M & T Charitable Foundation

The M&T Charitable Foundation is the philanthropic arm of M&T Bank, one of the largest regional banks in the northeastern United States. Established in 1993 and headquartered at One M&T Plaza in Buffalo, New York, the Foundation distributes approximately $40 million annually to thousands of nonprofit organizations across a 12-state footprint spanning New York, all six New England states, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

For first-time applicants, understanding the Foundation's identity as a bank-affiliated corporate funder is essential. M&T Bank's philanthropic strategy is deeply connected to its Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) obligations, meaning grants flow most readily to organizations that serve low-to-moderate-income (LMI) communities within the bank's geographic service areas. This is emphatically not a national funder — your work must demonstrate local impact in cities or towns where M&T Bank operates branches.

The Foundation favors long-term partnerships over one-time transactional grants. Anchor grantees like the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood ($966,126 in a single program year) and the University at Buffalo ($1,055,000) reflect a pattern of sustained investment in community institutions that align with M&T Bank's roots in Western New York. First-time applicants should approach a grant request as the beginning of a relationship, not a standalone funding event.

There is no formal letter of inquiry (LOI) requirement — applicants submit directly through the Versaic online portal at mtb.versaic.com. However, connecting with the Foundation's local program officer or regional Charitable Committee representative before submitting is strongly advised. The Foundation operates through regional decision-making structures, and local relationships influence outcomes.

With the Amplify Fund — a $25 million supplemental initiative tied to the 2022 People's United Bank merger — concluded as of April 2025, the Foundation is now returning to its standard programmatic grantmaking rhythm. Organizations in New England and suburban New York that benefited from Amplify support must reapply through the standard process for 2026 and beyond.

M&T Charitable Foundation has demonstrated sustained and substantial grantmaking growth over more than a decade. Annual grants paid grew from $14.3 million in 2011 to $17.7 million (2012), $19.4 million (2013), $18.8 million (2014), $20.1 million (2015), and $28.8 million (2019). Following the 2022 merger with People's United Bank — which brought a $237.9 million contribution infusion to the Foundation — total giving reached $41.2 million (2022) and $41.0 million (2023), a level Foundation leadership has publicly confirmed as its ongoing annual baseline.

Total assets stood at $203.2 million as of fiscal year 2023 (up from $21.6 million in 2021 pre-merger), with net investment income of $5.9 million. M&T Bank contributed $15.5 million to the Foundation in 2023, supplementing investment returns to sustain the $40+ million annual grantmaking pace. Officer compensation is zero — consistent with the Foundation's structure as a corporate pass-through philanthropic vehicle.

From the Foundation's IRS program data, illustrative individual grants include: University at Buffalo ($1,055,000), Buffalo Promise Neighborhood ($966,126), Westminster Community Charter School ($376,296), and Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo ($280,000). These represent the anchor, multi-year commitment tier. The Amplify Fund's final 2025 round dispersed $4.9 million to 51 organizations — an average of approximately $96,000 per grant. Across all three Amplify Fund rounds, 224 organizations received an average of approximately $112,000 each from the $25 million total.

By funding pillar, the Foundation allocates across Income & Wealth Equity (homeownership, small business, financial empowerment), Workforce Development (career training, upskilling, high-growth sector employment), Family Stability (affordable housing, food security, childcare access), and Health Equity (healthcare access, youth mental health, maternal and infant health). CRA-eligible programs serving LMI census tracts receive the strongest consideration across all pillars.

M&T Charitable Foundation occupies a distinctive position among bank-affiliated corporate foundations — substantial enough to be a major regional funder at $40+ million annually, yet community-oriented and relationship-driven in ways that distinguish it from the largest national bank foundations.

Note: Peer financials are approximate based on publicly available IRS filings and annual reports; fiscal year comparisons may vary.

M&T's $41 million annual giving places it significantly ahead of TD Charitable Foundation and Citizens Charitable Foundation, both of which operate in heavily overlapping New England and mid-Atlantic geographies — making M&T a natural co-funder for organizations already in those pipelines. PNC Foundation is the dominant bank-affiliated funder in the mid-Atlantic by scale, but its signature PNC Grow Up Great program concentrates heavily on early childhood education in ways M&T does not. For economic mobility, workforce, and housing work in the Northeast, M&T Charitable Foundation and TD Charitable Foundation are the most natural pairing among peer funders.

The defining event of 2025 was the conclusion of the Amplify Fund on April 1, 2025, when the Foundation announced the third and final round of $4.9 million in grants to 51 nonprofits across New England, Long Island, and Westchester County, New York. The Amplify Fund, launched in 2022 following M&T Bank's merger with People's United Bank, ultimately disbursed $25 million to 224 organizations with a focus on financial inclusion, economic growth, homeownership, small business development, and financial resilience. Named final-round recipients included the Urban League of Greater Hartford (Connecticut) — whose CEO David Hopkins described M&T as a '2024 Equity Partner' — and Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (Maine), which will use funding for no-cost financial counseling for entrepreneurs.

In December 2025, the Foundation deployed a $600,000 one-time emergency food relief grant to five regional food banks: FeedMore WNY (Buffalo), Connecticut Foodshare (Wallingford, CT), Catholic Charities of Baltimore, Central Pennsylvania Food Bank (Hollidaysburg, PA), and Island Harvest (Melville, NY). This emergency allocation was accompanied by a four-week employee giving campaign.

Dominique Goss serves as Executive Director and is the Foundation's key public spokesperson. On December 15, 2025, the Foundation officially opened its 2026 grant application portal. No new supplemental initiative analogous to the Amplify Fund has been announced for 2026, confirming the transition to standard programmatic grantmaking across all regions.

The M&T Charitable Foundation processes all applications exclusively through its Versaic online portal at mtb.versaic.com — no email, mail, fax, or phone submissions are considered under any circumstances. The 2026 application cycle opened December 15, 2025, and the Foundation processes on a rolling basis. The stated minimum of 8 weeks before a needed decision should be treated as a floor: submitting 10 to 12 weeks in advance provides meaningful buffer for organizations with program launch deadlines.

Relationship before application. Before submitting through Versaic, identify and contact the M&T Charitable Contribution officer for your region — the Foundation lists contacts by geography on its website. A brief introductory exchange signals organizational sophistication, surfaces alignment with current regional priorities, and helps you understand whether to request a programmatic grant versus a community sponsorship (both use the same portal but different application pathways). You may submit one of each type simultaneously.

Align your language to the Foundation's four pillars: Income & Wealth Equity, Workforce Development, Family Stability, and Health Equity. The Foundation's public communications repeatedly emphasize 'equitable change,' 'closing the racial wealth gap,' 'LMI communities,' and 'BIPOC populations.' Proposals that include census tract data, income-level demographics, and explicit discussion of structural barriers resonate far more than generalized community benefit claims.

Grant funds must be allocated exclusively to programming — overhead, administrative costs, and any arrangement that provides a benefit to M&T Bank are ineligible. Prepare a program-specific budget before beginning the application and ensure it does not include indirect costs that could raise questions during review.

For grants of $10,000 or more, required documentation includes: IRS 501(c)3 determination letter, board of directors list with affiliations, annual operating budget, list of current program donors and funders, most recent Form 990, and current audited financial statements. Assemble these before starting the application to avoid delays. Common disqualifications include K-12 public schools, municipalities, PTAs and PTOs, religious organizations requesting support for non-secular purposes, political organizations, fraternal groups, and athletics or sports teams — if your organization has overlapping characteristics, address these proactively.