By Amanda Estes

Staff Writer

What if, each week, you could help support a Maine non-profit
organization working toward progressive social change without lifting a
finger?

That’s no longer an option reserved for the wealthy, says MaineShare board chairman Sally Sutton, of South Portland.

 Founded in 1989, MaineShare strives to make donating to
non-profit organizations so easy it’s automatic. MaineShare allows
employees to give a few dollars out of their paychecks each week to
more than 30 Maine organizations. According to MaineShare.org, once a
year, donors can choose a cause to champion or an organization to
support. MaineShare distributes the funds according to an employee’s
specifications, enabling organizations to spend less time on
fundraising, which Sutton says can be a time consuming and expensive
process.

“It’s very difficult,” Sutton says of fundraising. “You have to get
your message out to people [and] convince them that you’re a worthy
entity to give to.”

Since 1990, MaineShare has contributed nearly $2.4 million to Maine
organizations including those promoting healthy living, economic
opportunities, human rights, environmental protection, animal welfare
and peace. Member groups receiving the benefits of payroll
contributions include the Maine Center for Economic Policy, the Bicycle
Coalition of Maine, the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence and
Maine Veterans for Peace.   

According to MaineShare.org, the organization is able to maintain a
small office in Augusta with just two staff members because of
volunteers from the non-profits they are working to benefit. Sutton
also says MaineShare holds each non-profit up to accountability
standards so “there’s a guarantee that your dollars are going and being
spent as they should be.”

 Now a health policy analyst with the University of Southern
Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service and the executive coordinator
of the Justice Action Group – an organization that helps low-income
Mainers access legal services – Sutton is serving a second term on the
MaineShare board. She first served on the board in MaineShare’s second
year, when she was the Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU) executive
director.  

Sutton says one of the reasons she came back for a second term on the
MaineShare board is because she’s not a millionaire, but she wants to
help. If she could be reborn, she says, she would like to come back as
a philanthropist.

During her 18-year tenure with MCLU, Sutton says she was fortunate to
be in a position where she could devote her time and energy to causes
she passionately believes in.

And it was while she was working toward master’s degrees in both public
policy and management and social work, the Schenectady, N.Y. native
says she knew her calling was to promote social justice.

With Gov. John Baldacci directing state agencies to cut $38 million in
spending in the current fiscal year to compensate for a $95 million
revenue shortfall, Sutton says the non-profit sector will be called on
to shoulder a heavier burden.

“I think our state, beyond these current financial difficulties, is
always going to be a state that lacks resources and that means
non-profits are going to play an increasing important role,” Sutton
says.

That’s why MaineShare works with “change agents” who get at the root
cause of the social problems plaguing Maine people, Sutton says.

“[MaineShare is] committed to not just providing the shelter when we’re
talking about homelessness, they’re committed to helping the root
causes of homelessness,” she says. “We have to keep problems from
occurring. The organizations that belong to MaineShare are critical.”

In her work at USM’s Muskie School, Sutton is looking at how the state
can expand access to health care, particularly dental care.

“The challenge that Maine faces is we don’t have enough health
professionals in the state,” Sutton says. “Maine has fewer [students]
than any other state going to dental school. That’s why it’s important
we look to students now [and] start as early as middle school and high
school and help [students] start thinking about careers in the health
field.”

Sutton is also quick to advocate for the efforts of the Justice Action
Group and says access to legal aid can reduce or prevent a person’s
need for government assistance. Roughly one out of five low income or
elderly people in Maine are not able to access to legal services for
needs such as housing, health care, protection from abuse and custody
of their children, Sutton says.

“That has a tremendous impact on the lives of those people,” she says.

Sutton says MaineShare is working to expand its presence in workplaces
across the state and also reach out to people who are self-employed.
Anyone who is not part of a workplace campaign can currently make a
direct contribution through MaineShare.org.

“If this is something [employees] want in their workplaces, they should advocate for it,” Sutton says.

And you don’t have to be a millionaire.

“If you get paid once a week, you could put in a dollar a week,” Sutton says.

For more information about starting a workplace giving campaign or to make a donation, visit www. MaineShare.org.