Maine Community Foundation is currently accepting applications for Peaks Island Fund grant program to support organizations that assist the island community.

Priorities

Peaks Island Fund will give priority to projects or organizations that:

• Help to reduce economic barriers to living on the island;
• Provide or increase access to educational and enrichment programs for youth;
• Preserve and protect the built and natural environment, including projects that reduce energy consumption and increase year-round social and cultural resources for the community.

Types of Funding

This program provides:

• Capacity-building grants for activities designed to make an organization stronger, more successful, or more efficient. Capacity-building activities may include but are not limited to:
  • Training board, staff, or volunteers;
  • Improving financial management and development;
  • Acquiring technology to improve or expand services;
  • Strategic planning focused on achieving a specific goal.
• General support grants for organizations whose core mission is clearly and directly related to the fund’s priority areas;
• Organizations may apply each year for general support of $15,000 annually with a maximum of $30,000 over two consecutive years;
• Organizations that receive two consecutive years of general support must wait two years after the second grant is awarded before they can apply again for general support;
• Project grants for new or expanding projects:
  • New projects are those being implemented for the first time;
  • Expanding projects are existing projects that will serve a different population or include new services or content other than what was previously implemented.
• Equipment or renovation support needed to meet an organization’s mission. These renovations or equipment cannot be related to or part of a capital campaign.

Ineligible Expenses

• Funds may not be used for:
• Endowments, capital campaigns, or annual appeals;
• Major capital expenses such as purchasing building, land, or vehicles;
• Camperships, including admission, tuition, or other costs related to short-term programs that are primarily recreational or social;
• Project or capacity-building requests that include rent, utility bills, staff salaries, or other expenses related to the daily operations.

What will not be funded?

• Expenses already incurred;
• Regranting to a secondary grantee through a competitive process;
• Political campaigns;
• Lobbying in the form of calls to action on a specific vote;
• Religious activities, including, but not limited to, religious services, promotion of religious beliefs, or activities that are restricted to church or religious group membership.

Eligibility Criteria

• Non-profit, charitable organizations tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and also classified as an organization described in sections 509(a)(1) or 509(a)(2);
• Municipalities;
• Public schools;
• Public agencies working for the State of Maine;
• Indian tribal governments (or political subdivisions) recognized by the Department of the Interior;
• Groups without any tax status may apply with a fiscal sponsor that is an eligible organization;
• Any eligible organization may submit one application per grant program, regardless of previous application history or current award progress.

To receive a grant, an organization or project must meet ALL four of the following criteria:

• Serves Peaks Island community members;
• Impacts Peaks Island residents directly within the next year;
• Has potential for continuing impact on the community;
• Includes clear financial documentation (purchases of equipment or services must include estimates provided by external contractors). Please Note: Many of the projects they have funded in the past have involved contractors or service people visiting a site in person to make an estimate. Recognizing that this arrangement is now challenging due to COVID-19, they have changed the application requirements to allow for contract work estimates to be approximate rather than exact and to be done by email, with an added verbal explanation of how the contractor or service provider arrived at the estimate.

For more information, visit Maine Community Foundation.