Changemakers Hawai‘i to announce new initiative to support non-profit organizations

Changemakers Hawaiʻi, a Hilo-based Community and Economic Development Financial Institution for Native Hawaiian and underserved communities, will announce a new initiative to provide 1,000 hours of free fund development assistance for a Native Hawaiian nonprofit organization on July 31 during its live-streaming event Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea at 12:45 p.m. at changemakershawaii.org.

Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sovereignty Restoration Day) was established by King Kamehameha III. In 1840 British forces, illegally occupied the kingdom of Hawaiʻi. King Kamehameha III fiercely responded, and the rightful return of sovereignty to Hawaiʻi from the United Kingdom occurred on July 31, 1843, signified by the re-raising of the Hawaiian flag in Honolulu.

To honor this part of Hawaiian history, Changemakers Hawaiʻi is hosting a live-streaming event with their community partners to take back and reclaim a piece of communities’ sovereignty – financial wealth building.

“We hope non-profit organizations will tune into our live streaming event on July 31 to hear how our new program may help them,” said Olani Lilly, executive director of Changemakers Hawaiʻi. “We encourage all eligible organizations to apply, because this amount of free help can make a huge dent an organization’s ability to achieve its goals.”

Raising Change, part of Changemakers’ Philanthropono program, requires participants to volunteer 90 hours at a Native Hawaiian or underserved organization to help them meet their fundraising goals. All of the Raising Change program participants, Change Agents, will donate their time to the chosen project, which will be announced in September and equaling a total of 1,000 hours donated for one year.

Applications will open during the live-stream event on July 31 at changemakershawaii.org. Depending on the applications, one or two projects will be chosen and announced in September.

Changemakers Hawaiʻi designed the Philanthropono program to strengthen the capacity of community organizations to meet their mission and Raising Change is a part of that program. Philanthropono is focused on developing passion professions in underserved and Native Hawaiian communities and offers various learning opportunities, such as grant writing and financial planning.

Program tuition is paid by donors and grants from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Administration for Native Americans, and is at no cost to the participant; in exchange, participants must agree to “pay it forward” by donating their time to help a nonprofit fund raise.