Buffalo, NY
Sit and Think Chairs
Par Lindsey Taylor April 2021
Free Little Sled Library
Par Darren Cotton February 2021
Colored Girls Bike Too
Par Jalonda Hill December 2020
BLM Project
Par Melissa Mjoen October 2020
Community Vision Quest
Par Laura Kelly August 2020
That Brown Bag
Par Shantelle Lynette Patton June 2020
Faces of Buffalo
Par Dana Saylor May 2020
Granola for Good, from Good Neighbors
Par Awesome Buffalo 2020 Trustees + Perfect Granola's Michele Liddle March 2020
Rust Belt Harvest
Par Theresa Church February 2020
Awesome December
Par Awesome Buffalo December 2019
Birthday Buddies
Par M. Erin Grady November 2019
The Bus Stop Project
Par Kerianne Socker August 2019
Blessing Bags
Par Carrie A. Smith June 2019
Cutting the Cord Workshops
Par John O'Brien April 2019
A Different View to Buffalo
Par Nandor Pinter March 2019
Trash Can Be Beautiful Project
Par Candace Moppins September 2018
Feed Buffalo Little Pantries
Par Drea dNur July 2018
Sweet Buffalo Rocks at Oishei Children's Hospital
Par Kimberly LaRussa May 2018
Solar Sprouts
Par Engineers for a Sustainable World at University at Buffalo (ESW-UB) March 2018
Awesome Weekend
Par Awesome Buffalo December 2017
Please DO Touch the Art
Par Jessica Widmer September 2017
Open Storefront Makeover Program
Par Joseph Kurtz June 2017
Rainbows on Allen
Par Seth Amman March 2017
A Propos
Awesome Buffalo is a giving circle that awards $1000 cash to weird, wonderful, and timely projects that make Buffalo more awesome.
We’re entirely volunteer-run and self-funded. We don’t distribute grants, and we’re not organized as a nonprofit. We simply give no-strings-attached cash to one awesome project every other month.
If you’ve ever enjoyed the rainbow crosswalk at Elmwood & Allen, like Elton John did, you’re welcome.
What makes a project Awesome?
We use the following loose criteria to select projects. Consider addressing these areas in your application:
►►Is it awesome?: Is it unique? A new idea? Something that may be unfundable through traditional means? We’re looking for your Silly Walks and your bus stop jazz clubs.
►► Will $1000 make an actual impact? : We try to support individuals and small groups, rather than organizations who’re already well-funded. We’re looking for the small, but mighty projects for which $1000 will make a huge difference. Be as specific as possible; tell us exactly how the cash will be spent, so we can best understand your idea.
►►How will the project help the Buffalo area?: It’s important to us to fund projects that directly support and impact our neighbors in the Buffalo-Niagara community. We’ll consider projects outside city limits, but maybe not all the way in Rochester. Pssst… they have a chapter too!
We don’t typically fund:
►► Personal use: We think you’re really awesome, but we can't give you $1000 for a car/vacation/rent payment/home reno/pony.
►► Charities, foundations, organizations: We’re primarily interested in new ventures and not the continuation of an existing organization. But existing organizations with a specific, creative $1000 project can apply!
►► Promotion: We want to hear all about your awesome idea and how we can help fund its happening, not just its posters.
Participate
Interested in joining our circle as a donating trustee? Drop us a form to join the waitlist here!
Media Coverage
- Buffalo Business First
- Buffalo Rising
- Buffalo Spree
- Latitude - The 43North Podcast
- News 4, WIVB-TV featuring Colored Girls Bike Too
- News 4, WIVB-TV featuring Feed Buffalo
- Niagara Frontier Publications
- WBFO coverage of Be Awesome Day
- WBFO featuring Rainbows on Allen