April 7, 2008
Life without MBNA | Midcoast nonprofits have struggled post-MBNA, but a new capacity building program aims to boost fundraising
By Mindy Favreau
The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland had a good working relationship with its former corporate neighbor, credit card giant MBNA. The Delaware-based company regularly made the Farnsworth's list of top corporate donors, funding the museum's special projects and educational programming, and even gifting pieces of art from its corporate collection. The company contributed $3 million to an $8.4 million capital campaign that allowed the museum in 1997 to expand its main building and purchase a former Methodist church, which became the Wyeth Study Center and the Center for the Wyeth Family in Maine, respectively.
By the time Bank of America purchased MBNA in 2005, the Farnsworth was relying on the company for 20% of its annual operating budget of $2.5 million-$3 million, or about $600,000 each year. After the Bank of America acquisition, those funds dried up. "[MBNA] allowed us to become an institution of the size and importance an organization like us should be, which in some ways made it even harder," says David Stucky, the museum's director of advancement. Three years later, the museum is still trying to make up the difference. "That's a huge chunk to have to replace," Stucky says.
Stories like Stucky's prompted a group of Maine funders, along with the Maine Association of Nonprofits, to come up with a program called Partners for Success, a nine-month training course aimed at helping nonprofit directors in Waldo and Knox counties, as the title of the first session describes, develop "survival skills in an age of declining resources."
Indeed, for more than 10 years, MBNA pumped millions of dollars into schools, hospitals and an array of nonprofit organizations in Maine, especially in the midcoast, which was home to the bulk of its in-state operations. The company in 1997 established its foundation, which gave up to $14 million a year for educational programs and community projects, according to Jim Christie, MBNA's former director of community relations for Maine and New Hampshire. Since the foundation closed down in early 2006, when the sale of MBNA to Bank of America was finalized, midcoast organizations like the Farnsworth that had grown dependent on regular MBNA support have found themselves having to weather a funding drought.
"It's always been a struggle for nonprofits," Christie says. "But to have a presence like MBNA, who was so generous, leave, that's made it very tough."
The funding gap
MBNA arrived in Maine in 1993, turning into office space the former Knox Mill in Camden, the town where founder Charles Cawley spent summers as a child. The company expanded from there, building call centers and offices from Portland to Fort Kent and employing at its peak nearly 5,000 Maine workers.
Along with jobs, the company brought deep pockets and a corporate philosophy to "do good," Christie says. The MBNA foundation doled out $3 million a year in education grants and scholarships, $1 million a year for its library and historical conservation program, and anywhere between $5 million and $10 million a year for its community programs, says Christie, who's now the events and public relations manager for the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Maine. Employees regularly were encouraged to donate during the company's annual giving campaign and to volunteer their time, and they consistently did, Christie says.
Nonprofit leaders, and local and state funders, say MBNA was an unusually generous corporate philanthropist that contributed everything from library books to funding for capital campaigns. "MBNA was a huge funder. When they left, they left a big gap" says Elizabeth Banwell, director of external affairs at the Maine Association of Nonprofits. (Banwell also writes "The Third Sector" column for Mainebiz.)
A report on philanthropic giving in Maine released last month by the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Philanthropy Center found that total giving by Mainers has increased by 25%, and giving by charitable foundations has increased by 74% in the past five years. Despite these numbers, tough economic times and the loss of MBNA funding have left midcoast nonprofits struggling to fill the gap.
Some nonprofits have been working double time to track down new sources of funding. The Methodist Conference Home in Rockland received more than $100,000 from MBNA for its Meals on Wheels program, and is developing new fundraising campaigns and using a part-time grant writer to make up the difference. "We've just had to beat the bushes a little harder to find more money," says Executive Director Lee Karker.
Though many midcoast nonprofits have bemoaned the loss of MBNA, others have appreciated the contributions of its buyer, Bank of America. In 2006, Bank of America contributed $3.4 million in total funding for the state, according to Ernie Anguilla, a Bank of America spokesman. Market development managers in each state are in charge of deciding how the money should be directed, and funding priorities in Maine are education, health and human services, and community development, he says. Bank of America also contributed a $10,000 grant to the Partners for Success program.
Bank of America and its employees are United Way of Eastern Maine's second largest single contributor, according to the chapter's president, Eric Buch, though he declined to disclose exact figures. Though he notes that Bank of America has honored MBNA's outstanding capital campaign commitments, he admits that the emphasis has changed. "They have a different approach as a national corporation; they have their own priorities," he says. "I think it's fair to say that there aren't as many dollars available for local support of nonprofits in the area."
Skills to pay the bills
The Partners for Success program developed after Buch and representatives of Camden-based United Mid-Coast Charities, the Unity Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation hosted a forum for midcoast nonprofits that attracted 50 organizations. The forum was intended to be a way to share the funding opportunities United Way and others offer, but the turnout showed the funders that area nonprofits were desperate for ways to hone their network-building and fundraising skills.
Since January, a group of 30 nonprofit executive directors and board members have been meeting for one-day sessions once a month, held in conjunction with a nonprofit management certification offered by the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast (a $3.3 million center which MBNA built for the university in 2000 and Bank of America donated to the university last year). The focus of the program is to teach nonprofit leaders how to maximize their resources and be strategic in their fundraising efforts. "Organizations that suddenly find themselves pressured for income find anything likely to produce dollars, but that may not be very cost-effective," says Bush of the buckshot approach to fundraising.
That realization has helped program participant Vini Nair, executive director of Platform Shoes Forum, an organization in Rockland that offers online educational programs for children. Chasing after any corporate partner brought rocky relationships in the past, so now she's being pickier in choosing collaborations. "We have to think about how we serve them rather than just how they serve us. We have to think about the mutual benefit," she says.
A key aspect of the program is encouraging like-minded nonprofits to partner up to go after grants, hold fundraisers and share the cost of office supplies and fuel. In tough funding times, successful fundraising and fund management hinges on collaboration, not competition. "When funding is tight, everyone has a sense that they're all going after the same money," says Lori Roming of the Unity Foundation. "But we have to work together ˆ we don't have any other choice."
MBNA's departure has left obstacles in its wake, but also chances for growth. Mainely Girls, a Rockland nonprofit that offers programs for girls in rural areas, received MBNA money and used the company's facilities for its events. Since then, though, the organization has partnered up with a Bank of America women's leadership group, which helped the nonprofit set up a girls' book club in Belfast and run its annual conference. Though executive director Mary Orear says funding still is tight, she's excited with the new partnership. "It's a different type of support, and we feel fortunate for that," she says.
And though the Farnsworth museum likely won't replace the funding it has lost any time soon, the challenge has forced the museum to reach out to more people and respond better to donor needs. "We're a lot stronger institution because of going through this process," Stucky says.
By the time Bank of America purchased MBNA in 2005, the Farnsworth was relying on the company for 20% of its annual operating budget of $2.5 million-$3 million, or about $600,000 each year. After the Bank of America acquisition, those funds dried up. "[MBNA] allowed us to become an institution of the size and importance an organization like us should be, which in some ways made it even harder," says David Stucky, the museum's director of advancement. Three years later, the museum is still trying to make up the difference. "That's a huge chunk to have to replace," Stucky says.
Stories like Stucky's prompted a group of Maine funders, along with the Maine Association of Nonprofits, to come up with a program called Partners for Success, a nine-month training course aimed at helping nonprofit directors in Waldo and Knox counties, as the title of the first session describes, develop "survival skills in an age of declining resources."
Indeed, for more than 10 years, MBNA pumped millions of dollars into schools, hospitals and an array of nonprofit organizations in Maine, especially in the midcoast, which was home to the bulk of its in-state operations. The company in 1997 established its foundation, which gave up to $14 million a year for educational programs and community projects, according to Jim Christie, MBNA's former director of community relations for Maine and New Hampshire. Since the foundation closed down in early 2006, when the sale of MBNA to Bank of America was finalized, midcoast organizations like the Farnsworth that had grown dependent on regular MBNA support have found themselves having to weather a funding drought.
"It's always been a struggle for nonprofits," Christie says. "But to have a presence like MBNA, who was so generous, leave, that's made it very tough."
The funding gap
MBNA arrived in Maine in 1993, turning into office space the former Knox Mill in Camden, the town where founder Charles Cawley spent summers as a child. The company expanded from there, building call centers and offices from Portland to Fort Kent and employing at its peak nearly 5,000 Maine workers.
Along with jobs, the company brought deep pockets and a corporate philosophy to "do good," Christie says. The MBNA foundation doled out $3 million a year in education grants and scholarships, $1 million a year for its library and historical conservation program, and anywhere between $5 million and $10 million a year for its community programs, says Christie, who's now the events and public relations manager for the Make-a-Wish Foundation in Maine. Employees regularly were encouraged to donate during the company's annual giving campaign and to volunteer their time, and they consistently did, Christie says.
Nonprofit leaders, and local and state funders, say MBNA was an unusually generous corporate philanthropist that contributed everything from library books to funding for capital campaigns. "MBNA was a huge funder. When they left, they left a big gap" says Elizabeth Banwell, director of external affairs at the Maine Association of Nonprofits. (Banwell also writes "The Third Sector" column for Mainebiz.)
A report on philanthropic giving in Maine released last month by the Maine Community Foundation and the Maine Philanthropy Center found that total giving by Mainers has increased by 25%, and giving by charitable foundations has increased by 74% in the past five years. Despite these numbers, tough economic times and the loss of MBNA funding have left midcoast nonprofits struggling to fill the gap.
Some nonprofits have been working double time to track down new sources of funding. The Methodist Conference Home in Rockland received more than $100,000 from MBNA for its Meals on Wheels program, and is developing new fundraising campaigns and using a part-time grant writer to make up the difference. "We've just had to beat the bushes a little harder to find more money," says Executive Director Lee Karker.
Though many midcoast nonprofits have bemoaned the loss of MBNA, others have appreciated the contributions of its buyer, Bank of America. In 2006, Bank of America contributed $3.4 million in total funding for the state, according to Ernie Anguilla, a Bank of America spokesman. Market development managers in each state are in charge of deciding how the money should be directed, and funding priorities in Maine are education, health and human services, and community development, he says. Bank of America also contributed a $10,000 grant to the Partners for Success program.
Bank of America and its employees are United Way of Eastern Maine's second largest single contributor, according to the chapter's president, Eric Buch, though he declined to disclose exact figures. Though he notes that Bank of America has honored MBNA's outstanding capital campaign commitments, he admits that the emphasis has changed. "They have a different approach as a national corporation; they have their own priorities," he says. "I think it's fair to say that there aren't as many dollars available for local support of nonprofits in the area."
Skills to pay the bills
The Partners for Success program developed after Buch and representatives of Camden-based United Mid-Coast Charities, the Unity Foundation and the Maine Community Foundation hosted a forum for midcoast nonprofits that attracted 50 organizations. The forum was intended to be a way to share the funding opportunities United Way and others offer, but the turnout showed the funders that area nonprofits were desperate for ways to hone their network-building and fundraising skills.
Since January, a group of 30 nonprofit executive directors and board members have been meeting for one-day sessions once a month, held in conjunction with a nonprofit management certification offered by the University of Maine Hutchinson Center in Belfast (a $3.3 million center which MBNA built for the university in 2000 and Bank of America donated to the university last year). The focus of the program is to teach nonprofit leaders how to maximize their resources and be strategic in their fundraising efforts. "Organizations that suddenly find themselves pressured for income find anything likely to produce dollars, but that may not be very cost-effective," says Bush of the buckshot approach to fundraising.
That realization has helped program participant Vini Nair, executive director of Platform Shoes Forum, an organization in Rockland that offers online educational programs for children. Chasing after any corporate partner brought rocky relationships in the past, so now she's being pickier in choosing collaborations. "We have to think about how we serve them rather than just how they serve us. We have to think about the mutual benefit," she says.
A key aspect of the program is encouraging like-minded nonprofits to partner up to go after grants, hold fundraisers and share the cost of office supplies and fuel. In tough funding times, successful fundraising and fund management hinges on collaboration, not competition. "When funding is tight, everyone has a sense that they're all going after the same money," says Lori Roming of the Unity Foundation. "But we have to work together ˆ we don't have any other choice."
MBNA's departure has left obstacles in its wake, but also chances for growth. Mainely Girls, a Rockland nonprofit that offers programs for girls in rural areas, received MBNA money and used the company's facilities for its events. Since then, though, the organization has partnered up with a Bank of America women's leadership group, which helped the nonprofit set up a girls' book club in Belfast and run its annual conference. Though executive director Mary Orear says funding still is tight, she's excited with the new partnership. "It's a different type of support, and we feel fortunate for that," she says.
And though the Farnsworth museum likely won't replace the funding it has lost any time soon, the challenge has forced the museum to reach out to more people and respond better to donor needs. "We're a lot stronger institution because of going through this process," Stucky says.
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