The Maine Community Foundation says its new brand and logo, unveiled Tuesday, reflect the nonprofit’s push to forge new partnerships, collaborate across sectors, and identify areas of philanthropic need where it can be most helpful.
“We are boldly invested in Maine,” said MaineCF President and CEO Deborah Ellwood. “As we build on our amazing history and a new strategic plan, we’re also investing today in all of Maine’s tomorrows.”
The new brand and logo were conceived by Vermilion, a Boulder, Colo., marketing agency, and are intended to evoke the Maine landscape from ocean to sky.
The rebrand comes during the 40th anniversary of the foundation, which has offices in Portland and Ellsworth. After starting with a $10 donation in 1983, the foundation and its donor partners have provided more than $630 million in grants to organizations and scholarships through a portfolio of programs, partnerships and services.
“But even as MaineCF’s grantmaking has grown, the needs and challenges in our communities do too,” Laura Lee, the foundation’s vice president of community impact, wrote in a recent commentary.
Lee continued, “This trend begs the question, how can we truly make large-scale change if these needs persist — or even increase?”
The foundation has a strategic plan that aims to mobilize philanthropic resources across the state and to strengthen the organization so it can best serve the needs of Maine. The foundation has been talking with donors, nonprofits, businesses, government and residents, to determine the areas of greatest need and where the foundation can make the biggest impact.
“And we’re going to work even harder at being a community partner: bringing together people from nonprofits, businesses, public policy and philanthropy, mobilizing funding and other resources, engaging local voices and bringing an equity lens to all our work,” said Lee.
