FundersNew York

Zeron Foundation

Buffalo, NY · EIN 16-1429495. Reported 81 grants totalling $877,631 to 49 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$877,631granted, 2021-2024
49organizations funded
47%of grantees funded again the next year
$4,776,794assets, latest filing

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. Zeron Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $10,000; the smallest was $175 and the largest $167,800. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
5 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
32 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
18 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
16 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
5 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
4 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

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.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Jessica and Matthew Enstice Gift Fund of the Bank of America CharitableBuffalo, NY$167,800112024
Roswell Park Cancer InstituteBuffalo, NY$150,000332023
Bison Children's Scholarship FundBuffalo, NY$111,500442024
Niagara UniversityNiagara University, NY$77,000332024
Nardin AcademyBuffalo, NY$45,000112024
University of Notre Dame Law SchoolNotre Dame, IN$44,000442024
The Ecmc Foundation IncBuffalo, NY$30,000332023
ViaBuffalo, NY$30,000442024
The Empire Center for Public Policy IncAlbany, NY$20,000332024
Gliding StarsBuffalo, NY$15,000332024
Nichols SchoolBuffalo, NY$15,000112022
The Salvation ArmyBuffalo, NY$15,000442024
Grassroots GardensBuffalo, NY$13,500332024
Bps FoundationLas Vegas, NV$10,000112024
Buffalo Niagara Medical CampusBuffalo, NY$10,000112021
Catholic CharitiesBuffalo, NY$10,000112021
Friends of Buffalo Creek IncBuffalo, NY$10,000222024
Hospice FoundationBuffalo, NY$10,000112024
Olv CharitiesLackawanna, NY$10,000112023
Wny Center Neurological WellnessTonawanda, NY$10,000112021
Canisius High SchoolBuffalo, NY$8,300112024
Buffalo SeminaryBuffalo, NY$5,000332024
Burchfield Penney Art CenterBuffalo, NY$5,000112023
Heritage Christian Services FoundationRochester, NY$5,000112023
Severn SchoolSeverna Park, MD$5,000112024
Hillsdale CollegeHillsdale, MI$4,000222023
Trustee of University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PA$4,000222024
Delaine Waring AME ChurchBuffalo, NY$3,000112024
United Way of Buffalo & Erie CountyBuffalo, NY$3,000222024
CitrsBryn Mawr, PA$2,786112021
AmvetsBuffalo, NY$2,500112022
Bishop Timon - St Jude High SchoolBuffalo, NY$2,500222024
Rochester Community Robotics IncWebster, NY$2,500112023
The Buffalo ZooBuffalo, NY$2,500112024
West Point Association of GraduatesWest Point, NY$2,500112023
Western Ny STEM & Rust Belt RoboticsWebster, NY$2,500112024
Villa Maria CollegeBuffalo, NY$2,000112024
Hadley Exhibits IncBuffalo, NY$1,520112021
Buffalo String WorksBuffalo, NY$1,500112021
Leukemia & Lymphoma SocietyRye Brook, NY$1,500112023
Anne Frank Center USANew York, NY$1,000112022
Hauptman-Woodward Research InstituteBuffalo, NY$1,000112022
Jacobs Neurological InstituteBuffalo, NY$1,000112024
Joseph for DignityWilson, WY$1,000112024
Manhattan InstituteNew York, NY$1,000112022
Oishei Children's HospitalBuffalo, NY$1,000112024
Duke UniversityDurham, NC$800222022
Buffalo Renaissance FoundationBuffalo, NY$250112021
Delaware Soccer ClubBuffalo, NY$175112021

17 of 49 (35%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 47%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 46 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Education
16 grants
Philanthropy & Grantmaking
9 grants
Human Services
8 grants
Health Care
4 grants
Public & Societal Benefit
4 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Medical Research
1 grant
Recreation & Sports
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202120$164,631$3,893
202218$144,400$3,000
202317$149,000$5,000
202426$419,600$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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 92% of this one's giving went to organizations in New York. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

New York
$806K
Indiana
$44K
Nevada
$10K
Pennsylvania
$7K
Maryland
$5K
Michigan
$4K
Wyoming
$1K
North Carolina
$800

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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.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund23 shared recipientsCommunity Foundation for Greater Buffalo21 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc16 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program16 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc14 shared recipientsNational Philanthropic Trust12 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in New York.
  3. 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.
  4. 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

Foundations funding education in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding human services in New YorkEvery funder in this group, rankedFoundations funding health care in New YorkEvery funder in this group, ranked

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Zeron Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 120 W Tupper Street Suite 200, Buffalo, NY, 14201. 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 16-1429495 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.