Every year for the past 36 years, thousands of runners have lined up early in the morning on Presidents Day to take part in the Great Aloha Run, backed by what must be hundreds of volunteers, and many island businesses.

The course runs from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium, and the event is billed as promoting healthy lifestyles, as well as raising money for local charities and military organizations. The list of participants, supporters, and sponsors is impressive.

KITV reported more than 13,000 people participated this year, ponying up their entrance fees for the privilege of taking part in what has become a local tradition.

Watching the news, I wondered just how much money is raised for charities, and whether the race is as efficient at raising money for charity as it is at attracting participants and publicity.

So I headed over to Guidestar.com, which makes it simple to find the federal tax records of registered charitable organizations. Additional years’ tax returns can be found in the group’s detailed listing on the website maintained by the attorney general’s Tax & Charities division.

The Great Aloha Run is a trademark owned by Carole Kai Charities, Inc., a Hawaii nonprofit corporation.

According to its Guidestar listing, the mission of Carole Kai Charities, Inc., is “organize & operate a community wide run/walk in order to obtain funds exclusively for various charities in the State of Hawaii.”

The statement of purpose, filed with the attorney general’s office, is stated slightly differently.

To stage, through Community participation, health and fitness activities (the Great Aloha Run, the Free In-training workshops and the High School Fitness & Mind Challenge). The sole purpose of the Great Aloha Run and its related activities are to generate monies for Hawaii’s charitable and community organizations.

This statement of purpose isn’t really clear. Is the primary purpose to stage events? Or to “generate monies” for charity?

Evaluating whether or not they accomplish their goals produces different conclusions depending on which goal is actually considered primary.

If the primary purpose is putting on an annual race that attracts thousands of participants and hundreds of volunteers, while involving a number of sponsors or other corporate and business supporters, then Carole Kai Charities and its Great Aloha Run are very successful indeed.

Not only do they put on a highly visible and popular event, but nearly 90% of total expenses are related to the Great Aloha Run. Only $128,399 (11% of total expenses) went to general overhead such as management, general expenses, or fundraising.

So if the organization’s purpose is producing the Great Aloha Run, they seem to get high marks in all categories.

But if the primary goal is to raise money for charities, then things look quite a bit different.

The organization’s public relations pitch says more than $14 million have been raised for charities since the founding of the event 36 years ago. That seems like an enviable record.

More details can be found in Form 990, the annual tax return Carole Kai Charities files with the Internal Revenue Service.

The most recent tax return covers the 2017 tax year, which included the period from July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2018. The deadline for filing was extended until May 15, 2019. The return is dated May 10, 2019, and was stamped as received on May 21, 2019.

During this tax year, Carole Kai Charities, Inc., reported total income of $1,171,248.

Of that total, $1,147,551 was “program service revenue” from the Great Aloha Run. That would be money raised through entrance fees, merchandising, and other related marketing efforts of the Great Aloha Run.

In addition, the organization reported $10,697 in investment income and $13,000 from “other contributions, gifts, grants, and similar amounts.”

Now, pay attention. Total expenses were reported to be $1,167,725.

Expenses identified as “program service expenses,” the cost of putting on the Great Aloha Run, make up $1,039,326, or 89% of total expenses.

Meanwhile, the tax return shows $212,645 was contributed to local charities. While a significant dollar amount, those charitable contributions were only 20.5% of total expenses, and just over 18% of Carole Kai Charities, Inc.’s total income.

If the primary purpose of Carole Kai Charities, Inc., is to raise money for charity, then it doesn’t appear to be very efficient, with less than 20 cents of each dollar raised being contributed to local nonprofit groups.

And where did those charitable contributions go?

According to the tax return: “Grants are not given or awarded. Instead contributions are made to selected charitable organizations which serve the community needs of Hawaii.

The IRS requires that recipients of $5,000 or more be itemized. The 2017 tax return lists six organizations which received more than $5,000.

United Cerebral Palsy Assn of Hawaii: $25,000
UH Foundation: $10,945.
McKinley High School: $7,250
Big Brothers, Big Sisters: $7,000
Kahoomiki: $5,700
Aiea High School: $5,450

The remaining $151,300 was presumably distributed in amounts of $5,000 or less.

In the end, I’m not clear on which criteria should be used to evaluate an organization like Carole Kai Charities and its Great Aloha Run. From one perspective, it is very successful. From another perspective, based on the same mission statement, it misses the mark.

If you have an opinion, feel free to chime in with a comment.