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Maui Pono Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Maui Pono Foundation

The MAUI PONO FOUNDATION was created to help the people of our community, by the people of our community.

$317k
Granted FY2025still arriving
10
Grants FY2025still arriving
2
States reached
$65k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2023 to 2025.

Public Safety & Disaster$674kArts & Culture$123kCommunity Improvement$74kEnvironment$51kEducation$50kRecreation & Sports$43kReligion$29kYouth Development$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 10 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 10 grants below total $220,013, the rows itemized in this filing. The $317,296 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $97,283 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $22k
  • $10k–50k5 grants · $82k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $116k
$20,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$419k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
OPERATION HOPE$65,000
PACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATION$51,250
HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION$20,000
KAHAKUKAHI FOUNDATION$20,000
LAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION$20,000
MAUI UNITED WAY$12,000
LAHAINA ARTS GUILD$10,000
COOL CAT CAFE LLC$8,750
GO CYCLING MAUI$7,500
MAUI FOOD BANK$5,513
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 (FY23–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%EDWARD MONTGOMERY FINE ART: $10k → 12%COOL CAT CAFE LLC: $9k → 9%COUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT: $25k → 9%HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION: $20k → 15%OPERATION HOPE: $65k → 13%HUI NO'EAU VISUAL ARTS CENTER: $80k → 9%DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB OF HAWAII: $20k → 9%HUI NO'EAU VISUAL ARTS CENTER: $30k → 9%MELE BINTLIFF STYLIST: $11k → 9%WESTSIDE BOBA LLC: $15k → 9%MAUI SUNRIDERS BIKE CO INC: $25k → 9%CHOICE HEALTH BAR: $15k → 9%ISLAND DREAM PRODUCTIONS LLC: $15k → 9%MANAKAI SWIMWEAR: $17k → 9%GO CYCLING MAUI: $8k → 9%PACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATION: $51k → 9%SLIP 78 LLC DBA GUNGHO SAILING: $15k → 9%KRISTA'S TROPICALS: $15k → 9%MAUI SHORE FISHING GUIDES: $15k → 9%LERU LLC: $8k → 9%LAHAINA ARTS GUILD: $34k → 9%LAHAINA ARTS GUILD: $30k → 9%AKUA SEVA: $29k → 9%PSF MASONRY CONTRACTORS LLC: $25k → 9%ISLAND CATERING LLC: $25k → 9%FUZZ BOX PRODUCTIONS LLC: $25k → 9%ARCOBALENO LLC DBA SALE PEPE: $25k → 9%KANE'S LEGACY TREE SERVICES LLC: $25k → 9%LUCE CARO LLC: $25k → 9%KITES HAWAII LTD: $25k → 9%LAHAINA MUSIC: $20k → 9%LAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $20k → 9%KAHAKUKAHI FOUNDATION: $20k → 9%KAZE ENTERPRISES LLC: $20k → 9%HOOD MARINE LTD: $15k → 9%MACARIO PASCUAL: $15k → 9%VAL AND JOHN PRIVATE CHEFS: $15k → 9%LAHAINA JEWELRY INC: $15k → 9%MONET BANIQUED: $15k → 9%KA'ANAPALI COLLISION: $15k → 9%AESTHETICS & COSMETICS: $15k → 9%LAHAINA HEALTH CENTER INC: $15k → 9%WEST MAUI SPORTS AND FISHING SUPPLY: $15k → 9%LAHAINA ARTS GUILD: $10k → 9%PIPE PRO SERVICES LLC: $10k → 9%HANDMADE BY HEATHER: $10k → 9%NAPILI KAI FOUNDATION: $9k → 9%SERENITY SPA MAUI LLC: $7k → 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 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
Malama Kua Aina
Environment
2
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
3
Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens
Philanthropy
4
The Haiku Aina Permaculture Initiative
—
5
Ka Ha O Ka Aina
Environment
6
E Kupaku Ka Aina - the Hawaii Land Restoration Institute
Environment
7
Kaiaulu Initiatives

Kaiaulu initiatives is regreening and rebuilding lahaina one tree and one person at a time through education, training, community networking & sustainability while incorporating hawaiian cultural practices.

Environment
8
Hawaii Book and Music Festival
Arts & Culture
9
Hiikua a Hiialo Cultural Foundation
Arts & Culture
10
Kiha Mana Foundation

The KiHa Mana Foundation is a non-profit organization with the mission to educate, preserve, restore and conserve the culture of Native Hawaiians and their resources.

Arts & Culture
11
Hoa Aina O Makaha

Hoa aina o makaha (land of makaha shared in friendship) is more than a destination farm or nonprofit organization. the embrace of a sanctuary is felt by whoever enters the gates and a sense of belonging usually follows. once a barren piece…

Unclassified
12
Iewe Hanau O Ka Aina

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

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Maui United Way; the most unlike its peers is Akua Seva 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

15 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 15 of the 52 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)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
6/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HUI NO'EAU: $110,000 · OtherHUI NO'EAUOPERATION HOPE INC: $65,000 · OtherOPERATION HOPE INC+39 more: $598,166 · Other+39 moreLAHAINA ARTS GUILD: $74,000 · Arts & CultureNAPILI KAI FOUNDATION: $9,000 · Arts & CulturePACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATION: $51,250 · EnvironmentHAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION: $20,000 · EnvironmentPOSITIVELY KAI FOUNDATION: $25,000 · Youth DevelopmentDOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB HAWAII: $20,000 · Youth DevelopmentCOUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT: $25,000 · EducationLAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationKaha Kukahi: $20,000 · Recreation & SportsInternational Mountain Bicycling Association: $15,000 · Recreation & SportsAkua SEVA INC: $29,200 · Religion
Other$773,166Arts & Culture$83,000Environment$71,250Youth Development$45,000Education$45,000Recreation & Sports$35,000Religion$29,200

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 budgetHUI NO'EAU: $110,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetLAHAINA ARTS GUILD: $74,000 over 3y, 25% of budgetOPERATION HOPE INC: $65,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAkua SEVA INC: $29,200 over 1y, 41% of budgetPOSITIVELY KAI FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetCOUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB HAWAII: $20,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetInternational Mountain Bicycling Association: $15,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetMAUI UNITED WAY: $12,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNAPILI KAI FOUNDATION: $9,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetMAUI FOOD BANK INC: $5,513 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 HUI NO'EAU ↗
  • Who funds LAHAINA ARTS GUILD ↗
  • Who funds OPERATION HOPE INC ↗
  • Who funds PACIFIC WHALE FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Akua SEVA INC ↗
  • Who funds POSITIVELY KAI FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds COUNCIL FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN ADVANCEMENT ↗
  • Who funds LAHAINALUNA HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Kaha Kukahi ↗
  • Who funds HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION ↗
  • Who funds DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB HAWAII ↗
  • Who funds International Mountain Bicycling Association ↗
  • Who funds MAUI UNITED WAY ↗

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.

Maui Economic Develop…Morgan Stanley Global…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Maui Economic Development Board IncHI35.3× affinity15 shared granteesties to 5 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maui Economic Development Board Inc · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · 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 Maui Pono Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Maui Pono 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    3report 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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Maui Pono Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to Maui Pono 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 52 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 Maui Pono’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