Maine Development Foundation

Overview

Mission

The mission of the Maine Development Foundation is to foster sustainable, long-term economic growth for Maine. Its programs stimulate new ideas, help develop Maine's leaders, and provide common ground for solving problems and advancing important issues.

What it reported doing in 2024

Leadership Programs consist of a powerful, nine-month, outward journey that takes a leader beyond their day-to-day experience and expands their capacity to shape our state's future. The Leadership curriculum is designed for leaders from all sectors. Each Leadership class is given real-life challenges to address. Participants work in teams to address the assigned issue, connect with key stakeholders, organizations and groups, and develop a solution-oriented path with the goal of improving the economy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
010355563
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Headquarters
Augusta, ME, USA
Phone
2076226345
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Economic Development

Official website

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 81
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.6%; rating input score 74
  • Program expense ratio: 72.6%; rating input score 73
  • Fundraising efficiency: $16.46 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 97.5%; rating input score 97; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.32; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.96; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.8%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.6% of revenue deployed · 72.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $2.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $204K · 18 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 annual filings from 2013 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 15 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Leadership & pay

18 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • Yellow Light Breen (President & CEO): $203,552 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: FY2024.