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Fontel Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

Fontel Foundation

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$59k
Granted FY2025still arriving
19
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$5k
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 2025.

Education$121kHealth$49kCivil Rights$28kAnimals$25kHuman Services$23kFood & Nutrition$21kHousing & Shelter$16kReligion$15kOther$0
02FY2025 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$2,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$336k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HAWAII HUMANE SOCIETY$5,000
STRAUB FOUNDATION$5,000
NJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY$5,000
NAVIAN$5,000
UNICEF$5,000
UNITY CHURCH OF HAWAII$5,000
UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS$5,000
HOPESTART$3,000
AARP$3,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD$2,000
SACRED HEARTS ACADEMY$2,000
Individual grant recipient$2,000
ACLU$2,000
INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICE$2,000
SALVATION ARMY$2,000
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:

Its human-services grants (FY20–20, $2k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%NAVIAN HAWAII: $2k → 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

IL
NY
NJ
CA
AR
TN
DC
HI
LA
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 12% of Fontel Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Fontel Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 14% 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.

82%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$266k · 25 repeat orgs$59k to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 12 still active in FY2025, 13 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
16

Total granted

$266k
$43k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+12%
+35%

Still filing today

44%
19%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 73% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $16k 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
HealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureAnimalsHousing & ShelterEducationOther
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

  • HH
    HAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY
    6× · 2020–2025 · $25k · revenue +66%
  • HF
    HAWAII FOODBANK INC
    5× · 2021–2025 · $12k · revenue +12%
  • IT
    IHS THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES INC
    4× · 2020–2024 · $10k · revenue +23%

Funded once

  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA MONROE
    one grant, 2024 · $5k
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2022 · $5k
  • SH
    SACTRED HEARTS ACADAMEY
    one grant, 2021 · $5k
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 Medical Association

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

—
5
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
6
E Kupaku Ka Aina - the Hawaii Land Restoration Institute
Environment
7
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
8
Hawaii Education Institute
—
9
University of Hawaii Foundation

To unite donors' passions with the university of hawai'i's (uh) aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing investments to benefit uh, the people of hawai'i and our future generations.

Education
10
Kapi'olani Health Foundation

The mission of kapi'olani health foundation is to create a healthier hawai'i.

Health
11
Hale Makua Health Services

The mission of hale makua health is to improve the well-being of those in our care through compassionate personalized health services in our home and yours.

Health
12
Ho'ola Lahui Hawaii

To improve the health and well-being of our community.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Hospice Hawaii Inc; the most unlike its peers is Coral Conservancy. 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

17 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. 17 of the 48 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
16/17
Grantees still filing
8/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NEW JERSEY INSTIT OF TECHNOLOGY: $25,000 · OtherNEW JERSEY INSTIT OF TECHNOLOGYUNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS: $21,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF ARKANSASUNITY CHURCH OF HAWAII: $15,000 · OtherUNITY CHURCH OF HAWAIINJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $15,000 · OtherNJ INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGYACLU: $15,000 · OtherACLUNAVIAN: $12,000 · OtherSALVATION ARMY: $12,000 · OtherPLANNED PARENTHOOD: $11,000 · OtherTHE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFIC INC: $8,000 · OtherNAVION: $8,000 · Other+28 more: $87,750 · Other+28 moreHAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $25,000 · AnimalsUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $25,000 · EducationHAWAII FOODBANK INC: $12,000 · Food & NutritionStraub Foundation: $9,000 · HealthHABILITAT INC: $2,000 · HealthSAMARITAN MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL: $1,000 · HealthAARP FOUNDATION: $6,500 · Human ServicesHOSPICE HAWAII INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesHOPESTART INTERNATIONAL INC: $2,000 · Human ServicesIHS THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES INC: $10,000 · Housing & Shelter
Other$229,750Animals$25,000Education$25,000Food & Nutrition$12,000Health$12,000Human Services$10,500Housing & Shelter$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetHAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $25,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH: $25,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetHAWAII FOODBANK INC: $12,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetIHS THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES INC: $10,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetStraub Foundation: $9,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetTHE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFIC INC: $8,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetNAVY HALE KEIKI SCHOOL INC: $7,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetAARP FOUNDATION: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHULA PRESERVATION SOCIETY: $4,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetCHAMBER MUSIC HAWAII: $2,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetHABILITAT INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOSPICE HAWAII INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOPESTART INTERNATIONAL INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetSAMARITAN MINISTRIES INTERNATIONAL: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTAX FOUNDATION OF HAWAII: $750 over 2y, 0.2% 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 HAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII FOODBANK INC ↗
  • Who funds IHS THE INSTITUTE FOR HUMAN SERVICES INC ↗
  • Who funds Straub Foundation ↗
  • Who funds THE MEDIATION CENTER OF THE PACIFIC INC ↗
  • Who funds NAVY HALE KEIKI SCHOOL INC ↗
  • Who funds AARP FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds UNITED STATES FUND FOR UNICEF ↗
  • Who funds HULA PRESERVATION SOCIETY ↗
  • Who funds CHAMBER MUSIC HAWAII ↗
  • Who funds HABILITAT INC ↗
  • Who funds HOSPICE HAWAII INC ↗
  • Who funds HOPESTART INTERNATIONAL INC ↗

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.

Atherton Family Found…First Hawaiian Bank F…J Watumull FundAloha United Way IncMcInerny Foundation--Tradewind Group Found…The Harry and Jeanett…Castiglione A Casauri…The Cades FoundationKosasa FoundationFirst Insurance Compa…Bank of Hawaii Charit…
Atherton Family FoundationHI19.7× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Atherton Family Foundation · First Hawaiian Bank Foundation · J Watumull Fund · Aloha United Way Inc · McInerny Foundation-- · Tradewind Group Foundation · The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation Inc · Castiglione A Casauria Foundation · The Cades Foundation · Kosasa Foundation · First Insurance Company of Hawaii Charitable Foundation · Bank of Hawaii Charitable Fdn

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    2report 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 48 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 Fontel’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