From Vision to Action: A Commitment to Maine’s Quality of Place

The Environmental Funders Network (EFN), a joint project of the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Philanthropy Center, recently awarded $523,000 in grants to eight organizations through its collaborative funding initiative, “From Vision to Action: A Commitment to Maine’s Quality of Place.”

In the Spring of 2009, 97 nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and regional collaboratives submitted letters of interest. Of those, 16 were selected to submit full proposals.

“Members of the committee were impressed by the range of proposals that reflected a comprehensive view of how Quality of Place principles are being interpreted and put into practice by community leaders and organizations all over the state,” said Sandy Buck, chair of the EFN steering committee.

Grants ranging in size from $30,000 to $100,000 were made to eight finalists: Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, GrowSmart Maine, Healthy Community Coalition, Maine Conservation Voters Education Fund, Maine Development Foundation, Maine Farmland Trust, Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, and Trust for Public Land. 

Contributors to the initiative include individual donors and foundations who are inspired by the Brookings Institution’s 2006 “Charting Maine’s Future” report. EFN’s Quality of Place Initiative is designed to advance projects that strengthen the link between the natural and built environments, emphasize public engagement, and recognize the elements required to build and sustain collaborations.

On September 15, 2009, EFN held a reception to introduce grantees and their projects.

September 17, 2009

Learn More

About the Goals for the Initiative

Quality of Place Advisory Committee

About the Governor’s Council on
Quality of Place Recommendations

Application Guidelines

Letter of Inquiry Guidelines

2009 Grantees & Semi-Finalists

Letter of Inquiry Synopsis (October, 2009)