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.