This is our first annual report, developed as part of a growing communications toolbox. We decided to develop an annual report for a few reasons we’d like to share with you:
We are investing in communication, recognizing that communication is a critical part of ongoing relationship-building and social change;
We are practicing transparency, which is essential in building trust;
We are learning with and from our partners, and sharing our own learning with others;
We are holding ourselves accountable, recognizing the power that foundations hold and knowing that our commitment to equity requires that we pay attention to how power operates—sharing our actions through this annual report and other communications is part of recognizing the power philanthropy holds and beginning to bring accountability to that power; and
Finally, we are working to bring our values to life in how we operate. We hope you’ll get a sense of not just what we do, but how we do it and why that’s important to us.
We plan on having an annual report every year going forward and hope this review of our work gives you a deeper insight into who we are and what we do, and that you will stay in communication with us as we continue to work with our partners to create a healthier and more equitable Maine.
Table of Contents
Sewall’s Emergent Approach
COVID-19 Response
2020 Grantmaking at a Glance
Program Areas
Capacity Building
Lessons Learned
Snapshot of Portfolio
Board of Directors
Staff
About
Sewall’s Emergent Approach
We have been going through an internal transformation rooted in and driven by the belief that power must be decentralized from philanthropic institutions to communities through intentional, planned efforts for equity to be possible. We believe how we work should communicate our vision for interconnected and sustainable wellbeing in Maine for people, animals and the environment.
This way of being and showing up is intentionally adaptive and requires that we bring our values into everything we do internally and externally. Through our emergent approach we are committed to:
We know that one size does not fit all, and we work with communities to find the right recipe of support strategies for each area.
Our operating principles guide how we translate our commitment to trust-based philanthropy and our values into action.
These principles help us test new ideas, inform decisions, and examine our practices.
COVID-19 Response
The COVID-19 pandemic forced all of us to change and adapt, from setting up home offices to quickly developing protocols for conducting business from a distance. Recognizing the pressures of the pandemic on our communities—particularly, communities of color—along with the rise of the Movement for Black Lives, we were called to step more fully into our values as we responded to emerging needs and challenges.
Rapid Response Fund Grants
In two grant rounds (late April and early September), we made 94 grants totaling $769,500. Most grants were between $5,000 and $10,000. Given the urgent needs of organizations in this time of crisis, we awarded grants within three weeks of receiving applications. Recipients noted this quick, low-barrier access to funding made a world of difference to their organizations – allowing them to maintain staff, increase services, and otherwise respond to the crisis.
COVID-19 Response Grants
We made 18 foundation-initiated grants in late April totaling $425,000, primarily contributing to pooled funding targeting specific areas of need including: food security, immigrants and refugees, tribal governments, and policy efforts.
Twin Pandemics Grants
Responding to COVID-19 and systemic racism not only as crises but also opportunities, groups throughout the state have been exploring new approaches, considering new possibilities, and forming new partnerships to carry out their work in new ways. The purpose of the Twin Pandemics Grants was to support further development of those efforts, building on lessons learned to position Maine communities, systems, and sectors to adapt in ways that foster equity, well-being, and resilience.
This supplemental funding was a one-time grant opportunity for organizations whose work aligns with Healthy People Healthy Places focus areas, supporting their transitional and transformational efforts. 51 grants were awarded totaling $2,725,900.
Priority was given to work focused on racial equity; food systems; and policy, advocacy, and communications. We set internal funding targets, to hold ourselves accountable to these priorities. As the illustration below shows, we exceeded our funding targets in each of our three priority areas.
2020 Grantmaking at a Glance
In 2020, we awarded 355 grants totaling $12,337,029, more than double the number of grants we made in the previous year. The majority of grants made were unrestricted, and 40% of restricted grants were operating support to organizations working with fiscal sponsors. Grants ranged in size from $1,500 to $250,000. 84% of grants were for one-year terms, while 16% were for two- or three-year terms. Looking to the future, we anticipate increasing multi-year funding, particularly as work in our Healthy People Healthy Places focus areas takes greater shape. View all of our 2020 grants.
Program Areas
All of our work, across program and focus areas, strives to change systems that don’t work and support the creation of systems that are equitable and designed to support a healthy, just, and sustainable Maine for people, animals and the environment. We work with partners to affect the conditions necessary for sustainable change, as we strive to better ourselves, our processes, and how we allocate resources.
Healthy People Healthy Places
Three years ago, we conducted an assessment of our Healthy People Healthy Places initiative—we reviewed data, talked to grantee and community partners, and looked at program goals and outcomes. It confirmed the need to narrow the focus of work supported by Healthy People Healthy Places in order to lower grant declination rates, reduce the number of partially funded requests, increase impact, and expand our capacity to meaningfully engage with our nonprofit partners and their communities.
The assessment also identified areas where the work of numerous organizations was coming together at community and systems levels. This launched our refinements process, transitioning from the original, broad Healthy People Healthy Places program, to working more strategically and deepening our equity lens in a more focused approach. We believe that supporting these focus areas has the potential for deepening and sustaining impact, and further advancing equity.
Farmer Habiba Noor, Cultivating Community. Photo Greta Rybus.
Food Systems
Our long-time support of the food system has helped many organizations, networks, and projects grow, connect, and build resilience, enabling them to respond to the immense needs that arose from the economic impacts of COVID-19. In 2021, we will be working in collaboration with our grantees and others in the food system to shape the future direction of this program. Contact: Jonah Fertig-Burd
Katahdin Gazetteer. Photo Katahdin Collaborative.
Katahdin Region
Guided by the Katahdin Gazetteer: A Roadmap to the Future, we are supporting several collaborative initiatives in the region to build strong institutions, tackle Katahdin Gazetteer goals, and support healing and prosperity. In 2021, more intentional focus will be on the intersection of these efforts with the goals and priorities within the Wabanaki Communities and Tribal Governments focus area. Contact: Tom Boutureira
Lewiston and Auburn, Maine
Lewiston-Auburn
Eleven community members worked with us last year to codesign our HPHP work in L-A. Guided by the codesign report, we will begin implementing their recommendations in 2021, to strengthen equitable systems, build a sustainable workforce, foster community health, increase availability to safe and affordable housing, and continue supporting L-A’s vibrant food system. Contact: Lauress Lawrence
Nature-Based Education
We are supporting efforts that build a strong sector, create networks that address complex systems change and racial equity, and advocate for policies that result in sustained funding and more equitable access to outdoor learning for all Maine students. In 2021, we will be learning more about BIPOC-led organizations and youth networks, and ways to support their work. Contact: Tom Boutureira
Maine Environmental Changemakers. Photo Maine Environmental Education Association.
Map of Wabanaki Territory
Wabanaki Communities and Tribal Governments
We seek to be a good partner to the original peoples of this land, the Wabanaki communities and tribal governments, using grants, capacity-building, convening, and impact investment to support community priorities. Staff work collaboratively to integrate and coordinate work in this area with our other focus areas. In 2021, we will be deepening and broadening our listening to shape this work. Contact: Gabriela Alcalde
Washington County
We are supporting several collaborative efforts in the region that bring together service providers, nonprofits, and other stakeholders to address systems change in social services, fisheries, and food systems and to tackle complex demographic and climate change trends in the region. In 2021, more intentional focus will be on the intersection of efforts in this region with the goals and priorities within the Wabanaki Communities and Tribal Governments focus area. Contact: Tom Boutureira
Mano en Mano outdoor programming atop Pigeon Hill in Steuben, Maine. Photo Mano en Mano.
Keystone
This work crosses focus and program areas by providing support and partnership on policy, advocacy, strategic communications, and capacity building—it’s both foundational to, and the glue between. Grants, convenings, communications, and partnerships are the most common tools we use in this area. Look for increased grantmaking, convening, and other forms of engagement in this area in 2021 and beyond. Contact: Megan Shore
In addition to our Healthy People Healthy Places focus areas, we have two program areas that carry on the legacy of Mrs. Sewall’s deep commitment to animal welfare and organizations whose missions had a special place in Mrs. Sewall’s life.
Animal Welfare
We support animal welfare organizations across the state, with a current focus on capacity-building and the humane management of cat populations. We’ve seen growth in supporting animals to stay in homes or temporary shelter situations in times of crisis—many animal shelters provided pet-food pantries and temporary shelter for owners stricken with COVID-19 in 2020. All faced radical shifts in operations in face of the pandemic. Contact: Megan Shore
Legacy
We honor Mrs. Sewall’s interests and lifetime of philanthropy by supporting a small number of organizations with whom she had personal relationships and affinity. These grants are by invitation only to provide continued support for work that Mrs. Sewall regularly funded. Contact: Lauress Lawrence
Capacity Building
To further support our nonprofit partners, we launched a partnership with Catchafire in March 2020. Catchafire’s online platform connects skilled volunteers with nonprofits, offering support for more than 160 different project types, including coaching, marketing, technology, and much more. Over the span of 11 months, our grantees have benefitted from Catchafire in innumerable ways.
Lessons Learned
2020 was a tough year in Maine and around the world. Here are some lessons we learned from the challenges we faced together – lessons that will shift how we work in years to come.
Move the money
With increased grant dollars, flexibility, and speed, we learned to respond more effectively to nonprofit partners. Our board approved additional emergency funding and staff streamlined grant applications, eliminated reporting requirements, and made three rounds of supplemental grants. These shifts enabled our partners to maintain staff and increase services–quickly pivoting from in-person to virtual platforms–in order to respond to the critical needs of their communities.
Give more than money
The shift to virtual platforms brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic opened opportunities for increased capacity-building, convenings, and information sharing. We worked with Maine Philanthropy Center and others to initiate weekly funder calls to share information, coordinate response, and learn from leaders in different fields about effects of the pandemic to help guide response efforts.
Speak up, speak out
Raising up our voice against oppression and systemic racism encourages nonprofit partners to do the same. We are not bystanders, we are either for or against. There is strength and power in our voice, and we will use it to uphold our values and to deconstruct systems of injustice and to rebuild systems of justice. Statements need to be backed by action.
We’re all in this together
The challenges of 2020 brought opportunities to nurture trusting relationships with non-profit, philanthropic, and public-sector partners. As the African proverb has taught us, if we want to go quickly, we can go alone; but if we want to go far, we must go together. We look forward to deepening equity and strengthening trust-based collaboration with our valued partners in the years ahead.
Snapshot of Portfolio
We ended the year with $195.2 million in total assets, a substantial increase from year-end 2019 as a result of $20.4 million in investment profits compared with $13.7 million in total outflows. These outflows included grant payments of nearly $11.8 million and operating expenses of $1.7 million (an approximately 8% payout rate). We recognize that the endowment returns are emblematic of a year characterized by exploding inequality as financial markets achieved record highs despite millions of individuals losing their livelihoods.
Millinocket’s Great Northern Paper mill site
Several years ago, our Board designated 10% of endowment funds for investments that further our mission. We have invested in three projects and organizations to-date, including our 2020 participation in a loan to Our Katahdin that helped fund predevelopment costs for the redevelopment of Millinocket’s Great Northern Paper mill site. We continue to explore new opportunities to deploy our nearly $20 million impact investing commitment and to use the entire endowment to affirm our values and advance our mission.
Sewall Board of Directors
Our Board brings deep and diverse experiences and perspectives to guide, inform and support the evolving work of the foundation. In 2020, the Board met virtually each month to address the urgent and unexpected needs of our communities. We are grateful to our Board for their time, commitment, and leadership in 2020. We also are proud they were willing to step up and approve an increased payout rate of 8%, which allowed us to be flexible and responsive to meet the needs of communities hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit our Board of Directors page to learn more about our Board members.
Sewall Staff
Our staff grew by 50% in 2020, expanding our capacity to more fully, creatively and effectively serve our mission and our partners. The new team members bring valuable skillsets and experience in critical areas of our work including food systems, communications, and impact investing, and share a deep commitment to Sewall’s mission and values. We recognize that the people in our organizations are our greatest resource and that we are unusually fortunate to be able to grow our staff during such difficult times. Visit our staff page to learn more about each team member.
With our growth, we have created a “pod” structure to better align how we work as a team with our values. The goal of this approach is to decentralize decision-making and power within the staff structure, fueling creativity, flexibility, and shared leadership. Each staff member serves on multiple pods, and each staff member leads at least one pod.
About the Sewall Foundation
At the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, we believe that the health and well-being of people, animals and the environment are inextricably linked, and we seek to create a Maine where all thrive. With an equity-first approach to everything we do, we build mutual, trust-based partnerships spanning socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic boundaries. We connect organizations to each other and the resources they need, amplify their voices, and make sure they have a say in decision making. Together with our partners we’re expanding access to power, righting historical wrongs and strengthening communities for a just, healthy and sustainable future.