Kosasa Foundation

The Kosasa Foundation is a Honolulu-based private family foundation built on the four-generation legacy of the Kosasa family, founders of ABC Stores, Hawaii's dominant retail chain. It operates as a focused strategic grantmaker — not a responsive open-door funder — organized around four named program pillars: Community-Based Environmental Stewardship (CBES), Culture & Arts (Creative Capacity), Early Childhood Education (ECE), and Opportunity Youth (ages 16–24). A fifth track, the General application, serves organizations whose work falls outside these pillars but demonstrates significant impact on vulnerable populations or systemic improvement.

The foundation strongly favors established Hawaii nonprofits with deep community roots over newer entrants or mainland organizations. Analysis of the 655-grant portfolio confirms that long-term relationships drive the foundation's largest commitments: Kuakini Medical Center has received 9 grants totaling $5.43 million; Mid-Pacific Institute, 9 grants totaling $2.375 million; YMCA of Honolulu, 11 grants totaling $1.865 million. First-time applicants should not expect to land a flagship grant immediately — the foundation builds toward multi-year commitments with organizations it comes to trust.

Two of the four programs — ECE and Opportunity Youth — are invitation-only, meaning relationship cultivation with foundation staff before the application window opens is not optional; it is the prerequisite. The Culture & Arts (Creative Capacity) and General tracks are the most accessible entry points for first-time applicants. Capital campaigns run on a separate track with their own August deadline.

The foundation uses a questionnaire-first model: all applicants must complete an online Prospective Grantee Questionnaire at kosasafoundation.org/grants/questionnaire/ before gaining access to the full application portal. The questionnaire's open-ended narrative question — asking applicants to explain alignment in their own words — is a real filter, not a formality. Vague answers eliminate candidates before any reviewer sees a budget.

The foundation is classified as a private non-operating foundation (IRS subsection 03), distributing exclusively through grants to 501(c)(3) organizations working in Hawaii. Contributions to the foundation are tax-deductible. CEO Christine Van Bergeijk, compensated at $199,519 in FY2024, leads professional staff operations; the board is composed entirely of Kosasa family members plus two independent directors.

Across 655 documented grants, the Kosasa Foundation has disbursed $50.79 million in total. The average grant across this full dataset is $77,549, though the foundation's own typical grant data (based on a 56-grant sample from recent filings) shows a median of $20,000 and an average of $44,143, with a range of $2,500 to $500,000 per single grant. This bimodal distribution reflects the portfolio's structure: many $10,000–$50,000 general operating or program grants alongside large capital and flagship commitments reaching six or seven figures.

Annual giving has ranged considerably: $5.19M in FY2024, $8.14M in FY2022, $8.10M in FY2021, and $6.86M in FY2020. Total assets grew from $68.7M (FY2018) to $159.4M (FY2024), driven by large family contributions — $48.4M in FY2018, $46.9M in FY2019, $23.2M in FY2022 — indicating active endowment-building. Net investment income of $14.7M in FY2024 significantly exceeded grants paid ($5.19M), suggesting ample capacity to increase distribution in upcoming cycles.

By sector, the portfolio's dollar concentration breaks down as follows:

• Healthcare and human services (largest by volume): Kuakini Medical Center $5.43M, Blood Bank of Hawaii $1.1M, Hale Makua Health Services $1M, Rehab Foundation $450K, Hawaii Cord Blood Bank $300K
• K–12 and higher education: Mid-Pacific Institute $2.375M, University of Hawaii Foundation $850K, Sacred Hearts Academy $300K, Chaminade University $275K, multiple island private schools ($250K range)
• Youth services and workforce development: YMCA of Honolulu $1.865M, Mental Health America of Hawaii $400K, Kupu $380K, Hoola Na Pua $250K
• Housing and community development: Family Life Center $1M (Maui wildfire recovery), Dynamic Community Solutions $1M (permanent housing), Hawaiian Community Assets $500K
• Arts and culture: Japanese American National Museum $1.25M, PBS Hawaii $800K, Hawaii Symphony Orchestra $421K
• Environmental stewardship: University of Hawaii climate research ($250K+), Kupu conservation corps programs

Geographically, 97% of grants (638 of 655) go to Hawaii organizations. The 12 California grants are concentrated in Japanese American heritage institutions, particularly the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles — reflecting the Kosasa family's personal and community connections. ECE grants of $50,000–$200,000 per year for one- or two-year projects represent the structured programmatic tier; capital campaigns and flagship operating support drive the larger figures.

The following comparison uses approximate figures from public IRS 990 filings and foundation directories; some figures are estimates.

Kosasa Foundation occupies Hawaii's mid-tier of private foundations by asset size — meaningfully larger than Atherton but smaller than Harold K.L. Castle and a fraction of Hawaii Community Foundation's scale. Its defining characteristic is the four-pillar program structure, which creates more focus than most peers and a higher bar for first-time applicants via the questionnaire-first model. Unlike Hawaii Community Foundation's open competitive rounds, Kosasa's invitation-only tracks for ECE and Opportunity Youth make relationship cultivation essential. The foundation's demonstrated willingness to make $1M+ capital grants distinguishes it from Atherton, which rarely reaches that level. Organizations seeking systemic impact capital at the seven-figure level in Hawaii should consider Kosasa alongside Harold K.L. Castle Foundation as the two primary non-government sources of that scale of philanthropic investment.

The most significant recent development is the February 2025 launch of the Creative Capacity program, the foundation's first formal arts and culture grant initiative. President Paul Kosasa announced the $1 million allocation, stating: 'The fabric of our society needs an arts and culture component, just like athletics or health care or anything else that society needs.' CEO Christine van Bergeijk cited a commissioned survey finding nearly 1,000 arts organizations in Hawaii employing 3,000 people and generating $300 million annually as the empirical basis for the investment. The inaugural deadline was April 25, 2025, with 49 applications received — a strong response suggesting significant pent-up demand from Hawaii's arts sector. A second Creative Capacity round is confirmed for April 24, 2026.

The foundation also held a 2025 Gathering of CBES Grantees, convening its Community-Based Environmental Stewardship portfolio partners — a reflection of the foundation's practice of building learning communities across funded organizations beyond transactional grantmaking.

Financially, FY2024 brought total assets to $159.4M (up from $138.9M in FY2022), with $13.76M in new contributions from the Kosasa family and net investment income of $14.69M. CEO Christine van Bergeijk's compensation increased from $175,000 in FY2022 to $199,519 in FY2024, reflecting organizational maturation as structured programming expanded. The board composition — Paul J. Kosasa (President/Treasurer), Susan M. Kosasa (VP/Secretary), Thomas S. Kosasa, Ian Kosasa, and Lindsay Kosasa as family directors, with Tracy Ide and Riki Morimoto as independent directors — showed no reported leadership changes for 2025–2026.

Start with the questionnaire — it is the only door in. Kosasa Foundation's portal is invitation-gated; you cannot submit a full proposal without first completing the Prospective Grantee Questionnaire at kosasafoundation.org/grants/questionnaire/ and receiving an invitation. Treat this questionnaire narrative as your cover letter, pitch, and alignment proof in a single answer.

Choose the right deadline track before you start the questionnaire. Four separate deadline clusters exist in 2026: - January 23: General applications (questionnaire submission) - April 24: Culture & Arts (Creative Capacity); Opportunity Youth (invitation); ECE (invitation) - August 7: Capital campaigns; Community-Based Environmental Stewardship - October 23: General applications; Opportunity Youth (invitation); ECE (invitation)

A capital campaign application routed through the general track — or a CBES proposal submitted in January — is unlikely to receive full programmatic review.

Mirror the foundation's own language in your questionnaire answer. The four pillars each have specific vocabulary: 'Opportunity Youth ages 16–24,' 'Community-Based Environmental Stewardship,' 'Employer-Sponsored Childcare / Kindergarten Readiness / Workforce Development' (ECE system pillars). Generic framing ('serving youth' or 'protecting the environment') does not signal alignment — it signals that you have not read the program pages.

One grant per year, no exceptions. Even if your organization serves multiple focus areas, apply for your strongest alignment in a given cycle. The hard limit is enforced.

Don't apply if you currently hold an active Kosasa grant. Verify your account status before starting the questionnaire. Current grantees are explicitly excluded.

For invitation-only programs (ECE and Opportunity Youth): Attend sector convenings, connect with program staff through Hawaii's philanthropic network, and bring peer references and outcome data to any introduction. The foundation surfaces candidates through field relationships, not cold questionnaires.

For Culture & Arts (Creative Capacity): Emphasize Native Hawaiian voices, emerging artists, accessibility initiatives, or audience-broadening strategies. The program was designed explicitly to lift underrepresented cultural perspectives and reduce barriers to arts access — not to fund established institutions' core operations. Up to $100,000 per year for multi-year grants.

Capital grants require institutional credibility. Major capital recipients like Kuakini Medical Center and Blood Bank of Hawaii had years of operating-support history with the foundation before landing seven-figure campaign gifts. First-time capital applicants need to demonstrate substantial lead gifts from other sources and architectural-level planning documentation.