Ohana Waa
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The educational and charitable purposes of Ohana Waa are embedded in our mission to work together to elevate the collective health and life of our Voyaging traditions, and in our vision to ensure our voyaging legacies live on.
- Income
- $335,456
- Spending
- $154,033
- Spent on programs
- 81%
- Reserves
- 24.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 100%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 1,000
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 88% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 24.5 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 54% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 125% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1581% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 71 out of 100. Higher than 47% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, $250k to $1m).
Independent board
25 of 2518 of 18 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Independent check of accounts
12 of 15Its accounts were reviewed or compiled by an independent accountant, but not audited.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (3)
- $13,728 spent. Capacity Building: During 2024, Ohana Waa continued to hold regular (at least monthly) Zoom meetings among directors, officers and interested parties who live across Hawaii. These regular meetings kept the Hawaii-wide voyaging community connected and inspired. We continued our capacity building focus from 2022, based on the Strategic Plan that we developed in 2023. Our contracted grant coordinator, a logistics coordinator, and a website development and maintenance team kept us on task. We also participated in the annual Ikuwa Festival in Hilo, Hawaii, celebrating voyaging across Hawaii, including filling Hilo Bay with little sailing canoes that are perfect for training all ages of sailors and future voyagers.
- $93,110 spent. Lahaina: After the devastating August 2023 wildfires, which destroyed the heart of the Maui's voyaging community in Lahaina, Ohana Waa took in grants and donations specifically to support that voyaging community. As one ohana (family) across all our islands, we have always come together to support the individual canoe communities that make up Ohana Waa when there is need. The support and generosity for our Maui ohana was heart lifting for that community to experience and for all of us to witness. Donations and messages from across the world reminded us that we are not isolated in the middle of the Pacific; the ocean continues to connect us. The funding platform was temporary (only through 2023), with funds used for short-term relief efforts toward the health of the broader Lahaina voyaging community, as that community decided its own direction and where resources should flow. The grants and donations exceeded our hopes, and while must of the funds were expended in 2024, some will continue to be used for Lahaina resident recovery and community building into early 2025. None of these funds went toward administrative costs; they have been and will be all directed to voyaging community members and are provided on a reimbursement basis only, and only up to $5,000 per voyager. For example, the funds were used to help rebuild portions of multi-generational homes, to partial payments for purchases of replacement vehicles, food for families living out of hotel rooms without kitchens, a forklift rental to move pallets of donated supplies, portable toilet rentals, replacement fishing supplies used for sustenance fishing, voyaging canoe repair and replacement engines and trailers, and replacement home supplies. In early 2024, we also supported our Lahaina voyaging community by sailing our large and small voyaging canoes to Lahaina from all of our islands, with our crew and leadership joining the Lahaina Unity March of several thousand people in support of the traditional, multi-ethnic and multi-generational community of Lahaina. The March was organized by an Ohana Waa captain, who lives in Lahaina.
- $17,777 spent. Unity among voyaging leadership around the Pacific: In 2024, Ohana Waa continued our cultural exchanges and leadership support for Pacific voyagers. We continued engagement with voyaging leadership by attending and supporting the attendance of significant voyaging events, so that we can continue learn from each other and stay connected, realize synergies, and create opportunities, all of which is best done in person from an indigenous perspective. We also developed makana (cultural gifts) and outreach materials for cultural exchanges, such as banners, table covers, tents, coolers and jugs for traditional provisioning. Specific support was provided for inter-island cross-generational training of crew members and leadership in voyaging and canoe preparation. We began the year by sailing our canoes into Lahaina and joining a Lahaina Unity March with members of the Lahaina, Maui and Hawaii communities. Then, in June, we again sailed in our voyaging canoes from around the islands and flew in voyaging leadership to participate in the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture held in Hawaii. This festival is the world's largest celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders, and it was the first time it had been held in Hawaii, and it brought indigenous people from more than 20 nations here. Ohana Waa's waa kaulua sailed FestPac leadership into the Opening Ceremony, and members of Ohana Waa participated in FestPac's Waa Community Day, Waa Symposium, and Holomoana (Voyaging) Day. All of these events brought together voyagers, waa elders, and the broader community to experience and engage in activities, presentations, and discussions centered around our rich voyaging history. Next, in the fall, we participated in the Hilo Fill the Bay with small, traditional sailing canoes, including one that was built entirely out of native woods and fibers, and we participated in the annual Ikuwa festival, based on traditional wayfinding, in Hilo's Imiloa Center, which is a member organization of Ohana Waa.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since July 2019.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
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