The WNY Forward Fund is a collaborative effort of 14 Western New York funders united to support our community and nonprofits that provides essential programs and services in the face of major shifts in federal funding and priorities since early 2025. These changes have created financial strain, rapid change and deep uncertainty at a time when community need is increasing.
Western New York is facing a perfect storm of economic pressures. The loss of federal funding, cost increases and declining tourism are straining the region’s nonprofit sector at a critical moment. With nearly 10,000 jobs already lost, low-income and marginalized communities—those who rely most heavily on nonprofit services—are bearing the greatest burden.
This Fund is a multi-year commitment to help ensure that the WNY community and the nonprofit sector remain strong, resilient and equipped to adapt, similar to our collective response to crises including the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 racially-motivated shooting on Buffalo’s East Side. A total of $2.6 million has been allocated to the Fund to date.
The philanthropic community’s goal in working together is to help protect and strengthen the community, while encouraging innovation and reimagining how to best use community resources for long-term resilience.
If you would like to contribute to the WNY Forward Fund, please click here.
Purpose
While local funders can’t fully replace lost federal dollars, estimated to be nearly $7 billion in the first quarter of 2025 across New York, we can help spark innovation, strengthen capacity and encourage nonprofits to rethink how services are delivered more efficiently, collaboratively and sustainably.
We will also work together to ensure that all WNY residents are afforded respect and dignity, as well as access to equal justice, due process and legal defense when necessary. Using data and storytelling, we will also highlight the impact of these shifting priorities and the critical role that nonprofits play in supporting our community.
Priorities
The Fund is intended to be a multi-year effort through select grantmaking and support of priority initiatives across three focus areas. These priorities include:
Strategic Alliances & Nonprofit Resiliency
Our first action was to support grant proposals from local nonprofits pursuing partnerships, shared services, mergers or other collaborations to help organizations adapt to the evolving environment and remain resilient and responsive to community needs.
This included explorations of partnerships, shared services, mergers and other collaborative models that enhance effectiveness, capacity, and financial stability. This grant opportunity also supported exploration of potential dissolution planning for those nonprofits considering winding down operations.
In early 2026, the WNY Forward Fund allocated a total of $378,690 to 18 organizations ranging from $2,250 up to $25,000 for strategic alliance initiatives intended to spur reimagining of service delivery and innovation within the nonprofit sector.
We expect to offer future grant opportunities in 2026 in this priority area.
If you are interested in keeping up to date on learning opportunities around nonprofit collaboration and restructuring, please sign up for the Nonprofit Support Group (NSG) newsletter and find resources and tools on Impact HQ,
Civic Health & Building Common Ground
We are exploring opportunities to fund and support initiatives that protect access to justice, due process, and legal defense, and building deeper connections between public institutions and the stakeholders they serve.
A grant opportunity opened In March 2026, to fund civic engagement and activation. “Expressions of Interest (EOI)” are encouraged from nonprofit organizations who are working to protect human rights and democracy, and to expand civic engagement and activation. This focus is defined as strong connections between residents, robust relationships between people and public institutions, and positive attachments that people have to the places they live.
Established and emerging nonprofit organizations focused on rapid response in upholding democracy and human rights and building civic infrastructure throughout the eight counties of Western New York (Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming, Genesee, and Orleans) are invited to apply.
A total of $1 million is available to fund organizations over a two-year period with anticipated grants to be between $50,000 and $100,000 per awarded organization, per year. Funding can be used for general operating purposes, and simplified reporting will be required.
As part of this priority area, the WNY Forward Fund has already supported the Erie County Bar Association Volunteer Lawyers Project with a $150,000 grant to support participation in the Upstate Immigration Pro Bono Collaborative. This initiative recruits, trains, and mentors private attorneys to take on immigration cases and ensure that all litigants are adequately represented in the justice system. The fund is also exploring opportunities to support local media that will bolster the local current events and civic information ecosystem.
For more information about the grant opportunity and to apply, click here.
Impact Data & Storytelling
Our third priority area is in supporting efforts to collect and share critical data on how funding cuts affect organizations and the people they serve, while helping us to better understand, support and communicate the region’s evolving needs.
