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Ke Kai Ala Foundation at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Ke Kai Ala Foundation

The Kona Brewers Festival is a potent blend of craft beer, Hawaiian culture and charitable support.

$78k
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$38k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0197% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.

Food & Nutrition$79kEducation$60kArts & Culture$54kYouth Development$46kRecreation & Sports$41kEnvironment$21kAnimals$19kCrime & Legal$5kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k7 grants · $40k
  • $10k–50k1 grant · $38k
$6,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$42k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Individual grant recipient$38,048
Innovations Public Charter School$6,500
Ke Kai Ola$6,000
ACF Kona Kohala Chefs Charitable$6,000
Humanity Hale$6,000
Kona Choral Society$5,000
Ahuena Heiau$5,000
West Hawaii Mediation$5,000
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 (FY25–25, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%West Hawaii Mediation: $5k → 15%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.

40%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$144k · 8 repeat orgs$219k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +30% since the first grant, against +22% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
8

Total granted

$144k
$154k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+30%
+22%

Still filing today

75%
50%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 16% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $65k went to new ones.

50%100%’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’18’19’20’21’23’24’25
EducationArts & CultureEnvironmentFood & NutritionHuman ServicesAnimalsOther
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

  • IP
    INNOVATIONS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION
    6× · 2018–2025 · $39k · revenue +30%
  • AK
    ACF Kona Kohala Chefs Charitable &
    4× · 2018–2025 · $28k · revenue +54% · 43% of their budget
  • HW
    HAWAII WILDLIFE FUND
    2× · 2018–2019 · $13k · revenue +56%

Funded once

  • VU
    Various under 5K
    one grant, 2023 · $41k
  • 1V
    16 Various Notforprofits under 5K
    one grant, 2024 · $40k
  • TF
    THE FOOD BASKET INC
    one grant, 2021 · $39k · revenue +22%
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
Na Mamo o Kawa

to rehabilitate, curate, and steward the natural and cultural resources of Kawa to honor the past, benefit the present, and preserve for the future generations of Ka'u, the Island of Hawaii and all humankind.

Environment
2
E Kupaku Ka Aina - the Hawaii Land Restoration Institute
Environment
3
Ka Ha O Ka Aina
Environment
4
Kuhai Halau O Moana Pa ' Olapa Kahiko

To further the awareness of the hawaiian culture

Arts & Culture
5
The Haiku Aina Permaculture Initiative
—
6
Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens
Philanthropy
7
Hiikua a Hiialo Cultural Foundation
Arts & Culture
8
Na Hoa Aloha O Ka Pu Uhonua O Honaunau

For the benefit and inspiration of ALL, Na Hoa Aloha o ka Pu'uhonua o Honaunau participates with NPS and other partners to protect and preserve cultural and natural resources, guided by the aacestral knowledge of South Kona.

—
9
Hokah Area Food Shelf
Food & Nutrition
10
Hawaii Education Institute
—
11
Iewe Hanau O Ka Aina

Environmental conservation and education, community land stewardship, preservation, protection, and conservation of Kau's natural and cultural resources.

Environment
12
Na Mea Kupono Learning Center

We provide educational place based learning opportunities for school groups, organizations, and the community. We utilize a six acre wetland taro patch in rural Waialua, Hawaii where we grow taro and educate our participants of how to…

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Exploration Foundation; the most unlike its peers is The Marine Mammal Center. 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

14 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. 14 of the 22 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
7/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Various under 5K: $40,800 · OtherVarious under 5K16 Various Notforprofits under 5K: $40,300 · Other16 Various Notforprofits under 5KIndividual grant recipient: $38,048 · OtherIndividual grant recipientSOCIETY FOR KONAS EDUCATION & ART: $14,000 · OtherSOCIETY FOR KONAS EDUCATION & ARTFRIENDS OF NELHA: $13,000 · OtherFRIENDS OF NELHADEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: $12,000 · OtherDEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONHONAUNUA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: $8,000 · OtherHONAUNUA SCHOOL GARDEN: $7,500 · Other+2 more: $11,000 · Other+2 moreINNOVATIONS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $39,000 · EducationINNOVATIONS PUBLIC CHARTER S…ACF Kona Kohala Chefs Charitable &: $27,500 · EducationACF Kona Kohala Chefs Charit…THE EXPLORATION FOUNDATION: $13,000 · EducationTHE EXPLORATION FOUNDATIONKUA O KANAUEUE: $12,600 · EducationKUA O KANAUEUETHE FOOD BASKET INC: $38,950 · Food & NutritionTHE FOOD BAS…ALOHA PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY: $6,000 · Arts & CultureHumanity Hale: $6,000 · Arts & CultureNA WAI IWI OLA: $6,000 · Arts & CultureKONA CHORAL SOCIETY INC: $5,000 · Arts & CultureHAWAII WILDLIFE FUND: $13,000 · EnvironmentTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $6,000 · AnimalsBIG ISLAND MEDIATION: $5,000 · Human Services
Other$184,648Education$92,100Food & Nutrition$38,950Arts & Culture$23,000Environment$13,000Animals$6,000Human Services$5,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetINNOVATIONS PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $39,000 over 6y, 1.7% of budgetTHE FOOD BASKET INC: $38,950 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetACF Kona Kohala Chefs Charitable &: $27,500 over 4y, 43% of budgetSOCIETY FOR KONAS EDUCATION & ART: $14,000 over 2y, 6.5% of budgetHAWAII WILDLIFE FUND: $13,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetTHE EXPLORATION FOUNDATION: $13,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetFRIENDS OF NELHA: $13,000 over 2y, 4.5% of budgetKUA O KANAUEUE: $12,600 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetALOHA PERFORMING ARTS COMPANY: $6,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTHE MARINE MAMMAL CENTER: $6,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNA WAI IWI OLA: $6,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetBIG ISLAND MEDIATION: $5,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetKONA CHORAL SOCIETY INC: $5,000 over 1y, 2.3% 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.

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…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Atherton Family FoundationHI15.5× affinity5 shared granteesties to 2 of 2Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Atherton Family Foundation · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 Ke Kai Ala Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Ke Kai Ala Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2023
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
    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 Ke Kai Ala Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Ke Kai Ala 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 22 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 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 Ke Kai Ala’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

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    The regranting layer
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    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
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    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home