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The Margaret L Wendt Foundation at a glance

· Private foundation

The Margaret L Wendt Foundation

Its FY2024 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$2.9M
Granted FY2024still arriving
44
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$779k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0194% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$4.5MHealth$2.6MEducation$2.2MPhilanthropy$1.8MHuman Services$1.1MYouth Development$916kEnvironment$852kAnimals$800kOther$0
02FY2024 · 44 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k3 grants · $14k
  • $10k–50k23 grants · $509k
  • $50k–250k16 grants · $1.3M
  • $250k+2 grants · $1.1M
$30,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$75M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BUFFALO SEMINARY$779,306
ROSWELL PARK FOUNDATION$300,000
KLEINHANS MUSIC HALL FOUNDATION$150,000
ONE SYMPHONY CIRCLE$125,000
GENESIS CENTER$100,000
READ TO SUCCEED$100,000
BURCHFIELD PENNEY ART CENTER$100,000
THE TOOL LIBRARY$78,750
BUFFALO TORONTO PUBLIC MEDIA$75,000
WORLD OF GIRLS AND BOYS LEADERSHIP$75,000
HOUSING OPTIONS MADE EASY$72,889
BUFFALO WRESTLING FOUNDATION$70,000
BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA$69,414
BUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY$58,000
CAROUSEL SOCIETY OF NIAGARA FRONTIER$56,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY19–23, $627k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 84% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%PATIENT AIRLIFT SERVICES: $100k → 6%YMCA BUFFALO NIAGARA: $50k → 13%SAVING GRACE OUTREACH: $10k → 13%VISUALLY IMPAIRED ADVANCEMENT: $37k → 13%COMPASS HOUSE: $32k → 13%THE TEACHERS DESK: $10k → 13%OLMSTED CENTER FOR SIGHT: $10k → 13%VALLEY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION: $10k → 13%CITY MISSION SOCIETY: $100k → 13%BUFFALO CITY MISSION: $42k → 13%BUFFALO CITY MISSION: $16k → 13%LOTHLORIEN THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER: $50k → 13%RURAL OUTREACH CENTER: $50k → 13%THE FOUNDRY: $40k → 13%THE FOUNDRY: $40k → 13%GLIDING STARS: $20k → 13%GLILDING STARS: $10k → 13%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

33%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$5.8M · 32 repeat orgs$12M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 10 still active in FY2024, 22 since wound down; 33 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
107

Total granted

$5.8M
$9.5M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
+8%

Still filing today

78%
56%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 12% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.5M went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesHealthRecreation & SportsPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • NIAGARA AQUARIUM FOUNDATION
    2× · 2020–2022 · $600k · revenue +79%
  • RC
    ROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION
    3× · 2019–2022 · $496k · revenue +45% · 25% of their budget
  • KU
    KING URBAN LIFE CENTER INC
    2× · 2020–2023 · $400k · revenue +11% · 34% of their budget

Funded once

  • BB
    BUFFALO BOTANICAL GARDENS
    one grant, 2020 · $500k
  • D
    D'YOUVILLE
    one grant, 2020 · $500k
  • GC
    GRAYCLIFF CONSERVANCY INCgraduated
    one grant, 2022 · $360k · revenue +171%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Buffalo Niagara River Land Trust Inc

To acquire, remediate, and steward lands along wny's waterfronts prioritizing public access.

Environment
2
Ralph Wilson Park Conservancy Inc

The organization was formed for the specific purpose of operating, maintaining and protecting parks and public spaces in the city of buffalo, new york, including but not limited to parks and public spaces owned or operated by the city of…

Recreation & Sports
3
Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art

The Buffalo Institiute for Contemporary Art (Bica) is a art and educational project for Buffalo, NY. Through Innovative exhibitions, cross-discipplinary skills-based programming, and arts ecology development, bica mission is to break down…

Arts & Culture
4
Invest Buffalo Niagara Foundation Inc

Invest buffalo niagara foundation, inc. is a vehicle to solicit charitable contributions to develop programs, collaborate with, and provide funding to organizations that advance and encourage economic development in western new york.

Community Improvement
5
Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation

The buffalo erie niagara land improvement corporation (benlic) seeks to confront and alleviate the problems distressed properties cause to communities by supporting municipal and regional revitalization efforts and strategically acquiring,…

Community Improvement
6
Buffalo Urban Development Corporation

Support the urban economic development efforts of the region through the acquisition, remediation and management of distressed properties

Community Improvement
7
Open Buffalo Inc

Open Buffalo's mission is to advance racial, economic, and ecological justice through skill building, network connecting, and activating leadership opportunities with the ultimate goal for all communities in Western New York to thrive free…

Human Services
8
The Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo

The legal aid bureau of buffalo, inc., a not-for-profit organization, provides legal representation to financially needy men, women and children in western new york. through its skilled staff, the legal aid bureau seeks equal justice for…

Crime & Legal
9
East Buffalo Development Corporation

East Buffalo Development Corporation is a community-based real estate development corporation committed to our mission of leveraging private and public funds to drive equitable and inclusive eastside planning, construction, land use, and…

Community Improvement
10
Binghamton Philharmonic Inc

The mission of the Binghamton Philharmonic is building community through the power of live music.

Arts & Culture
11
Invest Buffalo Niagara Inc

To attract new employers to the buffalo niagara region through outreach to growing companies around the world. to support business attraction, expansion and entrepreneurship, invest buffalo niagara collaborates with local businesses,…

Community Improvement
12
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation

The theodore roosevelt inaugural national historic site to preserve, promote, and educate the public on where theodore roosevelt became the 26th president of the united states in 1901; promotes opportunities for the public to understand…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is United Way of Buffalo and Erie County; the most unlike its peers is Accessible Academics Usa Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

108 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 108 of the 174 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

11
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
105/108
Grantees still filing
60/108
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

BUFFALO BOTANICAL GARDENS: $500,000 · OtherD'YOUVILLE: $500,000 · OtherROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION: $495,833 · Other+114 more: $8,751,142 · Other+114 moreBUFFALO HERITAGE CAROUSEL INC: $475,000 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO HERITAG…GRAYCLIFF CONSERVANCY INC: $360,000 · Arts & CultureGRAYCLIFF CONSE…BUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA SOCIETY INC: $354,625 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO PHILHAR…BURCHFIELD PENNEY ART CENTER: $200,000 · Arts & CultureBURCHFIELD PENN…BUFFALO FINE ARTS ACADEMY: $200,000 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO FINE AR…FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S MARTIN HOUSE CORPORATION: $150,000 · Arts & CultureFRANK LLOYD WRI…One Symphony Circle Inc: $125,000 · Arts & CultureINVESTIGATIVE POST INC: $105,000 · Arts & CultureBUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY INC: $100,000 · Arts & Culture+17 more: $450,051 · Arts & Culture+17 moreBUFFALO SEMINARY: $779,306 · EducationBUFFALO SE…THE SUMMIT CENTER INC: $200,000 · EducationTHE SUMMIT…HOUGHTON UNIVERSITY: $150,000 · EducationHOUGHTON U…DAEMEN UNIVERSITY: $100,000 · EducationDAEMEN UNI…SAY YES BUFFALO SCHOLARSHIP INC: $100,000 · EducationSAY YES BU…HILBERT COLLEGE: $100,000 · EducationHILBERT CO…CANISIUS UNIVERSITY: $75,000 · EducationOpportunities Collaborative for Students with Special Needs Inc: $75,000 · Education+4 more: $123,660 · Education+4 moreECMC FOUNDATION INC: $508,118 · HealthTHE JACOBS INSTITUTE INC: $300,000 · HealthMOUNT ST MARY'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $300,000 · HealthHOUSING OPTIONS MADE EASY: $72,889 · Health+3 more: $74,700 · HealthCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO INC: $545,725 · PhilanthropyROSWELL PARK ALLIANCE FOUNDATION: $300,000 · PhilanthropyUNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY: $280,000 · Philanthropy+3 more: $89,968 · PhilanthropyKING URBAN LIFE CENTER INC: $400,000 · Community ImprovementWESTMINSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE INC: $300,000 · Community ImprovementThe Tool Library Inc: $78,750 · Community ImprovementBuffalo ReUse Inc: $50,000 · Community ImprovementNIAGARA AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $600,000 · AnimalsZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BUFFALO INC: $200,000 · Animals
Other$10,246,975Arts & Culture$2,519,676Education$1,702,966Health$1,255,707Philanthropy$1,215,693Community Improvement$828,750Animals$800,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetBUFFALO SEMINARY: $779,306 over 1y, 12% of budgetNIAGARA AQUARIUM FOUNDATION: $600,000 over 2y, 7.7% of budgetCOMMUNITY FOUNDATION FOR GREATER BUFFALO INC: $545,725 over 3y, 0.7% of budgetECMC FOUNDATION INC: $508,118 over 2y, 10% of budgetROYCROFT CAMPUS CORPORATION: $495,833 over 3y, 25% of budgetBUFFALO HERITAGE CAROUSEL INC: $475,000 over 2y, 53% of budgetKING URBAN LIFE CENTER INC: $400,000 over 2y, 34% of budgetGRAYCLIFF CONSERVANCY INC: $360,000 over 1y, 20% of budgetBUFFALO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA SOCIETY INC: $354,625 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTHE JACOBS INSTITUTE INC: $300,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetMOUNT ST MARY'S HOSPITAL FOUNDATION INC: $300,000 over 1y, 6.7% of budgetWESTMINSTER ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE INC: $300,000 over 1y, 9.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY: $280,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetTHE GOW SCHOOL: $275,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetBURCHFIELD PENNEY ART CENTER: $200,000 over 2y, 4.4% of budgetNIAGARA LUTHERAN HEALTH FOUNDATION INC: $200,000 over 1y, 8.7% of budgetTHE SUMMIT CENTER INC: $200,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetBUFFALO FINE ARTS ACADEMY: $200,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BUFFALO INC: $200,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTHE NATURE CONSERVANCY: $187,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITY MISSION SOCIETY INC: $158,050 over 3y, 0.9% of budgetHOUGHTON UNIVERSITY: $150,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetBUFFALO NIAGARA WATERKEEPER INC: $150,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetFRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S MARTIN HOUSE CORPORATION: $150,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetWorld of Girls & Boys Leadership: $150,000 over 2y, 93% of budgetSAVED BY GRACE MINISTRY INC: $140,975 over 1y, 72% of budgetBUFFALO PREP INC: $130,000 over 2y, 3.4% of budgetOne Symphony Circle Inc: $125,000 over 1y, 47% of budgetINVESTIGATIVE POST INC: $105,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetDAEMEN UNIVERSITY: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetPATIENT AIRLIFT SERVICES INC: $100,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetSAY YES BUFFALO SCHOLARSHIP INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetBUFFALO OLMSTED PARKS CONSERVANCY INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetHILBERT COLLEGE: $100,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMERCY FLIGHT INC: $96,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNet Positive Inc: $80,000 over 2y, 9.6% of budgetThe Tool Library Inc: $78,750 over 1y, 10% of budgetCANISIUS UNIVERSITY: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetOpportunities Collaborative for Students with Special Needs Inc: $75,000 over 1y, 38% of budgetBUFFALO THERAPEUTIC RIDING CENTER INC: $75,000 over 2y, 6.7% of budgetGERARD PLACE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND COMPANY INC: $75,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetMEDAILLE UNIVERSITY: $75,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetHOUSING OPTIONS MADE EASY: $72,889 over 1y, 0.7% of budgetROAD LESS TRAVELED PRODUCTIONS LTD: $70,000 over 3y, 7.1% of budgetPROVIDENCE FARM COLLECTIVE CORP: $65,000 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetGIRLS ON THE RUN OF BUFFALO INC: $60,000 over 1y, 10% of budgetBUFFALO & ERIE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $58,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetBuffalo ReUse Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 24% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Community Foundation …The John R Oishei Fou…The Western New York …The Baird FoundationCullen FoundationFirst Niagara Foundat…Children's Foundation…James H Cummings Foun…The Ralph C Wilson Jr…The Peter and Elizabe…Cullen Foundation of …East Hill Foundation
Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo IncNY150.4× affinity85 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Inc · The John R Oishei Foundation · The Western New York Foundation · The Baird Foundation · Cullen Foundation · First Niagara Foundation · Children's Foundation of Erie County Inc · James H Cummings Foundation Inc · The Ralph C Wilson Jr Foundation · The Peter and Elizabeth C Tower Foundation · Cullen Foundation of Western New York Inc · East Hill Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Margaret L Wendt Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Margaret L Wendt Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    37report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Margaret L Wendt Foundation?

    Find your warmest path to The Margaret L Wendt Foundation through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 174 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Margaret L Wendt’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home