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Maine Coast Heritage Trust at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Maine Coast Heritage Trust

Maine Coast Heritage Trust advances the conservation of lands and waters in Maine to ensure ecological well-being and foster thriving communities.

$3.7M
Granted FY2024still arriving
16
Grants FY2024still arriving
5
States reached
$1.2M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$21MHousing & Shelter$160kPublic Benefit$24kArts & Culture$20k
02FY2024 · 16 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 16 grants below total $3,308,716, the rows itemized in this filing. The $3,664,989 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $356,273 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k1 grant · $800
  • $10k–50k7 grants · $147k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $568k
  • $250k+4 grants · $2.6M
$115,000
Median grant
5
States reached
$312M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Biddeford Pool Land Trust$1,205,465
The Nature Conservancy$750,000
Downeast Salmon Federation$349,184
York Land Trust$288,441
The Forest Society of Maine$200,000
The Community School$127,835
Crabtree Neck Land Trust$125,000
Niweskok$115,000
Brunswick Topsham Land Trust$45,000
Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary$25,000
Midcoast Conservancy$20,000
Mi'kmaq Nation$20,000
Individual grant recipient$16,991
New Learning Journey$10,000
Legacy Investment Works LLC dba Legacy Philanthropy Works$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 7%. 91% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 7%The Nature Conservancy: $750k → 7%The Nature Conservancy: $842k → 7%York Land Trust: $181k → 9%Midcoast Conservancy: $103k → 9%Wright Pierce: $94k → 9%Kennebec Land Trust: $141k → 12%Maine Farmland Trust: $115k → 13%Town of Lubec: $63k → 16%Brunswick Topsham Land Trust: $45k → 7%Midcoast Conservancy: $100k → 9%Coastal Mountains Land Trust: $201k → 11%Maine Community Foundation: $200k → 11%Town of Machias: $174k → 16%Friends of Hope Cemetery & Woods: $50k → 9%Midcoast Conservancy: $50k → 9%Coastal Mountains Land Trust: $200k → 11%RF Jordan & Sons Construction: $133k → 11%The Forest Society of Maine: $200k → 15%Downeast Coastal Conservancy: $86k → 16%York Land Trust: $750k → 9%Coastal Mountains Land Trust: $105k → 11%Town of Stonington: $81k → 11%Niweskok: $115k → 15%York Land Trust: $288k → 9%Coastal Mountains Land Trust: $77k → 11%Biddeford Pool Land Trust: $8.2M → 9%Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust: $100k → 9%Frenchman Bay Conservancy: $289k → 11%Downeast Salmon Federation: $349k → 16%Royal River Conservation Trust: $65k → 7%Biddeford Pool Land Trust: $1.2M → 9%Atlantic Challenge Foundations Inc: $80k → 11%Frenchman Bay Conservancy: $239k → 11%Downeast Salmon Federation: $347k → 16%Frenchman Bay Conservancy: $140k → 11%Downeast Salmon Federation: $303k → 16%Crabtree Neck Land Trust: $125k → 11%Downeast Salmon Federation: $181k → 16%Schoodic Instititue at Acadia National Park: $2.0M → 11%Downeast Salmon Federation: $83k → 16%Frenchman Bay Conservancy: $114k → 11%Downeast Salmon Federation: $63k → 16%Friends of Acadia: $138k → 11%The Community School of Mount Desert Island: $523k → 11%Island Housing Trust: $160k → 11%The Community School: $128k → 11%Blue Hill Heritage Trust: $304k → 11%Blue Hill Heritage Trust: $211k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

79%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 14 repeat orgs$4.1M to everyone else

14 repeat relationships: 7 still active in FY2024, 7 since wound down; 8 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

14
21

Total granted

$15M
$3.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+71%

Still filing today

100%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 80% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $522k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentFood & NutritionArts & CultureAnimalsHousing & ShelterEducationOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • DOWNEAST SALMON FEDERATION
    7× · 2018–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +66% · 29% of their budget
  • YL
    YORK LAND TRUST
    4× · 2017–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +22% · 32% of their budget
  • FB
    Frenchman Bay Conservancy
    4× · 2017–2023 · $783k · revenue +249%

Funded once

  • SI
    SCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK
    one grant, 2017 · $2.0M · revenue -9% · 37% of their budget
  • SO
    State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife
    one grant, 2023 · $245k
  • TO
    Town of Machias
    one grant, 2019 · $174k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Wetlands Foundation
Environment
2
Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust

Our mission is to permanently conserve and steward natural resources across our island and mainland communities for the benefit of current and future generations.

—
3
Kennebunk Land Trust

Kennebunk Land Trust's mission is to permanently conserve and steward land to benefit natural and human communities.

Environment
4
Sebasticook Regional Land Trust

The mission of the SRLT is to recognize and conserve the rich wild and workinglandscape of Central Maine's Sebasticook River watershed through conservation,stewardship and education. Our focal programs are land conservation for…

Environment
5
Boothbay Region Land Trust

To conserve for the public benefit natural habitat, scenic beauty, and working land of the Boothbay region of Maine by providing stewardship, public access, and environmental programs.

Environment
6
Somerset Woods Trustees

To conserve lands with significant ecological or cultural resources and manage them in a sustainable way for public benefit.

Environment
7
Islesboro Islands Trust

The mission of Islesboro Islands Trust is to enhance the quality of residents' lives through the preservation of open space, educate all residents as to the value of the island's natural ecosystems, and act as an environmental advocate on…

Philanthropy
8
Presumpscot Regional Land Trust

We engage with communities to conserve, steward, and provide access to local lands and clean water for current and future generations to enjoy.

—
9
Upper Saco Valley Land Trust

The Organization works with local landowners to permanently protect natural land and waters that define its community and enrich the quality of life by purchasing, managing, negotiating and developing conservations easements in the Upper…

Food & Nutrition
10
Piscataquog Land Conservancy

The Piscataquog Land Conservancy is a nonprofit land conservation organization founded in 1970. Its purpose is to conserve the natural and scenic environment of the Piscataquog, Souhegan and Nashua River watershed communities of southern…

—
11
Mahoosuc Land Trust Inc

To protect and conserve land and traditional land uses including farming, recreation, significant habitats, scenery, and water resources for the benefit of the public. The organization facilitates community-based conservation.

Environment
12
Northcoast Regional Land Trust

Northcoast regional land trust is dedicated to the protection of working landscapes, farms, forests and grazing lands, and to the preservation and protection of land for its natural, educational, scenic and historic values.

Food & Nutrition
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Blue Hill Heritage Trust; the most unlike its peers is Somes-Meynell Wildlife Sanctuary. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

34 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 34 of the 45 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
11
Early backer (in before they grew)
34/34
Grantees still filing
19/34
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BIDDEFORD POOL LAND TRUST: $9,372,219 · EnvironmentBIDDEFORD POOL LAND TRUSTSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: $1,980,479 · EnvironmentSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARKYORK LAND TRUST: $1,250,941 · EnvironmentYORK LAND TRUSTFrenchman Bay Conservancy: $783,294 · EnvironmentCoastal Mountains Land Trust: $592,680 · Environment+16 more: $1,974,537 · Environment+16 moreTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,592,000 · OtherTHE NATURE CON…State of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife: $245,000 · OtherState of Maine…Town of Machias: $174,000 · OtherTown of Machia…RF Jordan & Sons Construction: $133,111 · OtherWright Pierce: $94,380 · Other+13 more: $440,902 · Other+13 moreDOWNEAST SALMON FEDERATION: $1,331,990 · AnimalsTHE COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF MOUNT DESERT: $650,800 · EducationMaine Farmland Trust: $154,650 · Food & NutritionNiweskok: $115,000 · Food & NutritionMaine Community Foundation Inc: $200,000 · PhilanthropyISLAND HOUSING TRUST: $160,000 · Housing & Shelter
Environment$15,954,150Other$2,679,393Animals$1,331,990Education$650,800Food & Nutrition$269,650Philanthropy$200,000Housing & Shelter$160,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: $1,980,479 over 1y, 37% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $1,592,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetDOWNEAST SALMON FEDERATION: $1,331,990 over 7y, 29% of budgetYORK LAND TRUST: $1,250,941 over 4y, 32% of budgetFrenchman Bay Conservancy: $783,294 over 4y, 17% of budgetTHE COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF MOUNT DESERT: $650,800 over 2y, 18% of budgetCoastal Mountains Land Trust: $592,680 over 5y, 11% of budgetBLUE HILL HERITAGE TRUST: $515,282 over 3y, 12% of budgetMidcoast Conservancy: $313,113 over 5y, 4.5% of budgetForest Society of Maine: $200,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetMaine Community Foundation Inc: $200,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetISLAND HOUSING TRUST: $160,000 over 2y, 18% of budgetMaine Farmland Trust: $154,650 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetCoastal Rivers Conservation Trust: $145,000 over 2y, 3.8% of budgetTHE KENNEBEC LAND TRUST: $140,660 over 1y, 15% of budgetFriends of Acadia: $137,772 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetCRABTREE NECK LAND TRUST: $125,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetNiweskok: $115,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetDOWNEAST COASTAL CONSERVANCY: $113,334 over 3y, 7.8% of budgetBrunswick-Topsham Land Trust Inc: $106,646 over 4y, 4.3% of budgetATLANTIC CHALLENGE FOUNDATION INC DBA THE APPRENTICESHOP: $80,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetROYAL RIVER CONSERVATION TRUST: $65,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetFRIENDS OF HOPE CEMETERY & WOODS: $50,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetWABANAKI CULTURAL PRESERVATION COALITION: $43,100 over 2y, 4.3% of budgetNORTHEAST WILDERNESS TRUST CORPORATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetSOMES-MEYNELL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY: $25,000 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetGeorges River Land Trust: $24,750 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetNEW ENGLAND FORESTRY FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetNEW LEARNING JOURNEY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetLEGACY PHILANTHROPY WORKS: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Maine Community Found…Davis Conservation Fo…The Nature ConservancyOnion FoundationQuimby Family Foundat…Elmina B Sewall Found…John Sage FoundationMomentum ConservationFields Pond Foundatio…Morton-Kelly Charitab…Edward C Johnson FundBafflin Foundation
Maine Community Foundation IncME62.1× affinity32 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Davis Conservation Foundation · The Nature Conservancy · Onion Foundation · Quimby Family Foundation · Elmina B Sewall Foundation · John Sage Foundation · Momentum Conservation · Fields Pond Foundation Inc · Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust · Edward C Johnson Fund · Bafflin Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Maine Coast Heritage Trust funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Maine Coast Heritage Trust. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 88%
  • New England Forestry Foundation Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Northeast Wilderness Trust Corporation: 2% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 45 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Maine Coast Heritage’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home