Kauai Humane Society Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
990089250
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Lihue, HI, USA
Phone
8086320610
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Animal Protection and Welfare

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,894,092
Expenses
$4,045,433
Assets
$5,528,844
Liabilities
$1,265,340

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAN GIOVANNI (BOARD PRESIDENT)
  • BENJAMIN OSORNO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)
  • NICOLE SCHAFER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • NICOLE SCHAFER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $141,432 total reported compensation
  • BENJAMIN OSORNO (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER): $137,415 total reported compensation
  • DAWN USHIO (CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER): $116,812 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To ensure compassionate, informed care of all animals on kauai, to promote the human-animal bond, to operate a shelter providing temporary care of animals and to educate the community on proper care & treatment of animals.

What it reported doing in 2024

Khs operates an open-admission animal shelter with full services 6 days a week to the public and 24 hour a day emergency support animal services for the county of kauai. In 2025 our humane officers responded to 4,262 calls for assistance. 675 dogs and 698 cats were adopted, complete with health and behavior care, and training info. 274 lost dogs and 84 lost cats were reunited with their families. We also expanded the transfer program, which transfers dogs and cats to the mainland for adoption from other shelters. In 2024/2025 we transferred 537 animals.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 81
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 32
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 87.7%; rating input score 88
  • Program expense ratio: 82%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.93 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -3.9%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.37; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 87.7% of revenue deployed · 82% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $3.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $141K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 40/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 48/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 23/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 41/100.