,000 · PhilanthropyALOHA UNITED…HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COMMU…VOLUNTEER ALLY: $112,500 · Arts & CultureGLASS FUSION COLLECTIVE: $4,500 · Arts & CultureTHE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $28,500 · Human ServicesLANAKILA PACIFIC: $25,000 · Human ServicesAMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII STATE CHAPTER: $15,000 · Human Services+1 more: $500 · Human Services
Health$404,000Education$305,843Other$313,175Food & Nutrition$199,500Philanthropy$175,000Arts & Culture$117,000Human Services$69,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetUH FOUNDATION: $210,843 over 7y, 0.1% of budgetTHE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER: $210,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALOHA UNITED WAY: $155,000 over 8y, 0.2% of budgetHAWAII FOODBANK: $147,000 over 8y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII PACIFIC HEALTH: $115,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetVOLUNTEER ALLY: $112,500 over 5y, 54% of budgetPUNAHOU SCHOOL: $95,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetSTRAUB FOUNDATION: $45,500 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetKUNIA COUNTRY FARMS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH: $42,500 over 7y, 100% of budgetDIAMOND HEAD THEATRE: $34,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES: $30,500 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $28,500 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetLANAKILA PACIFIC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetBLOOD BANK OF HAWAII: $25,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetREHABILITATION HOSPITAL OF THE PACIFIC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII LITERACY INC: $20,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII RUSH SOCCER CLUB: $16,000 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetAMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII STATE CHAPTER: $15,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetKAPIOLANI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $13,500 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII MEALS ON WHEELS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetPROJECT HAWAII INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $6,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNA KAMA KAI: $5,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPACIFIC & ASIAN AFFAIRS COUNCIL: $5,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetGLASS FUSION COLLECTIVE: $4,500 over 2y, 3.3% of budgetHAWAIIAN ISLAND TWISTERS: $2,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYMCA OF HONOLULU: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII: $500 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds UH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds THE QUEEN'S MEDICAL CENTER ↗
  • Who funds ALOHA UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII FOODBANK ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII PACIFIC HEALTH ↗
  • Who funds VOLUNTEER ALLY ↗
  • Who funds PUNAHOU SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds STRAUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds KUNIA COUNTRY FARMS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH ↗
  • Who funds DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES ↗
  • Who funds THE PANTRY BY FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER ↗
  • Who funds LANAKILA PACIFIC ↗
  • Who funds BLOOD BANK OF HAWAII ↗
  • Who funds REHABILITATION HOSPITAL OF THE PACIFIC ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII LITERACY INC ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII RUSH SOCCER CLUB ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN RED CROSS HAWAII STATE CHAPTER ↗
  • Who funds KAPIOLANI HEALTH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII MEALS ON WHEELS ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT HAWAII INC ↗
  • Who funds HAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds NA KAMA KAI ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC & ASIAN AFFAIRS COUNCIL ↗
  • Who funds GLASS FUSION COLLECTIVE ↗
  • Who funds HAWAIIAN ISLAND TWISTERS ↗
  • Who funds YMCA OF HONOLULU ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

The James and Juanita…First Insurance Compa…Tradewind Group Found…Bank of Hawaii Charit…J Watumull FundFirst Hawaiian Bank F…Central Pacific Bank …Atherton Family Found…The Robert & Betty Wo…McInerny Foundation--Kosasa FoundationAloha United Way Inc
The James and Juanita Wo FoundationHI34.8× affinity14 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The James and Juanita Wo Foundation · First Insurance Company of Hawaii Charitable Foundation · Tradewind Group Foundation · Bank of Hawaii Charitable Fdn · J Watumull Fund · First Hawaiian Bank Foundation · Central Pacific Bank Foundation · Atherton Family Foundation · The Robert & Betty Wo Foundation · McInerny Foundation-- · Kosasa Foundation · Aloha United Way Inc

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Ben & Miriam Lau Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ben & Miriam Lau Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Ben & Miriam Lau Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ben & Miriam Lau Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 42 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Ben & Miriam Lau’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home