Benefits

A company that joins EF Hawai‘i benefits in the following ways:

• The company creates its own philanthropic fund without taking cash out of the business. If a liquidity event occurs, the fund could become quite large and make significant donations to Hawai‘i charities.
• The company gets help from EF Hawai‘i to organize community activities and programs that are tailored to the company’s interests and resources.
• The company develops a stronger corporate culture. When employees participate together in community service activities, their pride in the company increases, their teamwork and communication improve, they feel a greater sense of job satisfaction, and the company enjoys an edge in retention and recruitment.
• The company may receive a valuable tax deduction.
• The company receives recognition as a responsible corporate citizen.
• EF Hawai‘i organizes networking and educational events for its companies and the investors and others who support them.
• Through the national and international EF affiliates, EF Hawai‘i companies have access to a powerful network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and service providers.

The benefits of the EF model were exemplified by the Hoku Scientific public offering in 2005. EF Hawai‘i sold the shares that had been donated by the company and used part of the proceeds to create the Hoku Scientific Charitable Fund, allowing the company to make donations to Hawai‘i nonprofit organizations. EF Hawai‘i used a portion of the remaining proceeds to make its own grants to innovative Hawai‘i charities.