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Hawaii · Nonprofit

WHALE TRUST

WHALE TRUST (Hawaii) receives grants from 34 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,413,091 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($225,050). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$754k
Funders on record
34
Grants received
$1.4M
Net assets
$1.1M
22/34 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 48%
01What it does

What Whale Trust does

Mission

Whale Trust supports and conducts scientific research, marine education, and conservation programs on marine mammals and their environment.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Humpback whale song study-Whale Trust's mission includes conducting scientific research on whales and the marine environment. Key research includes investigation into the structure and function of humpback whale song across the north pacific ocean.

    $167,796 spentof which $37,274 as grants
    25% of program spending
  2. Humpback whale research and photo documentation-Whale Trust's mission includes conducting and promoting scientific research on whales and the marine environment. Research projects include reproductive and mating behavior, and photographic and video illustration documenting the behavior of humpback whales in their natural environment.

    $175,249 spentof which $83,622 as grants
    26% of program spending
  3. Education and outreach-Whale Trust's mission includes communicating scientific research and conducting education programs on whales and the marine environment. Whale Trust fulfills that mission through community outreach events, educational field experiences, school outreach programs, mentorship, and internship programs for students.

    $332,899 spent
    49% of program spending
  4. Research, other-part of Whale Trust's mission includes supporting scientific research on whales and the marine environment. The north pacific humpback whale song collaboration involves 12 researchers across nearly 13 locations in six countries. Whale Trust also supports outside research through donations to selected beneficiary organizations and students conducting independent research studies on whales and their ocean environment.

    $6,075 spentof which $3,000 as grants
    1% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $682,019.

02The organization over time

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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($375k) Expenses 100 ($393k) Net assets 100 ($256k)2018 Revenue 100 ($376k) Expenses 98 ($387k) Net assets 95 ($244k)2019 Revenue 110 ($413k) Expenses 117 ($461k) Net assets 77 ($198k)2020 Revenue 145 ($544k) Expenses 117 ($460k) Net assets 110 ($282k)2021 Revenue 150 ($561k) Expenses 98 ($387k) Net assets 178 ($456k)2022 Revenue 153 ($572k) Expenses 116 ($455k) Net assets 224 ($573k)2023 Revenue 177 ($663k) Expenses 157 ($616k) Net assets 242 ($620k)2024 Revenue 324 ($1.2M) Expenses 186 ($730k) Net assets 432 ($1.1M)2025 Revenue 201 ($754k) Expenses 204 ($804k) Net assets 412 ($1.1M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (201)Expenses (204)Net assets (412)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $785k to $1.3M (+62%).

$263k
$248k
$204k
$314k
$664k
$735k
$785k
$1.3M
$1.2M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2020 1% · 2021 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

94% of WHALE TRUST’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (79% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 882 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$19k
’17
−$11k
’18
−$48k
’19
$84k
’20
$174k
’21
$117k
’22
$47k
’23
$485k
’24
−$50k
’25
14
months of
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.

Board chair

Allen Jones

Chairman/tre

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed910101199998
Joined·+2+0+2+0+0+0+0+0
No longer listed·10120001
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $86k → $316k.

10 of 34 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 WHALE TRUST’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 34 funders by total. 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

WHALE TRUST has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left

43% 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 WHALE TRUST.

16%
largest funder
40%
top three
~12
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 34% · 2019 25% · 2020 26% · 2021 27% · 2022 17% · 2023 20% — 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

68% of WHALE TRUST's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

WHALE TRUST draws 68% of its grant income from funders outside Hawaii, across 13 states in all.

MT
NY
NV
WY
PA
NJ
CT
CA
VA
DE
HI
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Hawaii out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $591k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

WHALE TRUST is better cushioned than half of the 453 science & tech nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−7% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve13.7mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 453 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025

Organizations like WHALE TRUST

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 Hawaii

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

85% of spending goes to programs.

Program 85%Management 13%Fundraising 2%

Governance

8
board members
88%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

85%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

HI

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WHALE TRUST: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 WHALE TRUST?
WHALE TRUST (Hawaii) receives grants from 34 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,413,091 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($225,050). 22 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does WHALE TRUST have?
IRS filings report 34 organizations giving $1,413,091 in grants to WHALE TRUST, 22 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of WHALE TRUST?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $225,050 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like WHALE TRUST find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Hawaii. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

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 34 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing