Pohaku Pelemaka

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
462653495
IRS 990 coverage
2024–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Pahoa, HI, USA
Phone
8089656585
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Services N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$280,366
Expenses
$225,061
Assets
$119,691
Liabilities
$28,244

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • YOSHITO L HOTE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • LEILA KEALOHA (EXECUTIVE DI): $84,728 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to protect, perpetuate, and enhance: the intrinsic qualities of the lower puna area, native hawaiian wellbeing, and the transmission of intergenerational knowledge and practices in partnership with county, state, government, public and private sectors.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education & research. Pohaku pelemaka has been hosting groups of students from local schools, college groups and cultural practitioners. These groups will sometimes join in and coincide with the monthly la ohana. The primary focus of educational groups is to share the significance of the place and to aloha aina. This allows us to help steward the area with volunteers that work with our organization. Pohaku pelemaka has become a host site for college researchers. We have also become a host to the university of Hawaii at hilo pipes internship program. We hosted 2-interns in the summer of 2024 and we will continue to be a host site in 2025. The interns are now on a year-round track internship with our organization. They are responsible for collecting data on the coconut grove (uluniu)at kaakepa which consists of over 1,700 trees. We are looking at the genetic diversity of the grove and how to care for the trees, create a mulch management plan, protect rare/endangered species from being lost through beginning a niu nursery and providing educational materials about the uluniu and place. Through the internship programs, we have been able to create a network of college professors to bring students to our site to help with topics that will help with the design of a stewardship management plan and community- based stewardship program for the site. The summer of 2024, interns were a part of the inaugural niu now partnership and the initial data collection of the uluniu. This is the beginning of the larger data collection that will occur for the stewardship management plan. It is likely the surveys will continue over the next 6-months and into the summer of 2025.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 63% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 68
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 74
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.1%; rating input score 62
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 38
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 19.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.53; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.24; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 37.6%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.1% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 3 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $174K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $85K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.