Maine · Nonprofit
FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY
FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY (Maine) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,995,607 to it, the largest being HAROLD ALFOND FOUNDATION ($14,087,352). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $3.6M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $15M
- Net assets
- $731k
What Foundation for a Strong Maine Economy does
Mission
Focusmaine propels the growth of maine's most promising industries and transforms maine into a hub for top talent.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Focusmaine is strengthening the fabric of maine's economy by accelerating the creation of quality jobs and increasing revenue in globally competitive and high-growth sectors, while also strengthening maine's workforce capacity.[continued on schedule o]food economy - focusmaine strengthens maine's food economy by supporting local and global market access. Our partner programs offer coaching, technical assistance, capital, and market opportunities, helping food companies overcome growth barriers. Data shows program participants grew twice as fast as maine's food companies overall and six times faster than the state's industries as a whole.life sciences - in 2024, the organization shifted its strategy from attracting companies to maine to strengthening the state's life sciences ecosystem. A 12-member advisory team of experts from academia, research, venture, and entrepreneurship was assembled to guide efforts focused on investment, infrastructure, startup support, policy solutions and promoting maine as a life sciences hub, laying the foundation for long-term industry growth.workforce development - focusmaine supports workforce development across maine's industries, including…
$2,895,769 spentof which $2,145,984 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,895,769.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $1.6M to $5.2M (+228%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 1% · 2022 6% · 2023 12% · 2024 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Andrea Maker
President, co-chair & co-founder
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $1.4M → $108k.
5 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $516k from 3 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Maine Technology Institute). These are real filings, and they are not money FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY raised.
From the IRS filings of FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 94% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 98% · 2019 98% · 2020 93% · 2021 92% · 2022 95% · 2023 49% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
20% of FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
98% of FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY's grant income comes from Maine funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $305k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 4,203 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,203 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.0M on record.
- Small Business Administration$919k
- Department of Agriculture$100k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Maine
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
89% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Institute for a Strong Maine Economy · exempt
- Maine State Chamber of Commerce · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY?
- FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY (Maine) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $14,995,607 to it, the largest being HAROLD ALFOND FOUNDATION ($14,087,352). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $14,995,607 in grants to FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY?
- HAROLD ALFOND FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $14,087,352 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FOUNDATION FOR A STRONG MAINE ECONOMY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maine. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 21 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing