California · Nonprofit
Hakone Foundation
Hakone Foundation (California) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $349,804 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($158,450). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $350k
- Net assets
- $2.7M
What Hakone Foundation does
Mission
Hakone Foundation is dedicated to preserving the historic legacy and authenticity of Hakone Estates and Gardens for public benefit, and promoting Asian cultural exchange through educational experiences. Originally built in 1915 as a private residence, today Hakone Estates and Gardens is one of the oldest Japanese gardens in the Western Hemisphere and a cherished public park by the local California Bay Area Community. Owned by the City of Saratoga since 1966, Hakone Foundation has independently operated Hakone on behalf of the City since 2000, hosting 40,000-65,000 visitors annually and maintaining . traditional Japanese gardens, a koi pond, several historic buildings and architectural features, a cultural with rotating art exhibits, and 4 traditional Japanese tea ceremony tetami spaces. Hakone Foundation presents numerous educational programs throughout the year to promote its mission of Asian cultural exchange, including Haname (cherry blossom viewing), Toro Nagashi (floating lantern
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
One of the National Trust for Historic Preservations premier site and 100 years old, Hakone is one of the oldest Japanese estate, retreat and gardens in the Western Hemisphere. Hakone has also been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013. The garden is 18 acres nestled on the verdant hills of Saratoga overlooking Silicon Valley. This timeless oasis of peace provides the perfect venue for weddings, birthdays, baby showers, family celebrations and memorial services. Additionally, Hakone has become a favorite destination for company retreats, offsite business meetings, corporate conferences and seminars. The garden carries on the Japanese spirit by hosting annual events such as Origami, Story Telling, Docent Tour/Tea Ceremony, Hina (Japanese Girl Festival), Tanabata (Wish upon the star festival), Toro Nagashi (Floating lantern ceremony), Kadomatsu Workshop (Japanese New Year decoration), Flower Arrangement Workshop, Dai-Chaki and Lunar Festival.
$1,361,008 spent$719,073 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,361,008.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $1.4M to $2.5M (+87%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Meredith Lee
Executive Director
Board chair
Emily Lo
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $6k → $46k.
9 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 81% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Hakone Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Hakone Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
83% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Hakone Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 86% · 2018 98% · 2019 98% · 2020 33% · 2021 93% · 2022 45% · 2023 71% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
27% of Hakone Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 30% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
81% of Hakone Foundation's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $68k that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $282k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like Hakone Foundation
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Hakone Foundation: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Hakone Foundation?
- Hakone Foundation (California) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $349,804 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($158,450). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Hakone Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $349,804 in grants to Hakone Foundation, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Hakone Foundation?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $158,450 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Hakone Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Hakone →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 23 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing