Hawaii Farmers Union Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
475653259
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2016
Location
Kapaa, HI, USA
Phone
8085429565
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Adult, Continuing Education

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,176,026
Expenses
$954,673
Assets
$1,538,917
Liabilities
$30,000

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kennard Kekona (President)
  • Anabella Bruch (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Kennard Kekona (President): $110,440 total reported compensation
  • Anabella Bruch (Vice President): $94,110 total reported compensation
  • Christian Zuckerman (Treasurer): $64,391 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Hawaii Farmers Union Foundation believes in sustainable agriculture and local food systems that promote a healthy environment and strong communities. Its mission is to build a supportive regenerative agricultural system where farmers can create sustainable, vibrant and prosperous agricultural communities across Hawaii.

What it reported doing in 2024

Maui Resiliency Response - In the aftermath of the Maui wildfires on October 8th, 2023, HFUF provided immediate emergency relief to Maui farmers and the Lahaina community. This included food, health supplies, housewares, and many other supplies. HFUF provided small grants to farmers impacted by the fires to support their recovery of equipment, plants, and supplies. In addition, HFUF has been a leader and involved in setting recovery strategies, especially in reducing the risk of future fires through improved land practices such as agroforestry and pasture management. Maui Resiliency is an ongoing initiative to foster awareness around fire mitigation practices, direct funding support to farmers to bolster production and resiliency for future natural disasters, and provide educational opportunities for farmers and the community. Maui's long-term resiliency is the key driver of this program, and all funds are used to provide future community resiliency.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 78% for direct work, 21% for grants, and 0% for affiliated organizations.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 57
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 74.6%; rating input score 75
  • Program expense ratio: 91.9%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 85.7%; rating input score 86; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 98.4%; rating input score 98; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 50%; rating input score 50; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.8%; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.61; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 28.2%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.5% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 31.1% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 74.6% of revenue deployed · 91.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 6 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 8 filed program accomplishments · $877K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $110K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 33 current checks pass · 2 findings to review
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 50/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 58/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.