MaineCF nears $250 million charitable assets mark

With record gifts to the Maine Community Foundation (MaineCF) of $36 million and a 14% return on its Primary Investment Portfolio, the foundation’s charitable assets increased to $245 million in 2007, a 23% increase over the previous year.

MaineCF awarded more than $16 million in grants and scholarships. “While the numbers are easy measurements of MaineCF’s success,” Henry Schmelzer, MaineCF president, said, “they do not tell the story of the foundation’s impact on Maine’s communities.”

In its role as convener, the foundation hosted or co-hosted symposia on global warming, gay and lesbian issues and the recommendations of the GrowSmart/Brookings Institution report, “Charting Maine’s Future.”

MaineCF also landed major grants from Lumina Foundation and the Ford Foundation to support the Employer’s Initiative of the Maine Compact for Higher Education.

The foundation’s County and Regional Program continued to expand in 2007, with the addition of a York County Fund.  MaineCF also received a challenge grant from the Betterment Fund to support a campaign to increase the charitable resources of the Androscoggin County Fund.

On the business side, for the third consecutive year, the foundation received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the largest independent evaluator of charities in the U.S., and Mainebiz named MaineCF’s president, Henry Schmelzer, the 2007 Businessman of the Year.