Hawai‘i’s Most Charitable Companies 2020

The annual overview shows local philanthropy remained strong in 2019 – an important foundation for local charities considering the difficult challenges they face this year.

Charities are pivoting this year to meet the need for services. For instance, local food banks are facing hugely increased need yet are not being supplied by traditional food donation drives. 

Hawai‘i’s generosity shone again in 2019, with another year of benevolent support from companies and nonprofits on our Most Charitable Companies list.

A total of $119.8 million in cash and in-kind donations were given by 90 organizations across O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i Island and Kaua‘i last year. Employees of these organizations gave an additional $4.4 million and 82,374 hours of their time to philanthropic causes.

The list is broken into three categories this time: charities, nonprofit companies and for-profit companies. We wanted to provide an apples to apples depiction of giving by companies with similar structures. Every business is unique, and categorizing is never a perfect science, but we believe this is the best way.

Thirteen nonprofit companies reported total giving of $8.4 million in 2019: $7.6 million in cash and the rest in-kind. Among these companies, the average giving as a percentage of gross annual sales was 0.31%, with a median of 0.23%.

Sixty-nine for-profit companies reported total giving of $28.8 million in 2019. The for-profit companies averaged giving 0.25% of their gross annual sales with a median of 0.1%. The largest percentage was 2.33% – reported by law firm McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon.

 

Charity Impacts

The eight charities on this list reported total giving of $82.7 million in 2019.  Hawaii Foodbank and Aloha United Way contributed $34.8 million of that total. More companies said they donated to Hawaii Foodbank and its partner organizations Maui Food Bank and Hawai‘i County’s The Food Basket than any other charity; Aloha United Way was second. The American Heart Association, Child & Family Service and Ho‘ōla Nā Pua round out the top five charities that companies donated to in 2019. The Hawai‘i Community Foundation did not report its donations to Hawaii Business Magazine this year.

Hawaii Foodbank worked with 51 partner agencies on its ‘Ohana Produce Plus program in 2019 to distribute over 2.6 million pounds of produce and 3.7 million pounds of other food across O‘ahu and Kaua‘i, Danny Schlag, director of marketing and communications for the Hawaii Foodbank, tells Hawaii Business Magazine via email. This program is a primary source of produce for many low-income families, kūpuna, and homeless or disabled people.

A program that saw tremendous growth in 2019 was the Food 4 Keiki School Pantry initiative, Schlag writes. Over a dozen pantries were established during the 2018-19 school year serving 11,702 students with after-school snacks and food bags to share with their families. Two other programs provided over 12,000 kūpuna with vital staple foods last year, he writes.

Food donations remained steady in 2019 and cash donations increased, which was a good thing as 2020 has brought an “unprecedented challenge of providing food to thousands of households newly at risk of experiencing food insecurity,” Schlag writes. Since March 2020, Hawaii Foodbank has purchased over $5.25 million in emergency food supplies, compared to a typical $400,000 annually.

Pandemic-related supply chain disruptions and a decrease in food collection drives due to stay at home orders have resulted in low inventories at food banks. “Items that normally take four to six weeks to get to Hawai‘i from distributors on the continental U.S. are now taking three to four months to arrive,” Schlag writes.

Nonetheless, he says, the food banks are doing their best to meet the massively increased demand.

In April, Hawaii Foodbank committed to purchase $200,000 of local agriculture products in a partnership with the Hawaii Farm Bureau, a strategic effort to help local farms that was already being planned pre-COVID. As of mid-September, the Hawaii Foodbank had actually purchased $900,000 worth of local produce from 24 Hawai‘i farms, Schlag writes.

 

Aloha United Way

Aloha United Way invested $18 million into the community in 2019 through its Community Care Fund. This money was channeled to 324 partner organizations to provide community services – a model that the AUW says allows a quick and nimble response to meet evolving needs of Hawai‘i’s most vulnerable.

One of the most used services was AUW’s 2-1-1 helpline, a call center for individuals who need help to tap into available resources quickly. AUW reports that 82,709 people used 2-1-1 last year.

“In 2019, Aloha United Way celebrated one hundred years of service to our communities. None of that would have been possible without the generosity of community members and partners,” President and CEO John Fink says in an email to Hawaii Business Magazine.

AUW’s other charitable focuses in 2019 included housing, childcare and early learning, and postsecondary education. These initiatives helped the state’s asset limited, income constrained and employed population – the ALICE families – the folks who work in Hawai‘i yet do not earn enough to save money.

Fink says 2020 “has proven to be a great test of AUW’s mettle. We have created new relationships and strengthened old ones as we partnered with government, business and nonprofit leaders. Working together has enabled us to ramp up support for those in need through our funding services and the AUW 2-1-1 referral service.” AUW says weekly call volume to the 2-1-1 helpline increased over 600% since the onset of the pandemic.

The latest figure before this story was published was that $1.68 million has been raised for the Hawaii COVID-19 Response & Recovery Fund. Some of that money went to AUW’s COVID-19 rent and utility assistance program, which has saved 665 households statewide from eviction, the charity reports.


Methodology: Data for the Most Charitable Companies list was compiled through surveys conducted by Hawaii Business Magazine. All information is self-reported by the organizations on the list. We asked companies to indicate if they are for-profit or nonprofit organizations. We then created three lists: one of for-profit companies, another of charitable nonprofits and a third of nonprofits like credit unions and health insurers.

The charity category includes organizations whose sole purpose is philanthropy and serving the community.

 

Charity Name Total 2019 Combined Donations Cash and In-Kind 2019 Cash Donations 2019 In-Kind Donations Total Giving as % of Gross Annual Sales Employee
Volunteer Hours On the Job
Employee
Volunteer Hours Off the Job
Cash Donations from Employees
Kamehameha Schools $39,911,382.00 $39,911,382.00 15.53% $182,613.00
Hawaii Foodbank Inc. $21,232,530.00 $21,232,530.00 100
Aloha United Way $13,518,141.00 $13,099,641.00 $418,500.00 72.86% 450 175 $33,098.00
The Clarence T.C. Ching Foundation $5,616,130.00 $5,616,130.00
Parker Ranch Foundation Trust $2,404,558.11 $2,404,558.11
YMCA of Honolulu $2,250.00 $2,250.00 0.01% 600 500 $71,410.83
Blood Bank of Hawaii $16,100.00
Child & Family Service 450 $19,486.71

 

For-Profit Company Name Total 2019 Combined Donations Cash and In-Kind 2019 Cash Donations 2019 In-Kind Donations Total Giving as % of Gross Annual Sales Employee
Volunteer Hours On the Job
Employee
Volunteer Hours Off the Job
Cash Donations from Employees
First Hawaiian Bank 5256986 4250000 1006986 0.0049 8258 13405 815000
Matson, Inc. 3735000 2449000 1286000 0.0011
Bank of Hawaii Corp. 3167256 2391355 775901 0.0031 8960 6506.5 860000
Hawaii Foodservice Alliance LLC 2200000 2200000
Kokusai Kogyo Kanri Kabushiki Kaisha –  1393579 353369 1040210 0.0005 8303 215194
US Operations
American Savings Bank  1150030 1150030 0.0036 15025 170633
Alexander & Baldwin Inc. 1020000 1020000 0.0023
MacNaughton 849950.46 848075.46 1875 842 16 18950
First Insurance Company of Hawaii Ltd. 830500 820500 10000 0.0031 750 1250 39244
Hawaiian Airlines 743120 457994 285126 0.0002 10163 97576.2
Central Pacific Financial Corp. 661041.32 661041.32 0.0029 4715 69646.39
Servco Pacific Inc. 623896 617519 6377 0.0003 1500 3500 188730
Enterprise Holdings Foundation & Enterprise,  600000 525000 75000 2100 3600 275000
Alamo & National Car Rental
Alaska Airlines 581300 130100 451200 0.0002
The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua 568124 72310 495814 712 1786 4415
Pasha Hawaii 548123 247592 300531 0.0004
Par Hawaii, LLC 392277 392277 0.0001 1258 153012
Y. Hata & Co., Limited 382311 195270 187041 0.0006
McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP 350000 350000 0.0233 25000
Hawaiian Telcom 298429 285429 13000 0.0008 7757 18173
Locations 271974 261974 10000 0.0049 1469 283743
Nordic PCL Construction Inc. 251200 231200 20000 0.0014 300 500 40000
Corteva Agriscience 212350 182350 30000 250 25 10000
TD Food Group Inc. 200387 200387 0.0015 33000
Atlas Insurance Agency Inc. 197194 187094 10100 0.007 40 115
Dorvin D. Leis Co. Inc. 181781 166781 15000 0.0009 50 300 12000
American Carpet One – Floor and Home 155000 140000 15000 250 20 50000
Bowers + Kubota Consulting Inc. 153094 43403 109691 0.0009 478 53716
G70  130900 130900 0.0038 1750
ProService Hawaii 128931 128931 0.0004
Alan Shintani, Inc. 118000 115000 3000 0.0045 500 3970
AHL 106303.15 44666.25 61636.9 0.0017 30 1216.25
Economy Plumbing & Air Conditioning 103000 103000
I. Kitagawa and Co. Ltd. 90000 90000 0.001
Swinerton Builders 81815 28175 53640 0.0002 7200 3600 23740
WATG 80000 60000 20000 0.007
Hensel Phelps Construction Co. 73000 60000 13000 0.0002 200
Pacific Guardian Life Insurance Company, Limited 65000 65000 0.0008 69 9700
JL Capital 64420.98 64420.98 33
Clinical Labs of Hawaii 61446 41850 19596 0.0003 176 20
RAM Corporation 58787.18 58787.18 0.0007
Young Brothers LLC 56400 23750 32650 0.0002 30033.34
Offline Sharks LLC 55000 20000 35000 0.0179 200
RevoluSun Smart Home / RevoluSun LLC 53500 26000 27500 0.0003 20 180 2200
Coconut Condos 51857 49482 2375 0.0112 122 164 100
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate  49702 46702 3000 0.0024 249 327 34568
Advantage Realty
Bays Lung Rose & Holma 42550 42550 0.0038 100
Anthology Marketing Group 35000 5000 30000 0.0004 200 200 15000
The Hawaii Group Inc. 35000 35000 0.0069 500 200 1500
Contract Furnishers of Hawaii Inc. 32832 32832 0.001
New York Life Insurance Co. 32500 32500 16757
Tanaka Of Tokyo Restaurants Ltd. 27840 21140 6700 0.0016 61
Aqua Engineers Inc. 25000 25000 0.001
Coffman Engineers Inc. 19000 19000 0.0019
T&T Tinting Specialists Inc. 18000 3000 15000 0.0007 40 1500
S & M Sakamoto, Inc. 15600 15600 0.0007
Elite Pacific Construction Inc. 13000 13000 0.0008
Pacxa 12428.55 11405 1023.55 0.0003 30 375 1000
Alaka‘i Mechanical Corp. 10000 10000 0.0002
Alert Holdings Group Inc. dba Alert Alarm of Hawaii 10000 5000 5000 0.0002 250
Bishop & Company Inc. 9217 9217 0.0015
Huber Pools Inc.  5000 5000 0.0012
Maui Plumbing Inc.  3725 3725 0.0006
Environmental Science International 2750 2750 0.0004
BeautiGoddess Lash Studio 2000 2000
Glad Life Inc 760 760 118
Admor HVAC Products Inc 70000
Farmers Insurance Hawaii Inc. 203 54
Pflueger Inc. 24

 

Nonprofit Company Name Total 2019 Combined Donations Cash and In-Kind 2019 Cash Donations 2019 In-Kind Donations Total Giving as % of Gross Annual Sales Employee
Volunteer Hours On the Job
Employee
Volunteer Hours Off the Job
Cash Donations from Employees
Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) 1893825.93 1854427.25 39398.68 0.0005 1200 273734
Hawaii Dental Service (HDS) 1680146 1672363 7783 0.0069 520 14555.08
TMT International Observatory LLC 1397488 1397488 387 375
Kaiser Permanente Hawaii 1321856 1311205 10651 2857 11454 96669
HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union 482700 304479 178221 0.0034 3100 1034 11760
Kahala Nui 400633.84 276462 124171.84 0.0058 1404 144 2710
AlohaCare 394038 394038 21013
UHA Health Insurance (University Health Alliance) 383500 383500 0.0012 26.25 507 17430
Hawaii Medical Assurance Association (HMAA) 150750 141500 9250 0.0007 468 3463.4
Hawaii Community Federal Credit Union  148196 143196 5000 0.0061 300 1000 14000
Finance Factors Ltd. 125526 124526 1000 0.0059 1870 200 12864
Pearl Hawaii Federal Credit Union 28500 6000 22500 0.0004 200 200 1900
Hawaii Central Federal Credit Union 2000 2000 0.0002 200 8000
Categories: Lists & Awards, Most Charitable Companies