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The Strong Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Strong Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.5M
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through 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, FY2019 to 2024.

Education$2.2MArts & Culture$2.1MEnvironment$1.0MHealth$1.0MYouth Development$735kHuman Services$580kAnimals$280kFood & Nutrition$245kOther$0
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$100,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$24M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
HAWAII THEATRE CENTER$100,000
LIVING PONO PROJECT$100,000
PACIFIC CANCER FOUNDATION$100,000
VARIETY SCHOOL OF HAWAII$100,000
MA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM$100,000
THE NATURE CONSERVANCY$100,000
TEACH FOR AMERICA-HAWAII$100,000
BOOK TRUST HAWAII CHAPTER$100,000
UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION$100,000
HUI NO'EAU$100,000
HISTORIC HAWAII FOUNDATION$100,000
THE MAUI FARM$100,000
MANOA HERITAGE CENTER$100,000
REHABILITATION HOSPITAL OF THE PACIFIC FOUNDATION$100,000
MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION IN HAWAII DBA MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA OF HAWAII$50,000
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, $290k) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%LIVING PONO PROJECT: $100k → 9%LAAKEA VILLAGE: $90k → 9%FEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $100k → 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.
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 6% of The Strong Foundation’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 99% of the giving stays in HI; by stated purpose, 91%.

The Strong Foundationlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 6.3% 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.

45%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.8M · 23 repeat orgs$4.7M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

23 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 13 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

23
53

Total granted

$3.8M
$4.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+28%

Still filing today

96%
81%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 68% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $450k went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentHealthHuman ServicesYouth DevelopmentOther
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
    2× · 2019–2024 · $225k · revenue +164%
  • Teach for America Inc
    2× · 2021–2024 · $200k · revenue +5%
  • HT
    HAWAII THEATRE CENTER
    2× · 2021–2024 · $200k · revenue +407%

Funded once

  • MH
    MAUI HEALTH FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $200k · revenue +91%
  • SH
    SEABURY HALL
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +12%
  • ML
    MOLOKAI LAND TRUSTgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $100k · revenue +165%
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
E Kupaku Ka Aina - the Hawaii Land Restoration Institute
Environment
2
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
3
Na 'Aina Kai Botanical Gardens
Philanthropy
4
Hui Aloha Kiholo

Our mission is to protect, perpetuate, and enhance the cultural and natural landscape of the kiholo bay area through collaborative management and active community stewardship.

Arts & Culture
5
Kula Aupuni Niihau a Kahelelani Aloha (Kanaka)

Preserve niihau cultural values and language.

Education
6
Hawaii Education Institute
—
7
Mohala Pua School Dba Honolulu Waldorf School

See schedule o.at honolulu waldorf school, we educate each child to find meaning, passion, and purpose in life and to contribute to the creation of a better world for all. through a curriculum based on the developmental stages of the human…

Education
8
Hawaii - American Nurses Association Foundation
Environment
9
Ho'ola Lahui Hawaii

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

Human Services
10
Kanu O Ka Aina Learning Ohana

Serving and perpetuating sustainable hawaiian communities through education with aloha.

Arts & Culture
11
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
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Historic Hawai'i Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Rotary District 5000 Foundation. 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

73 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. 73 of the 83 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
71/73
Grantees still filing
59/73
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

HUI NO'EAU: $200,000 · OtherHUI NO'EAUBOOK TRUST HAWAII CHAPTER: $190,000 · OtherBOOK TRUST HAWAII CHAPTERTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $190,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CONSERVANCYPACIFIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $175,000 · OtherCHILD AND FAMILY SERVICE: $140,000 · OtherASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII: $180,000 · OtherHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150,000 · Other+28 more: $2,219,386 · Other+28 moreHAWAII THEATRE CENTER: $200,000 · Arts & CultureHAWAII THEATRE CENTERMANOA HERITAGE CENTER FKA MANOA VALLEY CULTURAL HERITAGE FOUND: $200,000 · Arts & CultureMANOA HERITAGE CENTER…HAWAII OPERA THEATRE: $175,000 · Arts & CultureHAWAII OPERA THEATREBISHOP MUSEUM: $125,000 · Arts & CultureBISHOP MUSEUMHui O Waa Kaulua: $100,000 · Arts & CultureHui O Waa KauluaMAUI ARTS & CULTURAL CENTER: $100,000 · Arts & CultureMAUI ARTS & CULTURAL …THE LAHAINA RESTORATION FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Arts & CultureTHE LAHAINA RESTORATI…HUI HOOLEIMALUO: $100,000 · Arts & CultureHUI HOOLEIMALUOHISTORIC HAWAI'I FOUNDATION: $100,000 · Arts & CultureHISTORIC HAWAI'I FOUN…MAUI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS: $100,000 · Arts & CultureMAUI ACADEMY OF PERFO…AWAIAULU INC: $92,290 · Arts & CultureAWAIAULU INCWAIOLI CORPORATION: $78,885 · Arts & CulturePEARL HARBOR AVIATION MUSEUM: $75,000 · Arts & Culture+3 more: $150,000 · Arts & Culture+3 moreUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $225,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF HAWA…Teach for America Inc: $200,000 · EducationTeach for America …ISLAND SCHOOL: $200,000 · EducationISLAND SCHOOLCARDEN ACADEMY OF MAUI: $200,000 · EducationCARDEN ACADEMY OF …REAL ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES TO SOAR INC: $200,000 · EducationREAL ONGOING OPPOR…HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · EducationHAWAII PACIFIC UNI…PARKER SCHOOL: $100,000 · EducationPARKER SCHOOLCHAMINADE UNIVERSITY OF HONOLULU: $100,000 · EducationCHAMINADE UNIVERSI…NA AIKANE O MAUI INC: $50,000 · EducationMONTESSORI OF MAUI INC: $50,000 · Education+1 more: $25,000 · EducationMAUI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $200,000 · HealthMAUI HEAL…Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific Foundation: $200,000 · HealthRehabilit…Kapi'olani Health Foundation: $150,000 · HealthKapi'olan…KOKUA KALIHI VALLEY COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY SERVICES: $100,000 · HealthKOKUA KAL…Straub Foundation: $100,000 · HealthStraub Fo…+1 more: $25,000 · HealthMOLOKAI LAND TRUST: $100,000 · EnvironmentKOKUA HAWAII FOUNDATION: $100,000 · EnvironmentHAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST: $100,000 · EnvironmentHALEAKALA CONSERVANCY INC: $100,000 · EnvironmentNATIONAL TROPICAL BOTANICAL GARDEN: $75,160 · EnvironmentUHIWAI O HALEAKALA: $70,000 · EnvironmentAKAKA FOUNDATION FOR TROPICAL FORESTS: $50,000 · EnvironmentHAWAI'I FOREST INSTITUTE: $50,000 · Environment+1 more: $15,000 · EnvironmentHO'OLA NA PUA: $150,000 · Human ServicesLiving Pono Project: $100,000 · Human ServicesFEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $100,000 · Human ServicesLA'AKEA VILLAGE: $90,000 · Human ServicesGIRL SCOUTS OF HAWAII: $200,000 · Youth DevelopmentMA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM: $135,000 · Youth Development
Other$3,444,386Arts & Culture$1,696,175Education$1,450,000Health$775,000Environment$660,160Human Services$440,000Youth Development$335,000

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF HAWAII FOUNDATION: $225,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTeach for America Inc: $200,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetHAWAII THEATRE CENTER: $200,000 over 2y, 8.7% of budgetISLAND SCHOOL: $200,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF HAWAII: $200,000 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetMANOA HERITAGE CENTER FKA MANOA VALLEY CULTURAL HERITAGE FOUND: $200,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetCARDEN ACADEMY OF MAUI: $200,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetHUI NO'EAU: $200,000 over 2y, 6.9% of budgetMAUI HEALTH FOUNDATION: $200,000 over 1y, 4.2% of budgetREAL ONGOING OPPORTUNITIES TO SOAR INC: $200,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetRehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific Foundation: $200,000 over 2y, 6.7% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $190,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetASSISTANCE DOGS OF HAWAII: $180,000 over 2y, 7.2% of budgetPACIFIC CANCER FOUNDATION: $175,000 over 2y, 17% of budgetHAWAII OPERA THEATRE: $175,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetHAWAII COMMUNITY FOUNDATION: $150,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetKapi'olani Health Foundation: $150,000 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetHO'OLA NA PUA: $150,000 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetCHILD AND FAMILY SERVICE: $140,000 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetMA KA HANA KA IKE BUILDING PROGRAM: $135,000 over 2y, 2.3% of budgetBISHOP MUSEUM: $125,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetSEABURY HALL: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetVARIETY SCHOOL OF HAWAII: $100,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetMOLOKAI LAND TRUST: $100,000 over 1y, 19% of budgetTHE FRIENDS OF IOLANI PALACE: $100,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetKOKUA HAWAII FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 7.4% of budgetKOKUA KALIHI VALLEY COMPREHENSIVE FAMILY SERVICES: $100,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetHAWAIIAN ISLANDS LAND TRUST: $100,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetHui O Waa Kaulua: $100,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetMAUI ARTS & CULTURAL CENTER: $100,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetKa Lima O Maui Ltd: $100,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetTHE MAUI FARM INC: $100,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF HAWAII: $100,000 over 2y, 0.9% of budgetTHE LAHAINA RESTORATION FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetMALAMA NA MAKUA A KEIKI INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetHAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF MAUI INC: $100,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetLiving Pono Project: $100,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetDIAMOND HEAD THEATRE: $100,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetPARKER SCHOOL: $100,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetHUI HOOLEIMALUO: $100,000 over 1y, 6.6% of budgetHISTORIC HAWAI'I FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 7.7% of budgetMAUI ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS: $100,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetFEEDING HAWAII TOGETHER: $100,000 over 1y, 6.3% of budgetStraub Foundation: $100,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetHAWAIIAN HUMANE SOCIETY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetCHAMINADE UNIVERSITY OF HONOLULU: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPONO ACADEMY: $100,000 over 1y, 100% 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…Bank of Hawaii Charit…Cooke Foundation Limi…J Watumull FundMcInerny Foundation--Kosasa FoundationFirst Hawaiian Bank F…First Insurance Compa…Central Pacific Bank …Tradewind Group Found…Aloha United Way IncFred Baldwin Memorial…
Atherton Family FoundationHI85.1× affinity40 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Atherton Family Foundation · Bank of Hawaii Charitable Fdn · Cooke Foundation Limited · J Watumull Fund · McInerny Foundation-- · Kosasa Foundation · First Hawaiian Bank Foundation · First Insurance Company of Hawaii Charitable Foundation · Central Pacific Bank Foundation · Tradewind Group Foundation · Aloha United Way Inc · Fred Baldwin Memorial 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 The Strong Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Strong 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
    24report 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 The Strong Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Strong 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 83 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Strong’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