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William F. Thiel Grants

William F. Thiel

William F. Thiel was a long-time philanthropist in Wyoming County. He was well known for his generous monetary gifts to the hospital, fire departments and other Wyoming County nonprofit organizations. He left a significant legacy to the County through the creation of the William F. Thiel Trust at the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo which continues his legacy of giving.

When he created his fund, Mr. Thiel specified that distributions “from this gift shall be used and applied by the Governing Committee of The Buffalo Foundation (now the Board of Directors of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo) for the use and benefit of the health requirements of the residents of Wyoming County, New York.”

How to Apply

Applications are submitted electronically online through the Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager.  No paper, emailed, or pdf applications are accepted.

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Grant Opportunity

In 2023, the Community Foundation worked with consultants A2 Associates and Wyoming County healthcare providers and experts to develop new 2024 to 2028 Thiel Funding Priorities.

Requests to the Foundation must align with one of the six key categories which include:

  • Access and Navigation
  • Chronic Disease and Related Health Behaviors
  • Emergency Assistance for Low-Income Residents
  • Food Security
  • Mental Health/Behavioral Health
  • Transportation

Reviewers will give a higher priority to requests aligning with a key category that also incorporates one or more of the following super priorities:

  • Capacity Building
  • Collaborative/Collective Impact
  • Equity/Health Equity
  • Leveraging Funding
  • Resource/Referral Management

The 2024 to 2028 Thiel Funding Priorities give specific information regarding each priority listed above.  The document should be reviewed in full before any application is considered and submitted.

Detailed Guidelines/Additional Information

Please click here to download the detailed 2025 Thiel Trust competitive process general information and guidelines.

Please click here to download the 2024 to 2028 Thiel Trust Funding Priorities.

Please click here to view the Wyoming County Health Trends and Impacts Report 2023.

Timeline

  • Application available online November 15, 2024.
  • Application due December 16, 2024, by 4 p.m. No exceptions.
  • Decision notification mid-February 2025.

Eligibility

  • Grants are awarded only to organizations that have current Section 501(c)(3) status as determined by the Internal Revenue Service
  • Applicants must be located or delivering services in Wyoming County
  • At any given time, organizations can only have one open competitive grant with the Thiel Trust.

Contact

For more information about the William F. Thiel Trust competitive grants process, please contact Darren Penoyer by email at darrenp@cfgb.org or by phone at (716) 852-2857, ext. 206.

Past Cycle's Grant Recipients

Please click here to download a list of past Thiel Trust grantees.