The Friends of Iolani Palace

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
990115665
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Honolulu, HI, USA
Phone
8085220822
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$6,151,835
Expenses
$4,400,801
Assets
$12,633,455
Liabilities
$974,371

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

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BILLY PIEPER (PRESIDENT)
  • BRIAN KEALOHA (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • RON WALKER (FORMER 2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • PAULA GUANZON (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAULA GUANZON (PRESIDENT & CEO): $214,278 total reported compensation
  • SEE WAI WAN (CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER): $133,474 total reported compensation
  • MICHELLE MORIHARA (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $112,835 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 preserve, restore, interpret, share, and celebrate the unique cultural, historical, and spiritual qualities of `iolani palace and its grounds for the benefit of native hawaiians, the people of hawai`i, and the world.

What it reported doing in 2024

Museum operations - visitors from around the world visit the palace. Audio tours are available in english, french, german, japanese, korean, mandarin chinese, spanish and italian. We also offer a hawaiian-language audio tour, primarily for students in hawaiian language immersion schools. Our visitor count total was 105,359 for the reporting year.we designate the second sunday of every month as "kama'aina sunday," where up to 500 residents receive a self-guided audio tour of the palace without having to pay an admission fee. The museum serves a considerable number of foreign dignitaries whose complimentary visits to the palace are arranged by their respective consuls general in honolulu. The palace has also welcomed in the past the head of state for the independent nation of samoa, the king of aotearoa (new zealand), the king of tonga, the vice premier of the state council for the people's republic of china, governors of various prefectures in japan, and his holiness the dalai lama.the palace offers an educational program that focuses on hawaiian history and the last monarch of the kingdom of hawai'i. We are committed to providing students with a well-rounded educational experience that combines history and culture. There were 4,361 student visitors this year.

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 90% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of total spending goes to programs. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 54.8%; rating input score 55
  • Program expense ratio: 72.8%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $12.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 28.5%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.87; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.08; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.9% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 24.7% per year; rating input score 100; 89th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 54.8% of revenue deployed · 72.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 19 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $3.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 24 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $569K reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 44/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 28/100.