Dear Members of the Economic Recovery Committee,
The Maine philanthropic community and membership of the Maine Philanthropy Center write to you in support of the recommended $50 million dollar Nonprofit Relief Fund that is under consideration by the Healthcare, Nonprofits, Childcare & Support Services sub-committee. As longtime partners and supporters of this work, we recognize the critical role nonprofits play within Maine communities and understand the exponential social return on investment resulting from their work.
Nonprofits have been integral in partnering with state and local governments in supporting our community’s response to COVID19: complementing outreach efforts, filling in service gaps, and shifting their missions to meet the evolving needs of their communities. They are shelters, daycare centers, food banks - but they are also libraries providing critical telehealth services, public health centers engaging multicultural communities, dental clinics serving kids on MaineCare, and farmers innovating new food supply chains to meet emerging needs and much more. They are and will continue to be essential services through this crisis and beyond.
At the same time, these essential organizations are facing financial devastation due to statewide shutdowns and social distancing regulations. It is critical that the nonprofit community receive significant financial support or there will be disastrous consequences for all Mainers, with particular focus on those most vulnerable to the coronavirus.
Maine nonprofits are vital and active participants in our economy. Maine nonprofits are tax payers and employers - contributing $12 billion dollars per year to the economy and employing 1 out of every 6 Mainers. This translates to $4.7 billion annually in wages equalling $271 million in personal income tax revenue. Without significant investment in this sector, the livelihoods of almost 98,000 Mainers remains uncertain, and the countless number of Mainers who rely on these organizations for support will be left with nowhere to turn.
As Maine’s communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID19, it is nonprofits, specifically nonprofits led by people of color that have stepped up to meet these needs. These organizations are uniquely positioned to support the Administration’s response to quickly address COVID19 and the racial disparities exacerbated by this crisis. In addition to having the skills, experience and networks to steward this work, they nurture the most critical resource of all – trust. It is imperative that significant investment goes to supporting organizations led by Black Mainers, members of Wabanaki Tribes, New Mainers and other people of color who are on the frontlines of this pandemic. This fund will help to provide the necessary resources for this work at a time where COVID19 is threatening to erase communities of color here in Maine.
As a sector, Philanthropy has already invested $15.5 million dollars towards the nonprofit sector’s emergency COVID19 response and we are on pace to give almost $30 million to ensure that nonprofits can weather this storm. We implore the Economic Recovery Committee to use COVID Relief Funds to match or exceed this investment, acting in solidarity with the essential work of Maine’s vital nonprofit sector.
Signed, (updating)
The Philanthropic Community
Jeannette Andre, President & CEO, Maine Philanthropy Center
Erin Cinelli, Executive Director, Emanuel & Pauline A. Lerner Foundation & MPC Board Chair
Philip Walsh, Executive Director, Maine Initiatives & MPC Board Vice-chair
Morgan Hynd, Director, The Bingham Program
Susan & Fritz Onion, Co-Directors, Onion Foundation
Gabriela Alcalde, Executive Director, Elmina B. Sewall Foundation
Steven Rowe, President & CEO, Maine Community Foundation
Carol Wishcamper, Director, Wishcamper Family Foundation
Tony Cipollone, President & CEO, John T. Gorman Foundation
William P. Clough,III, Trustee of The Betterment Fund
Carol B. Geist, Trustee of The Betterment Fund
Martin J. Grohman, Trustee of The Betterment Fund
Carolyn S. Wollen, Trustee of The Betterment Fund
Barbara A. Leonard, President & CEO, Maine Health Access Foundation
Hannah Quimby & Zak Klein, Executive Director & Program Officer, Quimby Family Foundation
Gregory W. Powell, Chairman, Harold Alfond Foundation