The Community Foundation has convened a coalition called the Western New York Environmental Alliance (WNYEA).

The goals of the alliance are to:

• Establish a shared agenda for our environment
• Identify priorities for focus and action
• Strengthen the capacity of the region’s environmental organizations.

Click here to read the Foundation's latest Community Impact Report on this topic.

New Fund Supports Collaborative Grantwriting for Environmental Initiatives

Frequently opportunities for funding arise that are promising, but organizations just don’t have the time, personnel, or grantwriting expertise to take advantage of them.  Collaborative proposals present an even greater demand on resources as working together becomes an additional time-consuming project all its own. Moreover, some opportunities such as stimulus funds must be acted upon quickly.    

A new collaborative grant-writing fund at CFGB will now provide support for collaborations to hire a grant writer to develop proposals to obtain resources from outside Western New York.  To be eligible to receive a grant from this fund, projects must meet the following criteria:

• Collaboration must include two or more environmental organizations
• Project must address goals  identified within the Shared Agenda for Action
• Funding opportunity must target significant funding from outside the WNY region
• The grant writer who will be paid to write the grant must have a proven, relevant track record

Organizations and collaborations interested in applying for grantwriting support from this fund must prepare a short application that includes the following:

• Description of the funding opportunity or RFP & Timeline
• Brief overview of the project under development
• Organizations involved in the collaboration, and entity serving as fiscal agent
• Evidence of grant writer’s successful experience in securing grants of this kind

Completed applications should be sent by email to Cara Matteliano at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Questions can also be directed here.  CFGB reserves the right to review a draft of that collaboration’s outgoing proposal before submission.

Shared Agenda Unveiled!

The Community Foundation will held a press event and celebration to launch the WNYEA’s Shared Agenda for Action, Thursday, July 16, 2009 at the West Side Rowing Club.  Thank you to all who came out to mark this special occassion!  Click here for photos of the event.

Our Shared Agenda for Action represents the culmination of the first phase of the Community Foundation’s work creating the WNYEA.  Each action item contained within the agenda is based on a specific need identified through the work done by the WNYEA Task Groups and at the environmental congresses. With the Agenda in place, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo is now focused on providing support for the implementation phase.  Work has already begun on specific action items outlined in the Agenda.  Current projects include: 

·        Compilation of comprehensive environmental education resources to serve educators and individuals of all ages.
·        Completion of a feasibility study for Groundwork Buffalo to maintain and improve vacant land in the City of Buffalo.
·        Preparation of a collaborative proposal to receive federal stimulus dollars to support WNYEA work.
·        Phase I development of a new web resource to organize and engage environmental organizations and the general public in WNYEA activities. 

About the Western New York Environmental Alliance (WNYEA)