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How to Help

Donate

Your financial support makes a difference. When you donate to Friends of Casco Bay, you are a part of a community that says this amazing place matters. We value all donations no matter the amount. 

Learn more about the many ways you can support our work.

Volunteer, Take Action, and Attend Events

Our volunteers are an integral part of our community. They help us collect observational data, lend their voices in support of our advocacy, and help rally the region around Casco Bay. Friends of the Bay can also attend our events to stay educated and engaged on the latest issues facing our coastal waters.

You can also help Casco Bay by…

Pumping out your boat. Our pumpout service provides a convenient, practical way to dispose of sewage from your boat. Casco Bay is a federally-designated No Discharge Area, which means it is illegal to release raw or treated sewage from any vessel into the Bay.

Staying up to date. When you sign up for our email list you will receive stories about our work, invitations to events, and advocacy action alerts.

Be a Friend to Casco Bay

Your support is integral to our efforts to protect the health of the Bay.

Our balance sheet remains strong, with ample working capital, no long-term debt, and additional restricted funds that help support our work. We are growing our budget sustainably through continually seeking new donors and by building long-term relationships with existing supporters.

We are honored to partner with you to keep Casco Bay blue.

Become a Member

Members are donors who identify as Friends of the Bay. Members give us financial support to improve and protect the health of Casco Bay. Members also give us clout when talking with decision-makers and give us standing in being the eyes, ears, and voice of the Bay.

Become a Member

Friends of Casco Bay is a 501 (c)(3).

For more information please see the following documents:

Tax ID #01-0452620 Letter of Determination

Gift Acceptance Policy

990 Friends of Casco Bay

Financial Statements

Annual Report

Make a Gift of Stock

We welcome gifts of securities to support our mission to improve and protect the Bay. A gift of appreciated securities may not only help the Bay but also result in capital gains tax savings. To initiate a gift of stock, please contact Development Director Sarah Lyman so we can properly acknowledge and track your gift: slyman [at] cascobay [dot] org or by calling (207) 370-7553.

Donate to our Annual Fund

Your Annual Fund gift, a separate gift from your membership, gives us the support we need to implement our annual operating plan. Your Annual Fund gift helps us monitor the health of the Bay, engage the community in being stewards of our waters, and advocate for protections that will preserve the environmental health of the Bay for the next generation.

Donate to our Annual Fund

Corporate Matching

Does your employer match charitable contributions? If so, you can double your impact by requesting that your company match your gift. Be sure to send us the required forms we need to process the matching gift: Friends of Casco Bay, 43 Slocum Drive, South Portland, ME 04106.

Donate your boat

Rather than selling your boat, consider donating it to Friends of Casco Bay in order to support our mission.

Learn about our Boat Donation Program

Make a donation to the Emeritus Fund for Advocacy

The Emeritus Fund supports Friends of Casco Bay’s advocacy and related staff development activities in our annual operating plans. You can read more about and make a secure online donation to the Emeritus Fund here.

Make a donation to the Baykeeper Boats Fund

Friends of Casco Bay depends upon ongoing support from our Baykeeper Boats Fund to maintain our fleet, including our Baykeeper boat, our pumpout vessel, and the smaller boats we use in our work to protect the health of our coastal waters. You can read more about our Boats Fund and make a secure online donation to the Baykeeper Boats Fund here.

Planned Giving: The Anchor Society

Planned giving helps us ensure a healthy Casco Bay is passed on to the next generation. Planned gifts may provide donors with significant benefits through future estate tax savings, income tax savings, and a reduction of capital gains taxes. You can view a copy of our Gift Acceptance Policy here. To have a confidential discussion about making a planned gift to Friends of Casco Bay, please contact Executive Director Will Everitt [willeveritt [at] cascobay [dot] org, (207) 799-8574 ext. 204].

Give a Gift Membership

There is no better or meaningful way to share your love of Casco Bay than by giving them a gift membership! In the “Additional Information” section of our secure online donation form, simply record in the comments box that you are making a gift membership. Be sure to give us the name, address, and contact information of whom you are giving the gift to so we can keep him/her updated about our efforts to protect the health of the Bay.

Give a Gift Membership

Donate in Honor of a Loved One

A gift in memory or in honor of a loved one is a thoughtful way to share your passion for Casco Bay. We will memorialize your gift in our Annual Report to the Community, which we publish each year.

Donate in Honor of a Loved One

Workplace Giving

Friends of Casco Bay is a member of MaineShare, a community of more than 40 statewide nonprofit organizations working every day to make Maine a better place to live and work. MaineShare is offered in many workplaces. You can also give to Friends of Casco Bay through the Maine State Employees Combined Charitable Appeal (MSECCA), the Combined Federal Campaign, and your local United Way.

Learn how others have helped and how you can help:

Water Reporters document historic flooding

January 12, 2023

On Friday, December 23, Water Reporter Brian Beckman looked out the window from his home in Phippsburg to see the West Point Wharf flooded at high tide. That day, the combination of an astronomically high tide and strong, southeasterly winds had the potential to cause much damage to the wharf.… Read more

More Than 165 Volunteers Get Their Hands Wet for Casco Bay

September 16, 2022

Friends of Casco Bay volunteers took part in Nabbing Nitrogen, a Clean Water Act day of action, collecting 178 water samples to help address nitrogen pollution More than 165 volunteers from 26 communities across the Casco Bay region converged on Portland Harbor on Sunday morning, August 7, as part of… Read more

No Poop in the Bay: Friends of Casco Bay Relaunches Pumpout Program

May 31, 2022

We are excited to announce that we are relaunching our Pumpout Program. After a 2-year hiatus, our pumpout vessel, Headmaster, is back in the water and is being captained by our newest staff member, Pumpout Coordinator Chris Gilday. “After working as a commercial fisherman for decades, I know firsthand how… Read more