“Everyone needs to know how giving changes lives in Maine.” That’s one of the conclusions of Giving in Maine: A Report on Philanthropy 2008. Co-produced by the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Philanthropy Center, the report seeks to start a conversation around the impact and potential of philanthropy in Maine.
The Giving in Maine report highlights a number of projects supported by philanthropy, including the Maine Policy Scholars program established by Peter Cox at the Maine Community Foundation.
2007 Maine Policy Scholars. Front row (left to right): Representative Kim Silsby; Sarah Sherman, 2006-‘07 Scholar, UMA; Anna Korsen, 2006-07 Scholar, USM; Theresa Dempsey, 2006-07 Scholar, UMM; Alex Pringle, 2006-07 Scholar, UMF; Senator Elizabeth Mitchell, Advisory Committee Member. Back row: Governor Angus King, chair, Program Advisory Committee; Wendy Wolf, executive director, Maine Health Access Foundation; Amy Clearwater, 2005-06 Scholar, UMF, and Graduation Panel Member.
Here are a few headlines from the report:
- Philanthropy in Maine is accelerating rapidly.
- Foundations have grown in number, from 110 foundations in 1983 to 289 in 2005. Foundation assets have nearly doubled over the last five years, from $800 million to $1.5 billion, while giving has increased by 74%. Of the state’s largest 20 foundations, 18 were created in the past 25 years.
- Individuals in Maine are giving more generously. Individual giving has multiplied more than 7 fold in 22 years (from $67 million to $482 million). In the last five years both total giving and average giving have increased by 25%.
- Individual donors are the key to giving in Maine.
- Individuals account for most of the charitable giving in Maine. Around 80% of all charitable gifts in Maine come from individual donors. Over 165,000 or 27% of households filing taxes in Maine claim a charitable deduction.
- Mainers give less during their lifetimes than the average American. Maine is among the ten states with the lowest average income and is also among the lowest in terms of average charitable deductions.
- Mainers give more generously upon their deaths than national averages (27% of Maine estates include a charitable bequest versus 20% nationally).
- The United Ways of Maine, using funding from individual donors, contributed $17,175,909 in 2007 to issues areas across the state. In 2005, the United Way of Eastern Maine worked with the Eastern Maine Funders to provide either fuel or weatherization for more than 1,000 homes.
- Foundations fund Maine nonprofits.
- In 2005, Maine nonprofits attracted both national and state funding of $118 million.
- Maine foundations direct more funds to the environment and health and human services than do their national counterparts. This focus reflects the interests and needs of Maine.
- Foundation spending cannot replace public funding
- Philanthropy complements and enhances government spending. The total annual grantmaking of Maine foundations could run the state government for 5.3 days.
- In 2005, state and local governments spent $2.3 billion on health and welfare while 20 of Maine’s largest foundations spent only a fraction of that: $21 million. Maine foundations could run the health and human services department for 11.2 days if it received all theirs grants.
Download a copy of the Giving in Maine Report(2MB pdf). For a hard copy, please call the Maine Community Foundation, (877) 700-6800, or the Maine Philanthropy Center, (207)780-5039.
May 1, 2008