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Kona Foundation Inc at a glance

· Private foundation

Kona Foundation Inc

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.

$48k
Granted FY2023
21
Grants FY2023
8
States reached
$9k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

91% of Kona Foundation Inc’s FY2024 grant dollars went to The Bessemer Giving Fund, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 20 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2023, the last year Kona Foundation Inc named its own grantees at scale: 18 organizations, $48k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

3
’17
16
’18
17
’19
15
’20
17
’21
16
’22
18
’23
20
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

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

Philanthropy$712kEnvironment$80kArts & Culture$66kReligion$44kCivil Rights$28kHealth$28kEducation$21kInternational$19kOther$0
02FY2023 · 21 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$1,000
Median grant
8
States reached
$1.6M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
TEMPLE BETH AM$8,755
SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER$5,000
PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC$5,000
KUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO$5,000
FRIENDS OF IDF$4,000
UNITED STATES ASSOCIATION FOR UNHCR$2,000
NARAL PRO-CHOICE AMERICA FOUNDATION$2,000
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL$2,000
CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC$2,000
THE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND$1,500
NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC$1,000
DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL INC$1,000
350ORG$1,000
EARTHJUSTICE$1,000
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC$1,000
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 (FY20–24, $5k) land where the poverty rate runs at 17%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $1k → 17%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $1k → 17%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $1k → 17%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $1k → 17%THE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $1k → 17%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
NY
MA
OR
NJ
CT
CA
VA
MD
DC
AL
GA
TX
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.

86%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$266k · 24 repeat orgs$44k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against +40% for those funded once.

24 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2023, 6 since wound down; 4 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call). Read against FY2023, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

24
16

Total granted

$266k
$36k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
+40%

Still filing today

88%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 98% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2k 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
EnvironmentArts & CultureCrime & LegalEducationInternationalCivil RightsOther
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

  • TP
    THE PIATIGORSKY FOUNDATION D/B/A PF CLASSICAL
    7× · 2017–2024 · $43k · revenue +23%
  • KP
    KUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO
    7× · 2018–2024 · $22k · revenue +45%
  • FG
    Feel Good Action
    2× · 2023–2024 · $21k · revenue +192%

Funded once

  • FH
    FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER
    one grant, 2017 · $5k · revenue +27%
  • IR
    International Rescue Committee INCgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $5k · revenue +80%
  • UO
    UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $5k · 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
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
2
Asociacion Interamericana Para La Defensa Del Ambiente

To strenghten people's ability to guarantee their individual and collective right to a healthy environment, via the development, implementation, and effective enforcement of national and international law.

Crime & Legal
3
Rainforest Foundation Inc

The purpose of rainforest foundation us is to support indigenous peoples and forest communities in their efforts to secure their lands, protect their environment, and uphold their rights.

Environment
4
Rainforest Trust

Rainforest trust saves endangered wildlife and protects our planet by creating rainforest reserves through partnerships, community engagement, and donor support.

International
5
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.":- count it: our work is…

International
6
Conservation International Foundation

Ci works to spotlight and secure the critical benefits that nature provides to humanity.

Environment
7
Natural Resource Governance Institute

Nrgi envisions a world where natural resources enable fair, prosperous and sustainable societies, instead of undermining them. nrgi exists because decisions about how natural resources are governed determine the well-being of people in…

International
8
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
9
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
10
Bank Climate Advocates

Bank Climate Advocates (BCA) combats climate change and its adverse effects primarily by using legal advocacy and action to align public financial institutions' investment policies and practices with the 1.5 degrees C warming limitation…

Environment
11
Amazon Watch Inc

To protect the rainforest and advance the rights of Indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with Indigenous communities in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability, and the preservation of the Amazon Basin's…

Environment
12
Washington Forest Law Center

Dedicated to protecting the world's natural environment on behalf of the public by serving as a public interest law firm. refer to schedule o, part iii, line 4a, for list of litigated cases or advocacy work.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Wildlife Conservation Network Inc; the most unlike its peers is International Rescue Committee Inc. 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

39 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. 39 of the 47 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
38/39
Grantees still filing
30/39
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE BESSEMER GIVING FUND: $704,808 · PhilanthropyTHE BESSEMER GIVING FUND+1 more: $7,638 · PhilanthropyTEMPLE BETH AM: $44,255 · OtherTEMPLE BETH A…THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $6,500 · OtherREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $6,500 · OtherDian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc: $6,000 · OtherFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $5,000 · OtherLAKESIDE SCHOOL: $9,500 · OtherLAKESIDE SCHO…UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $5,000 · OtherTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $6,500 · OtherALLIANCE FOR TOMPOTIKA CONSERVATION: $4,750 · OtherTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $5,000 · OtherAFRICATOWN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $4,500 · Other+13 more: $18,500 · Other+13 moreFeel Good Action: $21,000 · EnvironmentTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $11,000 · EnvironmentNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $9,500 · Environment350ORG: $8,000 · EnvironmentOCEANA INC: $7,000 · EnvironmentFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $6,500 · EnvironmentEARTHJUSTICE: $6,500 · Environment+1 more: $1,000 · EnvironmentTHE PIATIGORSKY FOUNDATION D/B/A PF CLASSICAL: $42,500 · Arts & CultureKUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO: $21,500 · Arts & Culture+2 more: $2,000 · Arts & CultureSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $15,000 · Crime & LegalJAIL PROJECT OF TEXAS: $5,000 · Crime & LegalVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $1,000 · Crime & Legal+1 more: $250 · Crime & LegalUnited States Association for UNHCR: $9,500 · InternationalInternational Rescue Committee INC: $5,000 · InternationalFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $4,000 · InternationalPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $15,000 · HealthNorthwest Health Law Advocates: $3,000 · Health
Philanthropy$712,446Other$122,005Environment$70,500Arts & Culture$66,000Crime & Legal$21,250International$18,500Health$18,000

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 budgetTHE BESSEMER GIVING FUND: $704,808 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE PIATIGORSKY FOUNDATION D/B/A PF CLASSICAL: $42,500 over 7y, 3.3% of budgetKUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO: $21,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetFeel Good Action: $21,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER INC: $15,000 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUST FOR PUBLIC LAND: $11,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetUnited States Association for UNHCR: $9,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetLAKESIDE SCHOOL: $9,500 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL INC: $9,500 over 7y, 0.0% of budget350ORG: $8,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetDONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC: $7,638 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetOCEANA INC: $7,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $6,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetREPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM FOR ALL FOUNDATION: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE EARTH: $6,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetEARTHJUSTICE: $6,500 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS INC: $6,500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetDian Fossey Gorilla Fund International Inc: $6,000 over 6y, 0.0% of budgetFRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetInternational Rescue Committee INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJAIL PROJECT OF TEXAS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetTHE INNOCENCE PROJECT INC: $5,000 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetALLIANCE FOR TOMPOTIKA CONSERVATION: $4,750 over 6y, 0.3% of budgetAFRICATOWN COMMUNITY LAND TRUST: $4,500 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: $4,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMCDONOGH SCHOOL INCORPORATED: $3,250 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetNorthwest Health Law Advocates: $3,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMUCKROCK FOUNDATION INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCLIMATE SOLUTIONS: $2,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEARTH DAY NETWORK INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWILDLIFE CONSERVATION NETWORK INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetVERA INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE INC: $1,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNW Childrens Foundation: $250 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.

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.

Seattle FoundationImpactassetsincMoccasin Lake Foundat…Raikes FoundationAmerican Endowment Fo…Silicon Valley Commun…Mightycause Charitabl…Morgan Stanley Global…Vanguard Charitable E…Gs Donor Advised Phil…Jpmorgan Chase Founda…National Philanthropi…
Seattle FoundationWA20× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Moccasin Lake Foundation · Raikes Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Gs Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc · Jpmorgan Chase Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 30%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 9%
  • Shriver Hall Concert Series Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Mcdonogh School Incorporated: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
3get no government money at all
1report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Kona Foundation Inc?

Find your warmest path to Kona Foundation Inc 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 47 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Kona’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