Planned gifts – typically absorbed into endowment funds – generally involve more complicated gift arrangements than current gifts of cash or marketable securities. They also typically begin at the 6 figure level, involve gift, estate and/or income tax benefits to their donors, and can increase significantly the financial resources of nonprofit organizations for their long-term operation.

In this course, we will review and explore:

* organizational prerequisites, including board and staff roles
* underlying policies and procedures
* the industry of planned giving
* wealth transfer and tax implications that incentivize planned gifts
* mechanics of planned gifts
* resources to support planned giving programs (e.g. allied professionals, web-based services)
* the concept of appropriate donor recognition and stewardship

We will also discuss how to identify potential planned giving opportunities.

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, J.D. is a graduate of the Institute for Civic Leadership and a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor (“CTFA”). She has practiced law, was Vice President for Southern Maine at the Maine Community Foundation and Sr. Administrative Trust officer at Union Trust Company. She is a frequent writer and speaker on the topics of trust and estate planning, charitable gift planning and planned giving.

Wednesday, April 14, and Thursday, April 15, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
call USM Cont Ed. 1-800-787-0468  or go to USM Cont Ed web site here
$285 (12 contact hours/ 1.2 CEUs)
Abromson Center, 88 Bedford Street, USM Portland campus

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist can be reached at her web-site, Planning for Good here

The fishermen fear that this could take place if the legislature approves LD 1810, An Act To Implement the Recommendations of the Governor’s Ocean Energy Task Force.

The bill would  authorize the Department of Conservation’s Bureau of Parks & Lands to lease nearshore state waters to the wind industry, and loosens the state’s and municipal environmental and conservation laws, rules and ordinances to be used the state waters windfarm application decisionmaking process.

LD 1810′s public hearing took place March 11th. At the hearing, Marine Resources Committee co-Chair Leila Percy told the Utility & Energy Committee, which is considering LD 1810,   that to protect marine resource users, the 35 page bill – which was only introduced in committee that week – required careful scrutiny before any final action is taken “I want to speak about the bump in the road, “ Percy told the committee. “I haven’t had a chance to read the bill. bsp;And a lot of my constituents haven’t had a chance to read the bill.” Percy said she had spoken with fishermen at the Seminar on Ocean Windfarms & Maine Fishermen at the  2010 Maine Fishermens Forum l

Percy called for the bill to passed as a “resolve”, then brought before fishing and tourism based coastal communities and before the Marine Resources Committee and the Natural Resources Committee,  before final action on a bill in 2011.
“I think having everyone’s voice in a much greater conversation would be helpful” she said.

Other portions of the bill  have also come under fire. If passed,  the Bureau of Parks and Lands could:

* Offer 2 year “lease options,  3 year predevelopment leases”,  5 year “pre-operation leases” and 30 year operating leases. In addition the Bureau plans to offer 50 year  leases of the state’s submerged marine lands to wave and tidal energy interests

LD 1810 would also:

* Allow the banning of commercial fishing within the wind leases using any gear that wind industry insurers deem risky to wind farm’s underwater cables and  structures.

* Allow wind companies to use eminent domain on shoreline and inland property owners, to allow the industry to cut powerline and tower rights of way through private land as needed to connect the offshore developers to the national grid.

* Forbid coastal towns from assessing property taxes on wind turbines or related equipment and facilities in the municipalities’ waters that are “below the mean low-water line on waters subject to tidal influence.”

* Forbid coastal resorts from challenging nearshore windfarms for threatening to  degrade economically critical, measurable scenic values without penalty or need to compensate other users for lost values.

* Forbid Maine citizens from filing appeals of Maine Department of Environmental Protection windmill project decisions to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection. Would-be appellants would need to go straight to state court.

* Forbid the Maine Board of Environmental Protection from assuming jurisdiction over Maine Department of Protection windmill applications.

Critics say  the result of the relaxed and weakened standards could stimulate a wild west style  submerged lands rush, with speculators staking exploratory claims over Maine fishing grounds, then selling their leases for a tidy profit to one of the big energy concerns that hope to dominate the wind energy business.

“Who wrote this junk bill?” said fishermen  Brian Preney of Boothbay, a member of the state’s Sea Urchin Zone Council.  “Would anybody with any civic responsibility propose such a poor piece of legislation?  I would like to know who wrote it and who they represent, because it certainly is not me or the people of Maine.”

As a result of the fishing industry’s concerns, political leaders are taking action. Speaker of the House Hannah Pingree has pledged  that the bill  will be extensively modified.

“I think we’ll scale down the bill significantly”, she reassured one concerned constituent.  ”We were disappointed the bill came from the Governor so late in the session with so many big issues to be resolved.”

The state’s heating industry is also up in arms about the bill, which proposes phasing that business out and requiring Mainers to use electricity for heating their homes and workplaces.

Final action on LD 1810 takes place 1pm Thursday March 18th, when the Maine legislature’s Utility and Energy Committee holds its work session on the bill.

The full schedule of events can be found at www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com, but suffice to say the weekend offers something for everyone, from sailing aficionados, through blueberry pancake and clam chowder enthusiasts, to aspirant crate-racers and boat builders.

The Camden Windjammer Festival is a community-led celebration of Camden’s maritime heritage and living traditions. From the great age of sail when four, five, and even six-masted schooners were launched into Camden Harbor, through the birth of the windjammer business here in the 1930s and continuing with the elegant yachts that visit or call Camden home every summer, sailing ships have always defined this gorgeous community where the mountains meet the sea.

Every year thousands of visitors from as far away as Alaska and as near as Bay View Street in Camden gather along the wharfs and parks to explore the ships themselves, learn salty crafts and skills, and swap sea stories and songs in talent shows and concerts that will appeal to landlubbers and swabbies alike. Now in its sixteenth year, the Camden Windjammer Festival has become a wildly popular event for tourists as well as locals. This year’s festival takes on special significance, as the Camden community recognizes and celebrates the important role the town’s maritime heritage plays in shaping the lives of all residents.

An event of this scale would not be possible without the active support and participation of local residents and businesses. With that in mind, anyone interested in volunteering for at least one four hour shift over the course of the weekend can call Dan Bookham at the Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce at 236-4404 or email him at dbookham@camdenme.org. Volunteering is a great way to be right at the heart of the Camden Windjammer Festival while contributing invaluable help to the event and the community in a fun and enjoyable setting. Each volunteer receives an exclusive Camden Windjammer Festival Volunteer T-Shirt – these shirts are not for sale and can only be obtained by volunteering. Also, volunteers will be able to say that they helped stage one of the biggest parties on the Maine coast in celebration of our maritime heritage and community spirit.

Also needed to ensure that all the elements of the weekend- from the fireworks to the final design of the t-shirts- are successful is the financial support of community-minded businesses and individuals interested in sponsorship opportunities. For more information on a great way to support your community (at a variety of levels) while benefiting your business contact fundraising chair John Viehman at 594-9544 or jviehman@downeast.com. The Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville Chamber of Commerce, Down East, Village Soup, and Point Lookout Resort & Conference Center are already signed on as major sponsors. Also providing valuable support are the Camden Downtown Business Group, the Camden Public Library, EBS, Elm Street Printing & Graphics, Linda Norton Studio, Marti Stone Photography, and Sikaflex.

For regular updates on the Camden Windjammer Festival and for more information on any aspect of the weekend visit www.camdenwindjammerfestival.com or www.visitcamden.com, or call the CRL Chamber at 207 236 4404 or 1 800 223 5459.

Camden Windjammer Festival logo

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Nathaniel Ells, owner of Out of the Fog – Maine Roasted Coffee & Maine Made Gifts Online,
announces the addition of the domain www.maineoutofthefog.com.
Out of the Fog is an online retail store. The new url will directly link customers to Out of the Fog’s e-commerce website, www.outofthefog.biz.
Out of the Fog LLC is a member of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, the State of Maine’s “Maine Products Marketing Program”, and recently joined the Maine Tourism Association.
“www.MaineOutoftheFog.com” delivers Maine goods to the entire United States and Canada.

Out of the Fog LLC
P.O. Box 677, Union, ME 04862
www.maineoutofthefog.com
Fax (888)473-6910
Phone (207)542-1319