Skip Navigation

  1. What We Fund
    1. Overview: What We Fund
    2. Strengthening Neighborhoods & Building Communities
    3. Self-Sufficiency, Education & Employment
    4. Community Health & Medical Research
    5. Regional Assets
    6. Building Organizational Strength
  2. How to Apply
    1. Overview: How to Apply
    2. Eligibility
    3. Types of Support
    4. Medical Research & Biomedical Investments
      1. Medical Research Reporting
    5. Reporting
    6. FAQ
  3. Special Initiatives
    1. Overview: Special Initiatives
    2. Arts Services Initiative
    3. Mobile Safety-Net Team
      1. MSNT Mission
      2. MSNT Vision
      3. MSNT Strategic Direction
      4. 2010 MSNT Calendar
      5. MSNT Staff
      6. MSTN Partners
      7. Talking with Basic Human Needs Providers
        1. American Red Cross
        2. Buffalo City Mission
        3. CASH
        4. Catholic Charities
        5. Community Missions
        6. Food Bank of WNY
        7. Goodwill Industries
        8. Meals on Wheels
        9. Salvation Army
    4. Oishei Leaders
    5. Scholarships
    6. Collaborations
    7. Events
  4. About Us
    1. Overview: About Us
    2. Directors
    3. Staff
    4. History
    5. Mission and Values
      1. 2010 Grantee Perception Report
    6. Annual Reports
    7. News
      1. News Archive
      2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCES CREATION OF BUFFALO ARTS AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
    8. Photo / Video Gallery
      1. Photo / Video Archive
    9. Media Room
  5. Knowledge Management
    1. Special Reports by JROF Staff
    2. Philanthropy
      1. Advocacy Funding: The Philanthropy of Changing Minds
      2. ABC: An Introduction to Knowledge Management (KM)
      3. What Drives Foundation Expenses and Compensation? Results of a Three-Year Study
    3. Strengthening Neighborhoods & Building Communities
      1. Queen City in the 21st Century: Buffalo's Comprehensive Plan
      2. Blueprint Buffalo: Regional Strategies and Local Tools for Reclaiming Vacant Properties in the City and Suburbs of Buffalo
      3. Urban Ecosystem Analysis, Buffalo-Lackawanna
      4. Where Did They Go? The Decline of Middle-Income Neighborhoods in Metropolitan America
      5. Restoring Prosperity: The State Role in Revitalizing America's Older Industrial Cities
      6. Retooling for Growth: Building a 21st Century Economy in America's Older Industrial Areas
    4. Self-Sufficiency, Education & Employment
      1. Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Investment Board Plan
        1. Community Health
          1. Western New York Health Risk Assessment
          2. Every Breath We Take
      2. Buffalo Child Care Means Business
      3. Two Steps Back: City and Suburban Poverty Trends
      4. Losing Ground: Income and Poverty in Upstate NY
      5. Poverty: A State of Extremes
      6. America's Forgotten Middle Class Jobs
      7. Pulling Apart in New York:An Analysis of Income Trends in New York State
      8. Baby-Boom Retirements and Emerging Labor Market Pressures
      9. Factors That Affect Children and Families in Erie County: Poverty, Violence, Child Abuse and Neglect
      10. Children Left Behind: How Metropolitan Areas are Failing America's Children
      11. 2 more items...
    5. Community Health & Medical Research
      1. The Western New York Health Risk Assessment
      2. Every Breath We Take
      3. One Friday, Four Futures Initiative
      4. Designed for Disease: The Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes
    6. Regional Assets
      1. CultureWork
      2. The Vital Center: A Federal-State Compact to Renew the Great Lakes Region
      3. The Great Lakes Region and the Knowledge Economy: A Roadmap to the Future
      4. The University and the Creative Economy
      5. Buffalo Niagara Partnership Regional Agenda
      6. Erie and Niagara Counties: Framework for Regional Growth
      7. Shared Prosperity, Stronger Regions: An Agenda for Rebuilding America's Older Core Cities
      8. Economic Benefits of Land Conservation
      9. Artists’ Centers: Evolution and Impact on Careers, Neighborhoods and Economies
      10. Buffalo Niagara Cultural Tourism Initiative Strategy
      11. 3 more items...
    7. Building Organizational Strength
      1. New Board of Directors Training Sessions
      2. Ten Keys to Successful Strategic Planning
      3. Daring to Lead
      4. Beyond Collaboration: Strategic Restructuring of Nonprofit Organizations
      5. The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits
      6. Boards of Midsize Nonprofits:Their Needs and Challenges
    8. Knowledge Source March-April 2011
    9. Knowledge Source Jan-Feb 2011
    10. Knowledge Source 11.10
    11. 5 more items...
  6. Login
    1. Log Out
    2. Board
      1. Meeting Dates
      2. Board Contact Info
      3. Committee Listing
      4. Board Book 3-23-2011
      5. Audit Committee Info 3-23-2011
      6. Investment Committee Info 3-23-2011
      7. Board Book 1-26-2011
      8. Investment Committee Meeting Info 1-26-2011
      9. Board Book 5-18-2011

Home > How to Apply > Eligibility

Eligibility

In general, Foundation support is limited to activities in Erie and Niagara Counties (NY). Organizations within those counties that wish to partner with organizations in other counties of Western New York (Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming) are encouraged to contact the Foundation for guidance. Colleges and Universities in the eight counties of Western New York are eligible to apply.
  
An organization seeking support must be determined by the Internal Revenue Service to be tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Private foundations, as defined in Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, are not eligible for Foundation support.
 
To receive Foundation support, an organization must be well managed, including an active board drawn from a cross-section of the community. It must have a consistent record of sound fiscal management and a demonstrated track record of efficient operations and effective programming. New or recently formed organizations that have strong case statements and the above elements of sound management are encouraged to contact the Foundation for guidance.
 
The Foundation does not make grants to governmental (public) institutions, agencies or projects. Organizations that rely heavily on government funding are eligible to apply, but must be able to demonstrate that a grant from the Foundation would supplement rather than supplant public funding.
 
The Foundation does not make grants to:
  • Individuals
  • Religious organizations for sectarian or propagation of faith purposes
  • Organizations which make grants to others
  • Lobbying or advocacy for specific political candidates or legislation