Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo
/OVERVIEW: The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo works broadly to support nonprofits of all sizes in the Buffalo region. Its main areas of interest are education, racial equity, the environment and arts and culture.
IP TAKE: This is an important community foundation in the western region of New York. CFGB has broad grantmaking interests and manages hundreds of funds, so there will likely be a match for every organization seeking support here. Application begins with a visit to the organization’s grant page, which lists current and ongoing opportunities. This funder is approachable and responsive, so reach out with questions and ideas at any time.
PROFILE: Established in 1919, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo (CFGB) is a community foundation based in Buffalo, New York and serving the Western New York region. George F. Rand, Sr. and Edward H. Letchworth are credited with creating this foundation to benefit the local community. Its mission is “connecting people, ideas, and resources to improve lives in Western New York. CFGB’s stated grantmaking priorities are education, racial equity, the environment and arts and culture. This funder’s work is mainly conducted through 18 collaborative initiatives through which it partners closely with community organizations working towards the foundation’s specific goals. Many other grant programs are conducted through the foundation’s hundreds of donor-advised and special interest funds.
Grants for Early Childhood and K-12 Education
Education is one of CFGB’s main focus areas and accounts for a significant portion of its funding. The foundation’s support for early childhood programs stems from its Lift Off and Read to Succeed initiatives. Lift Off is “a strategic alliance of early childhood funders working to ensure that, by the time children reach kindergarten, they’re prepared physically, socially, emotionally & cognitively to reach their fullest potential.” The program was launched in 2018 and began with a deep assessment of the “early childhood needs” of the Buffalo area and surrounding counties. Since then, the program has engaged communities in growing and improving early childhood education, early childcare and parental involvement in kindergarten readiness. Grantee partners have included Help Me Grow Western New York and the WNY Digital Equity Coalition. Early childhood education has also received support from the foundation’s Read to Succeed initiative, which aims to provide “literacy rich environments” to all young children, especially those who face “economic or social challenges.” The program has partnered with numerous early child care centers, preschools and public libraries to this end. At the K-12 level, Read to Succeed aims to provide “high quality, intentional instruction” in reading for students in grades K-3. Toward this goal, the foundation has partnered with other funders to create the Community Alignment for Reading Excellence, which offers teacher development, classroom supports and embedded reading assessments and data analysis to elementary reading classrooms in participating schools.
Buffalo area K-12 education also receives support from the foundation’s Say Yes Buffalo program, which provides a broad array of services and opportunities to area students, including tutoring, mentoring, apprenticeships, legal and health services and out-of-school and summer learning and enrichments. Grantee partners of this initiative include Buffalo Public Schools, Mid-Erie Counseling and Treatment Services, Careerwise Greater Buffalo and the New York State Office of Mental Health.
Grants for Higher Education, Work and Opportunity
Developing and supporting the future workforce of the Buffalo region are main goals of CFGB’s education and racial equity funding focus areas. Since its inception in 2011, Say Yes Buffalo has provided over 2,000 scholarships to graduates of Buffalo public and charter high schools to pursue post-secondary degrees and certificates. The foundation also supports work and economic opportunity through its Racial Equity Round Table, which works to expand employment opportunities for at-risk young people, men and boys of color and people reentering the workforce after incarceration. Community partners include the Buffalo Urban League, Prisoners are People Too, Men of Merit, Buffalo State College and the Elim Community Corporation.
Grants for Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights
Racial equity is one of CFGB’s major areas of focus, and equity is named as a priority across all of the foundations funding programs. However, the foundation’s Racial Equity Round Table and Community of Giving Legacies Initiative represent a majority of the foundation’s work in the racial justice and equity arena. The Racial Equity Roundtable aims to advance equity by “building trusted partnerships and coalitions to break down barriers and rewrite policies and practices.” The roundtable names subinitiatives for anti recidivism, juvenile justice, racial equity impact analysis training, business leaders of color, boys and young men of color and youth employment. The roundtable partners with more than 350 organizations in the Bufffalo area, including the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, the Erie County Medical Center, 211 WNY, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Peaceprints of Western New York and the Center for Employment Opportunities of Buffalo.
Grantmaking for racial equity also stems from the CFGB’s Communities of Giving Legacy Initiative, which aims to “cultivate sitive change in the lives of trailblazing youth of color living within Western New York.” This is a responsive initiative that changes focus depending on the immediate needs of area communities of color. Current grantmaking targets the community affected by a mass shooting that took place in Buffalo in May 2022.
Grants for Public Health, Climate Change and Clean Energy
CFGB participates in the Buffalo area’s Get Ahead of Lead initiative, which works to prevent childhood lead poisoning through public education, property mitigation and other “lead-safe practices.” Community partners include the Buffalo and Erie County Lead Safe Task Force and the Center for Governmental Research, which engaged to conduct an analysis of lead poisoning in the region.
CFGB also participates in the Buffalo area’s Green and Health Homes Initiative. In addition to helping homeowners and tenants secure and maintain housing that affordable, efficient and free of dangerous contaminants like lead and mold. Recent grants have gone to the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, the Kenmore Village Improvement Society and the Clean Air Coalition, among others.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Grants for Buffalo area arts and culture stem form CFGB’s Fund for the Arts and the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Arts and Culture Initiative. The Fund for the Arts is a collaborative funding project that broadly supports the Buffalo area’s arts and culture sector. The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Initiative was established in 2021 to “transform the financial strength and long-term viability of Western New York’s arts and culture community.” Early grantmaking from this new program has gone to the Alleyway Theatre, the Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology, Buffalo Opera Unlimited, the Fenton Historical Society and Publick Musick, among many others.
Important Grant Details
This funder has made about $22 million in grants annually in recent years. Grants are generally awarded in amounts of up to $50,000, supporting organizations of all sizes in the Buffalo area.
CFGB accepts applications for some of grantmaking opportunities and provides links to guidelines, eligibility and application materials at its grants page. For general inquiries, contact the foundation via email or telephone at (716) 852-2857.
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