Ama Olukai Foundation
Honolulu, HI · EIN 37-1771001. Reported 65 grants totalling $895,827 to 32 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Ama Olukai Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $10,000 and $12,500; the smallest was $2,500 and the largest $148,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victims of Maui Wildfire Disaster | Honolulu, HI | $148,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Na Kama Kai | Waianae, HI | $52,000 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Collaborative Support Services | Honolulu, HI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Huli Hawaii Inc | Honolulu, HI | $50,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Maui Nui Makai Network | Makawao, HI | $49,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Hawaii Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $48,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Polynesian Voyaging Society | Honolulu, HI | $47,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Hoola Music and Cultural Arts | Honolulu, HI | $34,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $34,500 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Kauluakalana | Kailua, HI | $31,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hawaiian Lifeguard Association | Honolulu, HI | $30,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Kahakukahi | Lahaina, HI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Kaiaului Co Piko | Lahaina, HI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Treecovery Hawaii | Wailuku, HI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hawaii Agriculture Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $24,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Edith Kanaka 'ole Foundation | Hilo, HI | $22,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Kuleana Coral Reefs | Waipahu, HI | $20,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Huliauapa'a | Hakalau, HI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Kapena School of Music | Kanheohe, HI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Kipuka Olowalu | Makawao, HI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Manaiakalani | Kilauea, HI | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Kokua Hawai'i Foundation | Haleiwa, HI | $17,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hui Aloha Aina Momona | Kaneohe, HI | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Moc Marine Institute | Wailuku, HI | $12,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Moanalua Gardens Foundation Inc | Honolulu, HI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Uhiwai | Makawao, HI | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Teachers Need US | Honolulu, HI | $6,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Maui Lifeguard Association | Makawao, HI | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kane'ohe Cultural Foundation | Kaneohe, HI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Na Kama Kai Pa'akai | Waianae, HI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Victims of Maui Wildfire Disaster-Archie Kalepa | Honolulu, HI | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Maui Cultural Lands | Lahaina, HI | $4,327 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
17 of 32 (53%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 67%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Victims of Maui Wildfire Disaster
TO PROVIDE IMMEDIATE AID TO VICTIMS OF HAWAII WILDFIRE. EACH VICTIM RECEIVED UNDER $1K IN ASSISTANCE VIA VENMO (APPROXIMATELY 300 INDIVIDUALS). PER REG. 1.6033-3(A)(2), THE INDIVIDUAL NAMES AND ADDRESS OF THE VICTIMS OF THE HAWAII WILDFIRES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE DISCLOSED. - Collaborative Support Services
MEALS FOR MAUI FIRE VICTIMS - Hawaii Agriculture Foundation
TO PRESERVE AND CELEBRATE THE CULTRUAL HERITAGE AND ALOHA SPIRIT OF HAWAI'I. - Maui Lifeguard Association
DEISASTER RELIEF RELATED TO MAUI FIRE - Victims of Maui Wildfire Disaster-Archie Kalepa
TO PROVIDE IMMEDIATE AID TO VICTIMS OF HAWAII WILDFIRE. IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE AUGUST 8 FIRES, ARCHIE KALEPA, COMMUNITY LEADER, COLLECTED AND DISTRIBUTED RESOURCES TO THE LAHAINA RESIDENTS. EACH VICTIM RECEIVED UNDER $1K IN ASSISTANCE. PER REG. 1.6033-3(A)(2), THE INDIVIDUAL NAMES AND ADDRESS OF THE VICTIMS OF THE HAWAII WILDFIRES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE DISCLOSED. - Maui Cultural Lands
SALES ORDER 27025 - FARM EQUIP AMA MAUI FUND
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 34 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 14 | $120,000 | $10,000 |
| 2022 | 12 | $139,000 | $12,250 |
| 2023 | 18 | $356,827 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 21 | $280,000 | $12,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. Ama Olukai Foundation has 1 of them, worth $2,500. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation | Honolulu, HI | $2,500 |
Where its money goes
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Hawaii.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Ama Olukai Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 1 N Hotel St, Honolulu, HI, 96817. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 37-1771001 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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