Welcome to your daily briefing on nonprofit developments in Hawaii. Today we're covering 7 key stories including updates on hawaii nonprofit headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
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The Hawaii Attorney General's Tax & Charities Division oversees tax and charitable organization matters for the state.
HI nonprofit professionals rely on this division for regulatory guidance, compliance requirements, and charitable registration.
The State Foundation on Culture and the Arts has published a curated list of federal, state, and other arts and culture grants and opportunities available this month.
Hawaii nonprofit professionals can access funding streams to support cultural programming, community arts initiatives, and organizational sustainability.
The Hawaii Attorney General now offers an online search to find information about charitable organizations, commercial co-venturers, professional solicitors, and fundraising counsels registered to solicit contributions in Hawaii, with archived agreements and financial reports also available.
Nonprofit professionals in HI can verify compliance status of partners and competitors while ensuring their own organization's registration is properly listed.
The Hawaii Community Foundation maintains a webpage showing currently open grant applications that nonprofits can apply for.
HI nonprofit professionals can identify active funding opportunities from a major local grantmaker to support their programs and operations.
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Most states require charities soliciting donations from their residents to register before solicitation, regardless of where the charity is based. "Solicitation" includes web fundraising pages accessible to residents, not just direct mail. Compliance gaps surface during state attorney-general inquiries or unrelated litigation discovery.
Penalties range from civil fines to suspension of solicitation rights in the state. Larger consequences include negative coverage in donor research databases that fund foundation grants.
Donor-restricted gifts must be tracked separately and used only for the restricted purpose; using them for general operations — even with intent to "pay back" later — is a fiduciary breach and an audit finding. The most-common fact pattern: cash-flow shortage in operations, restricted-grant balance available, transfer "borrowed" with no formal repayment plan.
State attorneys general have authority over restricted-gift compliance and have pursued individual board members and executives. Auditors are required to disclose restricted-fund violations in the management letter.
Unrelated business income tax applies when an activity is regularly carried on, is a trade or business, and is not substantially related to the exempt purpose. Common surprises: corporate-sponsored events with naming rights that look like advertising, affinity credit-card royalties that include co-marketing services, and gift-shop sales of items unrelated to the mission.
UBIT exposure can cost both tax and exempt status if the unrelated business becomes substantial. The line between sponsorship (excluded) and advertising (included) is narrow and case-specific.
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