MaineCF Grants Available

MaineCF has a wide variety of grants available, categorized below for your convenience. Click on the grant program to learn more and to find out how to apply. (Students looking for scholarship assistance should refer to the Scholarships section for more information.)

25/25 Nonprofit Endowment Challenge
Through a competitive process, MaineCF will award challenge grants up to $25,000 and technical assistance to Maine-based nonprofits in Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Piscataquis, Aroostook, Washington and Hancock Counties to establish new or expand existing permanent endowment funds.

Community Building Grant Program
The community building program focuses on proposals that build on a community's assets and resources and support/promote sustainable, healthy community networks.

Comprised of a collection of endowed funds, the community building grant program awards grants in the $500 - $7,500 range. A committee of volunteers from across the state reviews proposals to allocate funds available.

County Program
The Maine Community Foundation believes local people know their communities best. Through our County Program, County Advisors across the state review the proposals received for the Community Building Grant Program.

Currently, MaineCF has County Committees in Androscoggin, Aroostook, Cumberland, Hancock, Knox, Oxford, Piscataquis, Waldo, Washington and York counties and in the Western Mountains (Franklin & Somerset counties).

Androscoggin County Committee
Aroostook County Committee
Cumberland County Committee
Hancock County Committee
Knox County Committee
Oxford County Committee
Piscataquis County Committee
Waldo County Committee
Washington County Committee
Western Mountains Committee (Franklin & Somerset Counties)
York County Committee

Program for Nonprofit Effectiveness
MaineCF administers a capacity building grant program for nonprofit groups engaged in community building work in the state of Maine.

The goal of this program is to strengthen the impact of Maine-based nonprofit organizations by improving their organizational capacity. The program awards grants of up to $15,000 per year renewable twice for a maximum total of $45,000.

MaineCF will not be selecting new partners for the Program for Nonprofit Effectiveness until the fall of 2008.

Special Grant Programs
In addition to the above programs, MaineCF has several field of interest and donor-advised funds that make grants within specific interest areas.

Grant sizes, deadlines, and priorities vary for each fund. Please review the guidelines for each program for more information.

King & Jean Cummings Charitable Trust Fund seeks to support programs in the arts, education, economic development, the environment, and cultural preservation in geographic areas where King Cummings lived, worked and/or had an interest, including Franklin County, Somerset County, Piscataquis County, Washington County, Newport and Islesboro. Exceptions will be given to proposals for projects having statewide impact or impact on broader regions of the State.

Equity Fund's mission is to strengthen gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organizations in Maine and support community-based initiatives that address GLBT issues and needs.

Fund for Maine Land Conservation supports projects that promote collaboration, resource sharing and, if appropriate, mergers of land trusts. It also supports projects that promote collaboration among land trusts, municipalities, watershed groups, and other non-profit organizations whose work is focuses on land conservation, stewardship, and smart growth.
The criteria and guidelines for the fund are under review. The next application deadline is September 15.

Maine Charity Foundation Fund established in 1921 to receive and hold individual charitable funds and distribute the income for charitable purposes in the State.

Maine Expansion Arts Fund supports indigenous, ethnic, or rural arts programs or projects, particularly those that serve areas with limited access to arts events.

Hospice Fund supports hospice services in southern Maine, in particular by funding programs that support volunteer and bereavement services in Cumberland and York Counties.

Maine Theater Fund to support both professional and community theaters in the production and presentation of live theater.

Leonard and Renee Minsky Fund for Arts Education to encourage teachers in grades three through five to work with professional artists to bring the arts into the classroom and, in addition, to integrate a variety of art forms into the standard curriculum.

Penobscot Valley Health Association Fund primarily supports grassroots organizations and start-up projects that propose ways to strengthen the health and welfare of the greater Bangor community.

PF Fund for the Baldwin Area especially interested in funding projects which focus on efforts to bring Baldwin together. The intent is that the relationships formed will provide the context for long term conversations about improving the life in Baldwin.

Rines/Thompson Fund focus on improving the welfare of the citizens of Greater Portland with particular interest given to programs that promote community and economic development, cultural enrichment, diversity, neighborhood and urban revitalization, youth, mediation, and social service.

Rose and Samuel Rudman Library Trust  Libraries serving communities in Maine with a population of less than 10,000 located in Aroostook, Hancock, Knox, Penobscot, Piscataquis, Waldo and Washington counties.

Maine Steeples Project support local efforts to preserve church steeples of historic, cultural and community significance to communities in Maine.

Starting in 2008, the York County Committee of the Maine Community Foundation will be making grants from the York Children's Aid Society Fund through the Community Building Grant Program. This grant program has two deadlines: January 15 and May 15. For more information, please contact  Peter Taylor  via email or 877-700-6800.

Maine Fund for Conservation Land Acquisition will not be making grants. Please check this site periodically for any update.

 

Grants from Donor Advised Funds
Successful grant applicants are most likely to receive funding through the Foundation's competitive grant programs.

However the Foundation holds a number of donor advised funds from which donors can recommend grants for projects that interest them. All proposals submitted through our regular grant cycles are reviewed by staff for a potential donor match and may be referred to one or more donors through this process.

Occasionally, if a project falls outside the timeline of our regular grant cycles and we have a potential donor match, MaineCF may refer the proposal for a donor's review. MaineCF will refer proposals outside the regular grant cycle only if the project is initiated at a time when funding could otherwise not be approved in time for the project to proceed.

If your project qualifies, please speak to a member of the grant making staff before submitting an application.

Grants to Individuals
MaineCF has several funds that make grants to individuals for professional development and special projects.

Vincent Astor Incentive Award Fund program was established in 1984 to improve the quality, productivity and effectiveness of education in the Town of Mount Desert through the staff of Mount Desert Elementary School, the Northeast Harbor Library and the Mount Desert Island High School.

Martin Dibner Fellowship for Maine Writers Fund Applications will be accepted from promising Maine writers who have not published a full-length book to allow them to further their writing skills and experience.

John & Ellen Emery Science Grants Fund encourage all Union #98 teachers to promote the study of science in their classrooms. These grants should increase opportunities for students to understand science and its relevance to their daily lives and, perhaps, inspire some of them to pursue careers in science and related fields.

Gracie Fund offers tuition-reimbursement incentives to encourage natives of Washington County, or those who consider Washington County their “home”, to return to or remain in their communities following completion of their post-secondary education.

Jane Morrison Memorial Film Fund supports educational opportunities for filmmakers who are in the early stages of career development.

Patience W. Norman Prize for Teacher Excellence has been established at the Maine Community Foundation to recognize outstanding, full-time teachers in MSAD 52 who emulate her education philosophy.

Pegasus Fund supports the personal growth, whims and fantasies of Breakwater's faculty and staff knowing that in so doing, they will enrich the lives of the children at Breakwater School.


If a deadline for competitive grant program proposals falls on either a Sunday or holiday, MaineCF will accept proposals postmarked the next business day in line with established procedures of the Internal Revenue Service.