Eleanor Kinney was all of twenty-two years old when Brownie Carson, former executive director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, sat at the kitchen table of her small Washington, D.C., house and watched her write her first four-figure philanthropic check.

It was her parents, Gilbert and Ann Kinney, who suggested Carson visit their daughter. They had seen how Eleanor’s love of the environment and her passion for Maine had focused her life, leading her to study history and the environment at Yale and later oceanography in Rhode Island.

Over time, Kinney found that simple philanthropy was not enough; she needed to get directly involved. To that end, she began putting her time and energy, as well as her money, into campaigning, lobbying, and investing. Whether working to save Rhode Island’s last old growth forest; serving on and directing boards, as she did at the Natural Resources Council of Maine; fighting the construction of a Walmart in Damariscotta; or supporting

businesses that simultaneously create jobs and increase the availability of fresh local foods, Kinney is there, she says, with her “boots on the ground.”

Sitting in her living room in Bremen in midcoast Maine, Kinney describes a trajectory that runs from concern for the environment to ideas for economic growth. After lobbying against the Plum Creek development proposed for the Moosehead Lake region, she became focused on ways of preserving Maine’s North Woods, for both its economic and environmental values. Through that work, she heard about the Environmental Funders Network, or EFN. This joint project of the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Philanthropy Center supports Maine’s natural environment and actively connects funders to generate new ideas for enhancing quality of place.

Before she put her philanthropy to work for EFN, Kinney set up a fund at the Maine Community Foundation. “The work that the community foundation

(continued on page 2)

In This Issue

No Small Potatoes 2

President’s Page: Keeping Maine Maine 3

Making an Impact:The Spirit of King Cummings 4-5

A Partnership with Reach:Estate Planner Sally Mills 6

Daveis & Welch: Transferring a Private Foundation 7

Les Menard: The Art of Giving 8

MaineCF Newsletter | 1

Woods, Farms, and Food: Philanthropy in ActionA Passion for Maine

Eleanor Kinney (right) converses with Lynne Seeley, president of the Leonard C. and Mildred F. Ferguson Foundation, at a meeting of the Environmental Funders Network at Maine Audubon’s Gilsland Farm in Falmouth, Maine.

Eleanor Kinney on a wintry day in midcoast Maine.

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News from theSpring 2012

The No Small Potatoes Investment Club of Maine is committed to strengthening the state’s local food economy by making small loans to farms, fishermen, and food businesses to help them thrive.

No Small Potatoes supports projects that primarily use products from Maine farms or fisheries or otherwise provide economic support for local farming and fishing operations. Members look favorably on businesses and projects that advance sustainability, seek to

innovate, and address larger social issues of hunger and public health.

In 2011, its first year of existence, the investment club made eight loans that supported a tofu maker, a butcher, an online farmers’ market, a composting business, and vegetable growers, among other ventures. The club will distribute its third round of loans in March 2012.

No Small PotatoesInvesting in Maine’s Local Food Economy

does to educate donors is symbolic of its tremendous value,” she says. Instead of soldiering on alone, Kinney now connects to a community of people who are inspiring each other with ideas and deeds.

Kinney’s current concern is this: “How do we build a food system in Maine that will feed Mainers, keep our land open, and do something about hunger in the state?” Her answer, beyond joining EFN’s steering committee and the board of the Maine Farmland Trust, is to become an active Slow Money investor. “I want my investments to reflect my values,” she notes, “which for me means moving assets off Wall Street and into local food businesses.” Examples include MOO Milk, Somerset Grist Mill, and Northern Girl, an organic vegetable processing facility in Aroostook County. Kinney also helped found the No Small Potatoes Investment Club, which provides micro-loans to Maine farms and food enterprises.

As her parents fostered a love of giving, Kinney is reaching to the future with her three children, instilling in them the

values of giving and doing. Her 13-year-old daughter Eloise dives into the frigid New Year’s ocean to raise money for the Natural Resources Council of Maine while her 11-year-old son Ridgely has been interviewed on “Maine Things Considered” about Save the Nautilus, an organization he and a friend created that raises funds to help protect this ancient sea creature from over-harvesting.

Among Kinney’s many plans is turning her own land into a productive farm, a dream that is now being realized as a young farming couple moves into her barn and begins readying her fields to graze sheep and grow organic produce. These days, her boots are not only on the ground, they’re getting muddy—and for her, that is a very good thing.

Kinney continued from page 1

Information for businesses and investors can be found at www.nosmallpotatoesinvestmentclub.com.

For more donor stories, visit the “For Donors” section of www.mainecf.org or scan this QR code with your mobile device.

Board of Directors

Karen Allen-Maguire Finance Assistant

Lorre Webster AmesFinancial Accounting Manager

Pamela CleghornSenior Program Officer

Lelia DeAndradeDirector, Grantmaking Services

elizabeth FickettScholarship FundsAssistant

Cherie GalyeanScholarship Manager

James GearyVice President & Director of Investments

Karen HarttPhilanthropic Services Specialist

Meredith JonesPresident & CEO

JaneA KelleyCommunications & Marketing Specialist

Liana KingsburySenior Foundation Officer

Carl LittleDirector, Communications & Marketing

Helen McCainFoundation Assistant

Cathy MelioProgram Officer, Midcoast & Downeast

Amy PollienGrants Manager

ellen PopeVice President & Chief Operating Officer

Charles ProctorInformation Systems Administrator

Laura ReedFoundation Officer, Central Maine

Gail RichardsonController

Pamela ScheppeleFoundation Officer, Aroostook

Jennifer SouthardDirector, Philanthropic Services

Peter TaylorVice President, Program Development & Grantmaking Services

Jean WarrenGrants Associate

Timothy WilliamsReceptionist & Office Assistant

Karen youngFoundation Officer, Southern Maine

Laura youngVice President of Philanthropy

Staff

eileen M. L. epsteinFalmouth, Chair

George T. ShawNewcastle, Vice-Chair

elisabeth C. HeywardMount Desert, Secretary

Jean M. DeighanBangor

David C. Dixon Strong

Sandra FeathermanKennebunkport

Brian n. HamelPresque Isle

elizabeth HilpmanWoolwich

Anne O. JacksonYarmouth

Meredith H. JonesBelfast, ex officio

William H. Kieffer, iiiBethel

Peter F. LambKittery Point

Andrea Cianchette MakerNorth Yarmouth

elizabeth neptunePrinceton

Betty D. RobinsonAuburn

Peter RothschildIslesboro

Mary “Polly” SaltonstallCamden

Candace Sanborn Auburn

Dighton SpoonerBath

John Witherspoon Kingfield

Wendy J. WolfWest Boothbay Harbor

2 Spring 2012 | MaineCF Newsletter

Two-year-old Ami Wolovitz promotes Heiwa tofu at the Lincolnville Farmers’ Market.

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Keeping Maine MaineWhat Is Our Job in Fostering Community?

President’s Page

Meredith Jones, President and CEO

A community foundation board member recently sent me an article along with the following message: “What I captured from [the article] is the very simple definition that community is connected and caring people—and that both the connection and the caring are important. Our question should be: what does the Maine Community Foundation do to foster community in that most basic sense?”

Her note reminded me of an interview in Down East with former Maine Governor Angus King, in which he discussed the greatest challenge the state faced. Curiously, he didn’t mention economic development, health care, or even higher education, but rather keeping Maine Maine.

King talked about traditional Maine values of “smallness, neighborliness, fierce independence, open space, common sense…that have defined this special place and persisted.” He predicted that the state’s geography would be a blessing, not a curse. “Being rural, unspoiled, and small,” he stated, “will be our calling card, our economic ace in the hole.”

These and others’ thoughts about community are of particular interest as the foundation considers its future. At its core, we exist to help build communities that are strong and vital places where we want

to live, raise a family, volunteer, and retire. But as my board member asked, what is our job in fostering community?

Vibrant communities have strong economies, and I would argue that a strong economy is built on three foundations: skilled and educated people; sound stewardship of natural resources; and thriving community life—ways that people come together and interact for business and pleasure, such as farmers’ markets and concerts.

All of these foundations face challenges. While jobs in Maine are available, many go unfilled due to lack of training and education. The foundation will continue to promote increased higher education attainment, working with many partners, including the newly formed business-led organization, Educate Maine.

Maine’s natural resources are rooted in communities, directly or indirectly generating thousands of jobs. Our woods, waters, and open fields are assets of increasing economic value. Here, too, the news isn’t great: ownership of as much as one-third—about 400,000 acres—of the most productive farmland in Maine will change hands in the next ten years, due to aging landowners. Much of this farmland could be lost because farmers can’t afford it. The community foundation and its donors recently renewed their 2010 $1-million investment in Maine Farmland Trust’s Buy/

Protect/Sell program to conserve several thousand acres of farmland across the state for agricultural purposes.

In 2009, arts and cultural organizations spent $262 million in local economies, providing jobs for more than 5,000 people in Maine. The arts also contribute to attracting and retaining skilled and creative workers and summer residents who offer new sources of community vitality and philanthropy. Even so, many organizations in this sector struggle to survive.

While we cannot predict the future, we do know that Maine’s opportunities abound. We also know that the Maine Community Foundation is well-positioned to harness all of its assets over the next several years to help keep Maine Maine. Won’t you join us?

Meredith Jones is 2nd vice-chair of the Board of Directors of Educate Maine. She will be keynote speaker at the 2012 AmeriCorps Member Conference at Thomas College on March 27 and a Margaret Chase Smith Distinguished Maine Policy Fellow at the University of Maine in April.

MaineCF Newsletter | Spring 2012 3

Maine Community Foundation board member Sandra Featherman (center, in red) moderated a conversation about Maine’s future at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. On hand were (left to right): Duke Albanese, former Maine Commissioner of Education; Eileen Epstein, MaineCF board chair; Jennifer Hutchins, director, Portland Arts; MaineCF President and CEO Meredith Jones; and Sean Mahoney, director, Conservation Law Foundation.

To read Meredith Jones’s Real Time blog, visit www.mainecf.org or scan this QR code with your mobile device.

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H. King Cummings pastel portrait by Patricia Lawrence Ritzo (photo by Ken Woisard)

The word impact bears many different modifiers—

short-term, long-term, immediate, cumulative—

and we measure it in different ways. In the case

of the H. King and Jean Cummings Fund at the

Maine Community Foundation, an appraisal requires

context and an acknowledgment of change.

Making an Impact The H. King and Jean Cummings Fund:

The Spirit Continues

4 Spring 2012 | MaineCF Newsletter

King Cummings (1916-1989) played a major role in the founding and funding of the Maine Community Foundation. He was the first board chair and, for a long time, among the largest donors. He was also an early champion of building permanent county funds.

Established in 1982 and transferred to the foundation in 1996, the H. King and Jean Cummings Fund focused on specific geographic areas and issues: the western Maine region; Washington County; Islesboro; and the arts, youth, and education. The fund also supported specific family interests, including the South Solon Meeting House, Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, and Carrabassett Valley Academy.

An advisory committee followed Cummings’ guidelines while honing the fund’s strategic impact. Starting in 2009, they earmarked a portion of the grantmaking to county committees in regions of Maine important to the fund. “The county advisors know the local

organizations and can make more informed decisions,” says Warren Cook, Cummings’ nephew and a fund advisor.

Aspiring to increase the fund’s impact, the advisors developed a new approach that included working with other funders, among them, the Sandy River Charitable Foundation, Betterment Fund, and C.F. Adams Trust. They became active supporters of networks in education, tourism, environment, and other areas, believing that impact would likely be greater if organizations worked together on critical issues. These efforts provided leadership and inspiration for other funders. According to Cook, funders and donors have invested more than $1 million in various initiatives supported by the Cummings Fund.

Recently, the Cummings committee provided a pool of capital to several Franklin County-based networks to work with for three years, using it where they felt it could best be applied to advance initiatives. “Because of the trust these networks have built,” says Cook, “we feel

they will develop the best solutions for the region.”

Cook acknowledges the potential risk of such an approach—it requires compromise—but the strategy of working with, and through, networks is in keeping with the donor’s philosophy, which the advisors “look back to often.” Indeed, their collaborative strategy recalls the founding of the Western Maine Alliance in 1988, when King Cummings brought diverse sectors of the community together to address issues like clear-cutting, economic development, and housing.

This “revolutionary” meeting, which Lee Cummings, King’s daughter, recalls hearing about at the family dinner table, brought together businesspeople, town officials, and environmentalists who weren’t talking to each other at the time. “We are building on that vision in our partnership work today,” she says. Cook echoes that appraisal: “The fund’s approach has gotten more detailed, but the spirit is the same.”

The Cummings Fund has provided significant support to the Franklin County Community College Network (FCCCN), which is committed to creating economic opportunities through partnerships with private business, community organizations, and higher education institutions. In addition to receiving start-up funding, the network has been encouraged to further its strategic outreach and innovative approaches.

Results speak loudly: Since fall 2005, 851 students have taken college classes through the network; during the same time period, matriculation rates increased from 21% to 75%. To date, 135 classes have been offered across Franklin County. More than 60% of students who take part in the College Transitions Program offered through Franklin County Adult and Community Education take at least one college class in preparation for higher education.

“There is more collaboration, with multiple organizations bringing their own resources to the effort,” says Betty Gensel, the network liaison. For example, in partnership with the Franklin County Tourism Network, nine of 14 customer service/hospitality workshops had FCCCN involvement, with 148 attendees.

In fall 2011, a Learning Campus was established at Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley. In addition, network partners are working with local call centers to offer training to students. FCCCN is also a current grantee of the Maine Community Foundation/Common Good Ventures Program for Nonprofit Effectiveness, which provides funding and technical assistance.

“The FCCCN has become the go-to place for expanding educational opportunities for Franklin County residents,” Gensel states. “We will be seeing the impact of Cummings support for years to come.”

MaineCF Newsletter | Spring 2012 5

To read more impact stories, visit www.mainecf.org or scan this QR code with your mobile device.

Technology Mentor Martha Thibodeau instructs Beth Eastlack during an Excel class at the Rangeley Lakes Regional School.

Artists Julie Anne Nagel and Matthew Wilson draft designs in the fresco studio at the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture.

The Power of Networks

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One of the most satisfying parts of Ellsworth estate attorney Sally Mills’ work is helping charitable individuals who have relocated to Maine find ways to apply their philanthropic passions in their new home. In a recent conversation with Maine Community Foundation Director of Philanthropic Services Jennifer Southard, Mills shared the story of one such person whose philanthropy is supporting Maine’s future.

MaineCF: How do you bring up the topic of charitable giving with your clients?

Sally Mills: In any kind of estate planning interview, I use a standard questionnaire that includes a question about charitable giving. If the client gives any indication that it is a possible interest, I follow up. On top of that, I have no problem bringing up the topic with my clients.

MaineCF: Do you find people get uncomfortable talking about charitable giving?

Mills: It can be uncomfortable talking

about money, period, and talking about any aspect of estate planning can at times be awkward. Aside from that, there’s nothing particularly difficult about discussing charitable giving.

I practice law in Hancock County, a particularly beautiful part of Maine. Some of my clients are “from away.” They move or retire here to start again, bringing with them diverse interests and affiliations with charitable organizations from their previous home states. I find that by asking questions, I can sometimes help clients translate those interests and apply them here. They want to give back and be part of the local community; charitable giving is one of the many ways in which that can happen.

MaineCF: Can you share a story about a client you referred to the Maine Community Foundation?

Mills: I worked with an individual who wanted to support science, technology, engineering and mathematics [STEM] education in Maine, but we didn’t know what shape that desire would ultimately

take. Working with the community foundation allowed us to put seed money in place and gave us a flexible way to access it while the project was under development. That germ of an idea became the Reach Center, whose goal is to be a hub of information about STEM

education and events in Maine and a place to connect students all across the state.

I am one of many handmaidens who helped launch this initiative: taking a wonderful idea, trying to identify the right folks to get it off the ground, putting it all in some kind of legal wrapper, and then letting it do its thing. The Reach Center is a perfect example of how a partnership with the community foundation can help a great idea take off and become reality.

Sally Mills grew up in Blue Hill, Maine. After college, she lived in England for 15 years, working as a solicitor of England and Wales for a large U.S. law firm. Since returning to Maine and joining the Ellsworth firm of Hale & Hamlin, Mills has developed a general practice, with an emphasis on estate planning, real estate, and family law. She is a member of the Maine State Bar Association and the Law Society of England and Wales. She is a fellow and director of the Maine Bar Foundation, serves as a trustee of Blue Hill Memorial Hospital, and is a member of the American Hospital Association’s Committee on Governance.

Professional Advisor

A Partnership with ReachA Donor, An Attorney, and a Community Foundation Support STeM

6 Spring 2012 | MaineCF Newsletter

Sally Mills, Attorney

For more professional advisor resources, including the Planned Giving Design Center, visit www.mainecf.org or scan this QR code with your mobile device.

“The Reach Center is a

perfect example of how

a partnership with the

community foundation

can help a great idea

take off and become

reality.”

Private Foundations Choose the Maine Community Foundation

Daveis and Welch

Donors start private foundations because they feel it’s the best way to do grantmaking in areas important to them while maintaining control of their philanthropic dollars. However, many of them find that the administrative work takes some of the joy out of giving. Transferring the assets of a private foundation to the Maine Community Foundation can address—and relieve—what can be an onerous process, as these stories demonstrate.

The Edward H. Daveis Benevolent Fund was established by the will of the fund namesake’s daughter, Mabel Stewart Daveis, in 1943 as a way to honor her father. The fund benefits nonprofits serving the greater Portland area.

In 2008, the fund’s trustees transferred the assets to the Maine Community Foundation. “We realized that 75 percent of our meetings each year focused on

investments,” says Fred Thompson, a Daveis Fund advisor. “Now that we work through the community foundation, we can spend time doing things we enjoy—making grants to deserving organizations—rather than worrying about the machinations of a fickle investment market and the associated administrative work.”

The Vincent B. and Barbara G. Welch Foundation started out as a private family foundation in 1983. The Welches devoted their lives and their philanthropy to a host of civic activities and nonprofits, including many educational, social service, arts, and health institutions in the Portland area.

Vincent Welch died in 1984, Barbara in 2002. In 2010, the foundation’s trustees transferred the fund to the Maine Community Foundation where it became a supporting organization.

Mert Henry, a trustee of the Welch

Foundation, notes that they decided on the transfer to the community foundation in order to take advantage of its pooled investment funds, staff support, and IRS filing service. “Most important of all,” Henry states, “was the comfort of knowing that the Welches’ wishes would be followed in perpetuity.”

The Maine Humanities Council’s New Books, New Readers program has received support from the Daveis Fund to help adult English language learners expand their literacy skills through discussions of children’s literature.

MaineCF Newsletter | Spring 2012 7

To learn more about the benefits of transferring a private foundation to the Maine Community Foundation, contact Laura Young, vice president for philanthropy, at 866-700-6800 or lyoung@mainecf.org.

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245 Main Street

Ellsworth, Maine 04605

877-700-6800 www.mainecf.org

Printed with vegetable-based ink on FSC-certifed paper (Forest Stewardship Council certification ensures responsible use of forest resources). Design by Z Studio

In 1962, at the age of 19, Les Menard broke his neck in a diving accident and was left quadriplegic. Struggling to overcome the grief and anger he felt about how his life had changed, he moved to Bar Harbor in 1973. There, he rediscovered a passion for art that dated

back to his high school years.With encouragement from his caregivers,

Menard began creating drawings in pen and colored pencil, holding the tools in his mouth. Since then, he has shown and sold

his work around the world and has received U.S. patents for two inventions, the Kane Easel and the Eye Drop Dispenser Guide.

A few years ago when a routine surgical procedure resulted in a prolonged hospital stay, Menard began thinking about his legacy. He had received several modest inheritances and hadn’t made plans for their dispersal after his death.

After a discussion with Jean Warren, then scholarship manager at the Maine Community Foundation, he settled on a fund to support Mount Desert Island High School graduates pursuing further education at Maine’s community colleges, particularly those preparing for careers in healthcare, teaching, social work, and law enforcement.

Menard hoped the scholarship could start making awards while he was alive. He is, and it has. In 2011, the first $1,000 scholarship was presented at the Mount Desert High School graduation.

The Story Behind the Scholarship

Les Menard: The Art of Giving

Maple-sugaring, a pen and colored pencil drawing by Les Menard.

8 Spring 2012 | MaineCF Newsletter

For more information about the nearly 450 scholarships available through the Maine Community Foundation, visit www.mainecf.org or scan this QR code with your mobile device.

“Menard hoped the scholarship could start making awards while he was alive.”