Paul & Helen Ellis Charitable Trust
Buffalo, NY · EIN 83-6584353. Reported 112 grants totalling $1,841,512 to 50 organizations across tax years 2020-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Paul & Helen Ellis Charitable Trust did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $10,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $20,000; the smallest was $500 and the largest $155,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation for Jewish Philanthropie | Getzville, NY | $555,975 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Kenmore Mercy Hosptal Foundation I | Kenmore, NY | $125,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Hospice Buffalo | Cheektowaga, NY | $105,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Rural Outreach Center | East Aurora, NY | $103,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Roswell Park Comprehensive Care | Buffalo, NY | $78,750 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Buffalo Maritime Center | Buffalo, NY | $73,500 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Crisis Services | Buffalo, NY | $70,100 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Madonna of the Streets | Buffalo, NY | $57,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Seneca Street Cdc | Buffalo, NY | $51,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Boys and Girls Club of the Northtowns | Buffalo, NY | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Our Lady of Victory Homes of Charity | Lackawanna, NY | $49,750 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Black Rock Riverside Alliance | Buffalo, NY | $47,540 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Roswell Park Alliance Corporation | Buffalo, NY | $35,875 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Providence Farm | Orchard Park, NY | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Stpauls Roman Catholic Church | Buffalo, NY | $35,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Autism Services Inc | Amherst, NY | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Epic | Buffalo, NY | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Teacher's Desk | Buffalo, NY | $26,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Bison Children Fund | Buffalo, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Wedi | Buffalo, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sabah | Buffalo, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Via | Buffalo, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Teachers Desk | Buffalo, NY | $18,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Brralliance | Buffalo, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Learning Disabilities Association of Wny | Buffalo, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| SPCA Serving Erie County | West Seneca, NY | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Black Rock Historical Society | Buffalo, NY | $13,522 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Citizen Science Community Resources | Tonawanda, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Lieracy Buffalo Niagara | Buffalo, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Community Rehab Project Inc | Vernon, NY | $8,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Canisius High School | Buffalo, NY | $8,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Roycrofters-at-Large Association | East Aurora, NY | $7,500 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Family Justice Center | Buffalo, NY | $5,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Make-a-Wish Foundation | Buffalo, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ralph C Wilso JR Niagara Community Center | Niagara Falls, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Stephen's Education Foundation | Grand Island, NY | $5,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Via - Visually Impaired Advancement | Buffalo, NY | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Stephens | Grand Island, NY | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Buffalo-Niagara Honor Flights | Clarence, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Camp Good Days & Special Times | Mendon, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Grand Island Catholic Club | Grand Island, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Neighbors Foundation of Grand Islan | Grand Island, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| St Joseph's Collegiate Institute | Buffalo, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wings of Hope | Orchard Park, NY | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cat By Cat Inc | Amherst, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| St Matthias Episcopal Chirch | East Aurora, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Stitch Buffalo | Buffalo, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Tool Library | Buffalo, NY | $1,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lions Club of Kenmore | Kenmore, NY | $500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
23 of 50 (46%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 72%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Boys and Girls Club of the Northtowns
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM SUPPORT - Hospice Buffalo
ESSENTIAL CARE FOR CHILDREN - The Teachers Desk
FREE EDUCATIONAL SUPPLIES - Seneca Street Cdc
AFTER SCHOOL AND SUMMER PROGRAMS - Black Rock Historical Society
DISPLAY CASE AND LIGHTING
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 45 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 17 | $377,540 | $15,000 |
| 2021 | 20 | $366,972 | $6,250 |
| 2022 | 22 | $400,000 | $7,500 |
| 2023 | 21 | $322,000 | $10,000 |
| 2024 | 32 | $375,000 | $5,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $10,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Paul & Helen Ellis Charitable Trust's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 600 Airborne Parkway, Buffalo, NY, 14225. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 83-6584353 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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