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Charles and Mitch Ota Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Charles and Mitch Ota Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.1M
Granted FY2025still arriving
31
Grants FY2025still arriving
8
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$2.7MEducation$1.9MYouth Development$334kArts & Culture$146kCrime & Legal$100kFood & Nutrition$75kEnvironment$15k
02FY2025 · 31 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k1 grant · $5k
  • $10k–50k22 grants · $555k
  • $50k–250k8 grants · $500k
$30,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$23M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION$100,000
GROW SOME GOOD$65,000
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY$60,000
UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA - LAS VEGAS$60,000
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - MANOA -$60,000
FRIENDS OF MOLOKAI HIGH AND MIDDLE$55,000
Hana No Eau Foundation$50,000
CHILDRENS JUSTICE CENTER OF MAUI$50,000
KEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION$45,000
WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY$40,000
GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY$40,000
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - HILO$30,000
HAWAII YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION$30,000
HUI NOEAU$30,000
HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION$30,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 16% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%KING KEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOOL PTSA: $58k → 9%KEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $45k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $112k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - HILO: $30k → 15%OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: $60k → 18%GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY: $40k → 11%HUI NOEAU: $30k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $100k → 9%HUI NOEAU: $30k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $100k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - MANOA -: $60k → 9%MAUI HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $79k → 9%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - MANOA -: $30k → 9%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI: $50k → 9%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI: $30k → 9%BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI: $30k → 9%HANA ARTS: $50k → 9%MA KA HANA KA 'IKE: $50k → 9%Hana No Eau Foundation: $50k → 9%HAWAII YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $30k → 9%PAIA YOUTH COUNCIL INC: $30k → 9%PAIA YOUTH COUNCIL INC: $30k → 9%LANAI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS: $30k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $727k → 9%GROW SOME GOOD: $70k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $300k → 9%GROW SOME GOOD: $65k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $285k → 9%CHILDRENS JUSTICE CENTER OF MAUI: $50k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $285k → 9%CHILDRENS JUSTICE CENTER OF MAUI: $50k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $185k → 9%CHILDRENS JUSTICE CENTER OF MAUI: $50k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150k → 9%FRIENDS OF MOLOKAI HIGH AND MIDDLE: $64k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $134k → 9%MAUI UNITED WAY: $39k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $130k → 9%FRIENDS OF MOLOKAI HIGH AND MIDDLE: $55k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $115k → 9%MAUI UNITED WAY: $33k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $100k → 9%FRIENDS OF MOLOKAI HIGH AND MIDDLE: $50k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $75k → 9%MAUI UNITED WAY: $33k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $40k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $30k → 9%HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $30k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
IL
OR
NV
CA
CO
MO
AZ
HI
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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 27% of Charles and Mitch Ota Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 84% of the giving stays in HI; by stated purpose, 54%.

Charles and Mitch Ota Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 30% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

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

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.2M · 35 repeat orgs$528k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +13% since the first grant, against +0% for those funded once.

35 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 11 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

35
15

Total granted

$3.2M
$378k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+13%
+0%

Still filing today

46%
27%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 85% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $150k went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureYouth DevelopmentPhilanthropyFood & NutritionOther
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

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION
    3× · 2023–2025 · $312k · revenue +45%
  • MH
    MAUI HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION
    6× · 2020–2025 · $232k · revenue +64% · 58% of their budget
  • GC
    Grand Canyon University
    6× · 2020–2025 · $170k · revenue +37%

Funded once

  • KK
    KING KEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOOL PTSA
    one grant, 2020 · $58k
  • MK
    MA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue -50%
  • HA
    HANA ARTS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue +14%
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 Education Institute
—
2
'Iolani School

To develop educated, well-rounded individuals who are well prepared for college.

Education
3
Hawaii Book and Music Festival
Arts & Culture
4
E Kupaku Ka Aina - the Hawaii Land Restoration Institute
Environment
5
Hualalai Ohana Foundation

Scholarships and awards are granted to the hualalai community employees, their spouses, and their children. medical awards cover expenses incurred beyond medical insurance, and educational scholarships are for preschool through college,…

Education
6
Hui Malama I Ke Ala Ulili

To re-establish the systems that sustain our community through educational initiatives and land-based practices that cultivate abundance, regenerate responsibilities, and promote collective health and well being.

Community Improvement
7
Papahana Kuaola

Papahana kuaola's mission is to create quality educational programs focused on environmental restoration and economic sustainability fully integrated with hawaiian knowledge in order to exemplify a lifestyle respectful of kanaka, `aina,…

Environment
8
Hawaii Culinary Education Foundatio

The hawaii culinary education foundation's mission is to provide hawaiis culinary students and professional access to the best knowledge and exposure to cutting-edge techniques through a variety of programs and educational opportunities…

Education
9
Pohaku Pelemaka

Our mission is to protect, perpetuate, and enhance: the intrinsic qualities of the lower puna area, native hawaiian wellbeing, and the transmission of intergenerational knowledge and practices in partnership with county, state, government,…

Human Services
10
Hawaii Pacific University

Hawaii pacific university is an international learning community set in the rich cultural context of hawaii. students from around the world join us for an american education built on a liberal arts foundation. our innovative undergraduate…

Education
11
Hawaii Preparatory Academy

To provide exceptional learning opportunities in a diverse community honoring the traditions of hawaii. see schedule o.

Education
12
Ea Ecoversity

Ea ecoversity's mission is to provide culturally-driven learning, training, credentialing, and other long-term societal benefits to ka lahui hawai'i.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hui No'eau; the most unlike its peers is Seattle University. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

27 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. 27 of the 57 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
26/27
Grantees still filing
14/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,605,932 · PhilanthropyHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONMAUI UNITED WAY: $104,500 · PhilanthropyUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - MANOA -: $300,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII - MANOA -FRIENDS OF MOLOKAI HIGH AND MIDDLE: $169,400 · OtherFRIENDS OF MOLOKAI HIGH AND MIDDLEOREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: $160,000 · OtherOREGON STATE UNIVERSITYCHILDRENS JUSTICE CENTER OF MAUI: $150,000 · OtherCHILDRENS JUSTICE CENTER OF MAUIUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII SYSTEM: $110,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII SYSTEMBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI INC: $110,000 · OtherBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI INCHUI NO'EAU: $86,000 · OtherWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY: $80,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF NEVADA - LAS VEGAS: $80,000 · Other+25 more: $807,378 · Other+25 moreUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $312,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII…MAUI HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $231,750 · EducationMAUI HIGH SCHOOL FOU…Grand Canyon University: $170,000 · EducationGrand Canyon Univers…HP BALDWIN HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $110,000 · EducationHP BALDWIN HIGH SCHO…KEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC: $70,000 · EducationKEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOO…LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $60,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $60,000 · Education+6 more: $130,000 · Education+6 morePA'IA YOUTH COUNCIL INC: $60,000 · Youth DevelopmentLANAI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IN: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentMA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM: $50,000 · Youth DevelopmentGROW SOME GOOD: $135,000 · Food & NutritionHANA ARTS INC: $50,000 · Arts & CultureHAWAII YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $30,000 · Arts & CultureJAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER OF HAWAII: $25,000 · Arts & CultureMAUI ARTS & CULTURAL CENTER: $15,000 · Arts & Culture
Philanthropy$2,710,432Other$2,052,778Education$1,143,750Youth Development$165,000Food & Nutrition$135,000Arts & Culture$120,000

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 budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $2,605,932 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $312,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetMAUI HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $231,750 over 6y, 58% of budgetGrand Canyon University: $170,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetGROW SOME GOOD: $135,000 over 2y, 9.4% of budgetHP BALDWIN HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $110,000 over 5y, 17% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI INC: $110,000 over 3y, 1.6% of budgetMAUI UNITED WAY: $104,500 over 3y, 2.8% of budgetHUI NO'EAU: $86,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetLOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPA'IA YOUTH COUNCIL INC: $60,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetSEATTLE UNIVERSITY: $60,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLANAI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IN: $55,000 over 2y, 12% of budgetMA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHANA ARTS INC: $50,000 over 1y, 7.8% of budgetMaui Huliau Foundation: $30,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetFRIENDS OF MAUI WAENA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL: $30,000 over 3y, 71% of budgetHAWAII YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: $30,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetJAPANESE CULTURAL CENTER OF HAWAII: $25,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetCHAMINADE UNIVERSITY OF HONOLULU: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAUI ARTS & CULTURAL CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: $10,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetMontana State University Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% 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 HAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds MAUI HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Grand Canyon University ↗
  • Who funds GROW SOME GOOD ↗
  • Who funds HP BALDWIN HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI INC ↗
  • Who funds MAUI UNITED WAY ↗
  • Who funds HUI NO'EAU ↗
  • Who funds KEKAULIKE HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION INC ↗
  • Who funds LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND ↗
  • Who funds PA'IA YOUTH COUNCIL INC ↗
  • Who funds SEATTLE UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds LANAI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS IN ↗
  • Who funds MA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM ↗
  • Who funds HANA ARTS INC ↗
  • Who funds Maui Huliau Foundation ↗
  • Who funds FRIENDS OF MAUI WAENA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII YOUTH SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION ↗

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.

Nuestro Futuro IncAtherton Family Found…Bendon Family Foundat…Fred Baldwin Memorial…Botton FoundationThe Makana Aloha Foun…The Red Cabin Foundat…Maui United WayKosasa FoundationCooke Foundation Limi…The Hanley FoundationThe Strong Foundation
Nuestro Futuro IncHI20× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Nuestro Futuro Inc · Atherton Family Foundation · Bendon Family Foundation · Fred Baldwin Memorial Foundation · Botton Foundation · The Makana Aloha Foundation · The Red Cabin Foundation Trust · Maui United Way · Kosasa Foundation · Cooke Foundation Limited · The Hanley Foundation · The Strong Foundation

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 Charles and Mitch Ota Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Charles and Mitch Ota Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • University of Portland: 1% of 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
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.

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 57 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Charles and Mitch Ota’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