While National Nonprofit Day, was Aug. 17, the Maine Office of the State Treasurer (OST) and Maine Association of Nonprofits (MANP) want Maine nonprofits to know about available resources in unclaimed property. Maine is currently home to approximately 7,000 nonprofit organizations.
On National Nonprofit Day, we celebrate the incredible organizations across our state working every day to address community challenges, connect people to opportunities, and strengthen our social fabric,” Jennifer Hutchins, executive director of MANP said, “Nonprofits are essential to our economy and quality of life, employing 1 in 6 Maine workers, enriching the lives of every Maine resident, and making our state a better place to live, work and visit. We want to make sure they have all the resources available to them to invest in their vital missions.”
The treasurer’s office runs the state’s unclaimed property program, which currently holds approximately $310 million in four million accounts of unclaimed property that belongs to Maine citizens and organizations. This includes money and other financial assets that are considered lost or abandoned when an owner cannot be located after a specified period of time of inactivity.
State Treasurer Henry Beck, said, “With such a robust nonprofit sector in our state, it’s very possible that we are holding assets that belong to a nonprofit at any given time.” He added, “As part of our mission of returning unclaimed property to rightful owners, we are glad to highlight Maine’s nonprofits and contribute to their important missions to protect, educate and serve Maine people.”
In honor of National Nonprofit Day, OST recently scanned its accounts against MANP’s membership list and found nonprofit organizations that have or may have unclaimed property, representing well over $30,000. “We’ve discovered that many organizations are unfamiliar with the State’s Unclaimed Property Division and may not realize there could be money waiting for them. We’ve been reaching out to our members individually, and we’re pleased to partner with the Office of the Treasurer to encourage all nonprofits to check the Unclaimed Property website for resources they can reclaim and put to work for Maine communities,” said Anna Overstrom-Coleman, MANP Membership Manager.
Outreach to MANP members has been productive, Beck said. “We’ve begun reaching out to these organizations to help reunite them with amounts as much as over $6,000 and as little as $25.”
To search for unclaimed property. go to: www.maineunclaimedproperty.gov.
National Nonprofit Day is an opportunity to recognize the essential role of nonprofits across our country. According to National Council of Nonprofits, most nonprofits are small and community-based, serving local needs: 92% spend less than $1 million annually; 88% spend less than $500,000. Learn more at www.NonprofitImpactMatters.org/
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