Funders › Hawaii

The Strong Foundation

Honolulu, HI · EIN 99-0090807. Reported 84 grants totalling $7,502,671 to 77 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$100,000median grant
$7,502,671granted, 2020-2024
77recipients, as named on its returns
0%of grantees funded again the next year
$39.1Massets, latest filing

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. The Strong 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.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $100,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $92,290 and $100,000; the smallest was $25,000 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
17 grants
$100,000 and Up
62 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Maui Health FoundationWailuku, HI$300,000222024
Dynamic Community SolutionsWaianae, HI$200,000112024
Hawaii Theatre CenterHonolulu, HI$200,000222023
Kapiolani Health FoundationHonolulu, HI$200,000222024
Manoa Heritage CenterHonolulu, HI$200,000222023
Maui Youth Rodeo OrganizationKula, HI$200,000212024
Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific FoundationHonolulu, HI$200,000222023
Teach for America-HawaiiHonolulu, HI$200,000222023
Assistance Dogs of HawaiiMakawao, HI$100,000112022
Big Brothers Big Sisters HawaiiHonolulu, HI$100,000112024
Book Trust Hawaii ChapterDenver, CO$100,000112023
Boys & Girls Club of MauiKahului, HI$100,000112022
Carden Academy of MauiPukalani, HI$100,000112021
Chaminade UniversityHonolulu, HI$100,000112021
Child & Family ServicesEwa Beach, HI$100,000112022
Feeding Hawaii TogetherHonolulu, HI$100,000112022
Girl Scouts of HawaiiHonolulu, HI$100,000112021
Haku Baldwin CenterMakawao, HI$100,000112024
Halau Ku Mana PcsHonolulu, HI$100,000112021
Haleakala ConservancyPukalani, HI$100,000112022
Hawaii Opera TheatreHonolulu, HI$100,000112021
Hawaii Pacific UniversityHonolulu, HI$100,000112020
Hawaiian Humane SocietyHonolulu, HI$100,000112021
Hawaiian Islands Land TrustWailuku, HI$100,000112021
Hawaiian Mission Children's SocietyHonolulu, HI$100,000112024
Historic Hawaii FoundationHonolulu, HI$100,000112023
Hui Ho'oleimaluoHilo, HI$100,000112022
Hui No'eauMakawao, HI$100,000112023
Imua Family ServicesKahului, HI$100,000112024
Island SchoolLihue, HI$100,000112022
Kimokeo FoundationWailuku, HI$100,000112024
Kokua Hawaii FoundationHaleiwa, HI$100,000112021
Kokua Kalihi Valley Comprehensive Family ServicesHilo, HI$100,000112022
Kona Historical SocietyCaptain Cook, HI$100,000112024
Lahaina Restoration FoundationLahaina, HI$100,000112021
Lana'i Culture & Heritage CenterLanai City, HI$100,000112024
Living Pono ProjectPaia, HI$100,000112023
Ma Ka Hana Ka Ike Building ProgramHana, HI$100,000112023
Malama Na Makua a KeikiPaia, HI$100,000112020
Maryknoll SchoolHonolulu, HI$100,000112021
Maui Academy of Performing ArtsWailuku, HI$100,000112020
Molokai Land TrustKaunakakai, HI$100,000112020
Na Koa Manu Conservation IncPukalani, HI$100,000112024
Pacific Cancer FoundationWailuku, HI$100,000112023
Parker SchoolWaimea, HI$100,000112022
Pono AcademyKahului, HI$100,000112021
Real Ongoing Opportunities to Soar IncHaiku, HI$100,000112021
Seabury HallMakawao, HI$100,000112022
Straub FoundationHonolulu, HI$100,000112022
Sustainable MolokaiKaunakakai, HI$100,000112024
The Maui FarmMakawao, HI$100,000112023
The Nature ConservancyHonolulu, HI$100,000112023
University of Hawaii FoundationHonolulu, HI$100,000112023
Variety School of HawaiiHonolulu, HI$100,000112023
YWCA of KauaiLihue, HI$100,000112024
Awaiaulu IncHonolulu, HI$92,290112021
Kauai Planning & Action AllianceLihue, HI$90,221112020
National Tropical Botanical GardenKalaheo, HI$75,160112020
Akaka Foundation for Tropical ForestsHilo, HI$50,000112020
Aloha Medical MissionHonolulu, HI$50,000112021
Bishop MuseumHonolulu, HI$50,000112022
Boys & Girls Club of HawaiiHonolulu, HI$50,000112022
Hawaii Community FoundationHonolulu, HI$50,000112022
Hoola Na PuaHonolulu, HI$50,000112022
Hui O Wa'a KauluaLahaina, HI$50,000112023
Hui O Waa KauluaKahului, HI$50,000112022
Lyman House Memorial MuseumHilo, HI$50,000112021
Mental Health Association in Hawaii Dba Mental Health America of HawaiiHonolulu, HI$50,000112023
Mid-Pacific InstituteHonolulu, HI$50,000112024
Montessori School of MauiMakawao, HI$50,000112020
Naaikane O MauiMakawao, HI$50,000112022
Special Olympics HawaiiEwa Beach, HI$50,000112022
Kula Elementary SchoolKula, HI$45,000112022
Ballet HawaiiHonolulu, HI$25,000112022
Moanalua Gardens FoundationHonolulu, HI$25,000112022
Parents and Children TogetherHonolulu, HI$25,000112022
Rotary District 5000 FoundationHonolulu, HI$25,000112022

6 of 77 (8%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 0%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 64 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Arts & Culture
17 grants
Education
11 grants
Health Care
9 grants
Environment
6 grants
Human Services
4 grants
Youth Development
4 grants
Animal Welfare
3 grants

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202013$1,265,381$100,000
202116$1,492,290$100,000
202223$1,595,000$50,000
202316$1,500,000$100,000
202416$1,650,000$100,000

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.

Where its money goes

99% of its giving went to organizations in Hawaii. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Hawaii
$7.4M
Colorado
$100K

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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 a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc48 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund47 shared recipientsCooke Foundation Limited30 shared recipientsKosasa Foundation29 shared recipientsBank of Hawaii Charitable Fdn27 shared recipientsJ Watumull Fund27 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $100,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Hawaii.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 The Strong Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: Co Bank of Hawaii P O Box 3170, Honolulu, HI, 96802. 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 99-0090807 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.