New York · Nonprofit
UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY
UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY (New York) receives grants from 92 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,517,877 to it, the largest being SIEMER INSTITUTE ($965,000). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 92
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $25M
What United Way of Buffalo and Erie County does
Mission
Our mission: we bring people, organizations and resources together to create systemic community change. Our vision: we envision an equitable, thriving and united community achieved through collaborative leadership. We meet our commitments and deliver high-quality, high-value results. We foster a culture of responsiveness and flexibility conducive to innovation in every area of the business. We actively include and engage all members of the community so that our work can be informed and enriched by diverse experiences and perspectives. We ensure that our policies, practices, and distribution of resources prioritize historically marginalized communities so that all members of our community thrive. We are transparent, honest, dependable and trustworthy in every interaction and as stewards of resources. We ensure that all of our work is for the good of others, both within the organization and in the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Program investments - investments (allocations) in competitively awarded grant programs to many local agencies, focused in our "impact" areas of education, income, and health and wellness. By investing in the highest needs areas of the community the united way hopes to significantly improve overall educational outcomes, stabilize and improve family financial well being, and build a strong and healthy community.
$2,352,469 spentof which $2,352,469 as grants25% of program spendingDonor designations - the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County allows donor choice, where the donor can direct gifts to any 501(c)(3) organization.
$1,722,398 spentof which $1,722,398 as grants18% of program spendingGrant program and initiatives - these programs are aimed at providing support to various community organizations, groups and agencies, and unique initiatives providing support aimed at the united ways focused areas of need.
$3,553,865 spentof which $2,616,452 as grants38% of program spendingCommunity impact program services - work done in analyzing community needs, focusing resources, determing and evaluating outcomes and enlisting agency services in our community impact focus areas of education, income and health and wellness.
$1,773,769 spent$388,082 earned by the program19% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,402,501.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $26M to $31M (+22%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 16% · 2018 14% · 2019 19% · 2020 24% · 2021 21% · 2022 24% · 2023 14% · 2024 21% · 2025 22%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
95% of UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (80% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Trina Burruss
President & CEO
Board chair
Hugh Russ
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 22 funders to 41 funders, grant income rose $447k → $1.7M.
18 of 92 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $4.0M from 13 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest 2-1-1 New York Inc); $1.3M from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest United Way of Buffalo and Erie County). These are real filings, and they are not money UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY raised.
From the IRS filings of UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 92 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 9% of grant income, and it takes 10 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 10 funders to its left
48% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 17% · 2018 18% · 2019 18% · 2020 24% · 2021 10% · 2022 16% · 2023 12% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
51% of UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
63% of UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY's funding base is broadening — from 22 funders to 41 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 490 philanthropy nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.8M on record.
- Department of Education$3.7M
- Department of the Treasury$1.1M
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY?
- UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY (New York) receives grants from 92 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,517,877 to it, the largest being SIEMER INSTITUTE ($965,000). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY have?
- IRS filings report 92 organizations giving $10,517,877 in grants to UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY, 54 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY?
- SIEMER INSTITUTE is the largest funder on record, with $965,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like UNITED WAY OF BUFFALO AND ERIE COUNTY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 92 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing