Hawaii · Nonprofit
WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION
WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION (Hawaii) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $134,000 to it, the largest being THE MAKANA ALOHA FOUNDATION ($45,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $102k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $134k
- Net assets
- $50k
What When We Shine Foundation does
Mission
Building and maintaining network that helps unite diverse communities through arts education, creativity and networking.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Arts integration education- creation of an annual pilot programfor techers professional development. Summary of the project on youtube:https://youtu.be/absjuidjg_a?si=q-dssjdqpyl2qbue
$25,748 spentof which $30,000 as grants74% of program spendingProduction and release of 2 music videos: one with the 80 4th grade students of the pomokai elementary schoola second one with the 60 3rd grade students of the kula lementary school: summary of the project on youtube: https://youtu.be/781wnnhvlxy?si=c6sdm5hyktxppfpy
$9,000 spentof which $25,000 as grants26% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $34,748.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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.
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 $21k to $50k (+133%).
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.
99% of WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 6 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
Mellinda Caroll
CEO/director
Board chair
Susana Browne
Chair/president/director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $15k → $36k.
From the IRS filings of WHEN WE SHINE 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
WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 67% · 2023 69% — growing more concentrated.
“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.
Where its funders are
66% of WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Hawaii funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.
Against its field
WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION has grown faster than three-quarters of the 4,264 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,264 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like WHEN WE SHINE 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 Hawaii
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WHEN WE SHINE 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 WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION?
- WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION (Hawaii) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $134,000 to it, the largest being THE MAKANA ALOHA FOUNDATION ($45,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $134,000 in grants to WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION?
- THE MAKANA ALOHA FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $45,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WHEN WE SHINE FOUNDATION 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.
Play a game about who funds When We Shine →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 7 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