Patrick P Lee Foundation Inc.

The Patrick P. Lee Foundation is a proactive, relationship-driven private family foundation headquartered in Williamsville, NY, with a tightly focused mandate on Education and Mental Health. Its giving philosophy centers on "immediate and measurable impact" — a standard that shapes which organizations receive funding and how grants are structured across multi-year relationships.

This is not an open-call funder. Their own materials state: "The majority of grants are initiated by the foundation through direct contact or requests for proposals." The grantee portfolio reflects deep, sustained engagement: University of Rochester has received $1,583,627 across 15 grants spanning clinical high-risk programs, STEM scholarships, and psychiatric nurse practitioner training. Rochester Institute of Technology has received $769,565 across 11 grants, and ECMC Foundation $432,400 across 10 grants. These relationships evolve over time — a single institution may receive scholarships, clinical training grants, and capital campaign support across different funding cycles.

The foundation favors a specific organizational profile: universities and community colleges (for STEM and mental health training), nonprofit behavioral health providers (for workforce development and direct clinical services), and health systems (for capital and programmatic needs). Organizations that deliver services to adults with serious mental illness or train the next generation of mental health professionals are most squarely in scope. The foundation does not generally fund advocacy as a primary purpose, though targeted exceptions exist — notably the Scattergood Foundation policy paper collaboration on behavioral health crisis workforce.

The typical relationship progression begins with a proactive contact: either the foundation initiates outreach or an organization contacts staff to request a call. Executive Director Jane Mogavero and Program Officer Katie Walsh manage program relationships, while Chris Allaire is the documented point of contact for initial inquiries. Pre-application calls assess fit before any formal proposal is prepared. If alignment is confirmed, the organization is invited to submit a proposal reviewed at one of four quarterly board meetings.

First-time applicants should temper expectations about initial grant size. The foundation's historical patterns show new relationships often beginning with $25,000–$75,000 grants before escalating to $150,000+ in subsequent cycles. A focused first proposal — one program, clear metrics, specific deliverables — outperforms an ambitious multi-year ask from an unknown organization. Since 2007, the foundation has awarded more than $23 million in total grants and scholarships, signaling a mature, committed grantmaker with deep community roots.

The Patrick P. Lee Foundation has grown substantially as a grantmaker over the past decade, with total giving rising from approximately $1.63M in FY2012 to a record $3.80M in FY2023. Total assets have climbed from $26.9M in FY2012 to $44.6M in FY2024, with FY2024 revenue of $4.53M suggesting sustained grantmaking capacity in the $2.5M–$3.8M range going forward. Annual giving fluctuates with investment returns: FY2020 saw a COVID-year low of $1.54M while FY2021 rebounded to $3.38M. The foundation's 8.5% payout rate in FY2023 (vs. the 5% legal floor) signals genuine philanthropic intent rather than asset preservation.

Based on 190 grants in the available database, the median grant is $50,000 and the average is $55,448. The foundation's self-reported typical range for new program initiatives is $100,000–$300,000, with a dataset maximum around $254,451. The smallest recorded grants are scholarship disbursements of $250 flowing through partner institutions; direct organizational grants rarely fall below $25,000.

Mental health (dominant and growing): The 2025 workforce cycle alone disbursed $1,071,936 across 10 organizations, most at $55,000–$150,000 each. The subsequent $250,000 BestSelf crisis stabilization grant and $245,000 Crisis Services mobile outreach expansion (February 2026) confirm this as the primary funding lane. Signature investments include Recovery Options Made Easy ($600,000 across 2 grants for the Kirsten Vincent Respite and Recovery Center) and University Psychiatric Practice ($623,850 across 5 grants for doctoral psychology internships).

STEM and engineering scholarships: University of Rochester ($1,583,627, 15 grants) and RIT ($769,565, 11 grants) are anchor partners. Saint Louis University ($342K), Rensselaer Polytechnic ($246K), and Syracuse University ($190K) represent major out-of-state partners with WNY student pipelines. Erie Community College ($154K) and Niagara County Community College ($120K) represent the community college tier.

Capital and crisis infrastructure: Occasional large capital grants, including Buffalo City Mission ($300K, capital campaign) and ECMC Foundation ($432K across emergency department and behavioral health capital). The Crisis to Care Collaborative signals new infrastructure investment ahead.

Geography: New York accounts for 152 of 190 grants (80%). Missouri (10) reflects Saint Louis University scholarships. Florida (4) appears tied to discretionary Ocean Reef Community Foundation allocations, likely reflecting personal board connections rather than programmatic strategy.

The Lee Foundation's five closest asset-matched peers are all private family foundations clustered around $44.5M in assets, but they differ significantly in transparency, geographic focus, and programmatic depth.

Among these comparable foundations, the Lee Foundation is the clear standout for operational transparency and accessibility. It maintains an active website with grant announcements, a named staff contact for inquiries (Chris Allaire, callaire@Lee.Foundation), and a documented invitation-plus-RFP process. Most peer foundations in this asset tier publish no annual giving figures and accept no unsolicited inquiries.

For WNY-based grant seekers, more relevant comparisons include the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo (which itself received $100,000 from Lee in FY2020–2021) and the John R. Oishei Foundation, a larger regional funder with overlapping mental health and education interests. The Lee Foundation's singular focus on two program areas — versus broader community foundations' multi-sector mandates — makes it a more predictable but narrower funding target. Organizations that fit its tight scope gain access to a funder with genuine multi-year relationship potential and above-floor payout discipline.

The defining strategic development of 2025 was the launch of the Crisis to Care Collaborative in May, a multi-stakeholder initiative co-convened by Executive Director Jane Mogavero alongside Buffalo and Erie County elected officials and the CEO of Erie County Medical Center. This is the foundation's most prominent public-sector partnership to date and marks an expansion from funding service delivery to co-designing regional crisis infrastructure.

In February 2026, the foundation awarded Crisis Services $245,000 to expand its Mobile Outreach Program, doubling the number of Mobile Crisis Teams in Erie County. The grant is explicitly linked to the Crisis to Care Collaborative and will scale over 18 months — the foundation's first multi-phase crisis infrastructure investment.

The 2025 mental health workforce grant round — 10 grants totaling $1,071,936 — was the foundation's largest single-cycle workforce investment. Separate from that round, BestSelf Behavioral Health received an additional $250,000 for a crisis stabilization center expansion, bringing the organization's cumulative Lee Foundation support to approximately $600,000.

On the governance side, two new Grant Committee members were announced: Dr. Dori Marshall (Chief Medical Officer, Oishei Children's Hospital; board-certified psychiatrist specializing in adolescent and young adult mental health) and Anne Constantino. The foundation also hired Katie Walsh as Program Officer, growing internal capacity alongside an expanding portfolio.

Jane Mogavero was named to the Buffalo Business First Power 200 Women list, and founder Patrick P. Lee appeared on the Power 250 list — both signals of the foundation's growing regional influence. The 2025 Lee Scholar Convenings in St. Louis, Boston, and New York State reflect an active alumni network for the scholarship program, suggesting continued investment in scholar cohort development.

Lead with a call, not a proposal. The foundation's website directs interested organizations to contact Chris Allaire (callaire@Lee.Foundation, 716.844.3100) to schedule a pre-application screening call. Send a 3-4 paragraph email introducing your organization, your target population, and how your program connects to Education or Mental Health priorities. Request a 20-minute call. This is not optional — it is the documented first step, and submitting a cold proposal without prior staff contact is unlikely to be effective.

Subscribe to the mailing list before you need funding. The foundation releases competitive RFPs announced to mailing list subscribers. Register via the contact page at lee.foundation now, not when a funding deadline is imminent.

Use their vocabulary precisely. The mental health mission targets adults with serious mental illness (SMI) becoming "engaged and supported members of the community," mental health workforce development and retention, and early intervention for clinical high-risk populations ages 15–28 (the INTERCEPT model). General mental wellness framing is misaligned. For education, the operative terms are "STEM," "engineering," "post-secondary scholarships," and "workforce-ready graduates" entering careers without undue debt burden.

Target the workforce and crisis lanes in 2025-2026. Every major recent grant cycle has been workforce-focused: recruiting, training, and retaining direct-care mental health professionals. Crisis response and mobile outreach are the newest adjacency, driven by the Crisis to Care Collaborative. Programs that fit either lane — internship pipelines, clinician retention stipends, crisis stabilization infrastructure — are the highest-probability fit right now.

Never include endowment requests. The foundation explicitly states it does not fund endowments. Any proposal containing an endowment component will disqualify itself.

Make WNY your geographic anchor. 80% of grants flow to New York organizations. If your organization is located outside WNY, articulate clearly why your program benefits WNY residents, students, or the mental health system — without that connection, the case for funding is significantly weaker.

Time your proposal to the quarterly board calendar. The board meets approximately in March, June, September, and December. Aim to have a complete proposal in staff hands 4-6 weeks before a target board meeting. Ask Chris Allaire during your screening call which cycle is realistic given current program priorities.

Calibrate your first ask modestly. The foundation's portfolio shows grantees typically beginning with $25,000–$75,000 awards before receiving $150,000+ in subsequent cycles. A contained first proposal — one program, specific measurable outcomes, concrete deliverables — is more likely to initiate a grantee relationship than a large multi-year ask from an organization without prior foundation exposure.