Sitting in their cozy home overlooking Harpswell Sound for an interview in 2009, Robert and Anne Woodbury 
mused over a life of service: Bob in higher education, Anne, first as an elementary school teacher, later as a hospital chaplain and author (she wrote and illustrated The Box Lady, a children’s book about recycling, which has been translated into Navaho and been used to encourage recycling programs in schools across the world).
In their respective careers, the Woodburys knew what it was like to try to raise money. As president of the University of Southern Maine and later chancellor of the University of Maine System, Bob frequently found himself in an asking position. Anne, who served on the board of the Bangor Theological Seminary after obtaining her Master of Theological Studies degree, also had to raise money.
Over time, the Woodburys, for the most part, traded asking for giving – and finding creative ways to give was an ongoing passion (they once managed to donate a pair of cemetery plots to help launch a local education fund). The couple also engaged their grandchildren in giving. Each year, they decided how to give away a small cache of money, usually choosing three charities, always close to home. Frequently, it was the New Gloucester-based Safe Passage, which helps destitute Guatemalan children obtain food and education, or a homeless shelter, or an organization geared to helping animals.
As another creative philanthropic act, the Woodburys created a donor-advised fund, recognizing that by putting their capital in the hands of investment experts, they could better leverage their own money. Fidelity initially managed their fund, but after moving to Maine in 1979, the couple transferred it to the Maine Community Foundation.
Why the Maine Community Foundation? “It’s all in the name,” the Woodburys said. To begin with, there was the “Maine” part. After moving to Maine, they focused most of their giving on their adopted state, frequently through programs with which they were familiar.
For the Woodburys, the “Foundation” part of the name meant management: the effectiveness of the organization in making the most of their charitable resources. “Because MaineCF’s reach encompasses the entire state,” Bob noted, “it allows people with similar priorities to work together, making the funds much more effective.”
And finally there’s “Community,” the all-important element in the foundation’s name. “The mission of the foundation is to help build stronger communities in Maine,” Bob stated; “We support that.” He and Anne were impressed with how the foundation didn’t make assumptions, but rather listened to what was happening within communities, working locally to address their needs. “The key is leadership,” he said; “people at the county level know who the real leaders are.”
The Woodburys always supported higher education even as they added to their fund at the foundation. At one point, they decided to contribute Anne’s life insurance policy to it. The whole-life policy will go to the Maine Community Foundation, Anne noted, “hopefully after it has had many more years of growth.”
That the Woodburys have shared their values became obvious when they asked their three children what they should plan to do with their MaineCF fund after their deaths. The children definitely wanted to be involved, so the fund will continue to be advised by the next generation of Woodburys – and continue to give long into the future.
The profile originally appeared in a slightly different version in MaineCF’s spring 2009 Maine Ties newsletter. Robert Woodbury served on the MaineCF Board of Directors from 2001 to 2009, with two years as chair. He passed away in September 2009.
