Celebrating and Supporting Communities
The Amplify Fund provides funding to specific non-profit, community development, and environmental justice and stewardship organizations based in the Greater Northeast United States.
The Amplify Fund
As part of the People’s United Bank merger agreement, the M&T Bank Charitable Foundation established a new fund committed to deploying $25MM of supplemental charitable giving over 3 years in support of the former People's United Bank communities.
The Amplify Fund was created with M&T’s giving priorities in mind — aligning with the Community Growth Plan and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) eligibility standards.
Areas of Giving
- New York-based organizations with historic connections to community development movements and community organizing in particular
- Connecticut-based non-profit organizations seeking mission-based investments
- Greater New England and New York City Metro organizations committed to environmental justice and stewardship
AF-NY will provide finite, multi-year funding to community-based organizations and intermediaries with a demonstrated commitment to high-need, frequently underserved, marginalized or overlooked communities that actively connect to the Community Development movement through community organizing.
Connecticut (AF-CT)
AF-CT will provide finite, multi-year funding to community-based organizations and intermediaries with a demonstrated commitment to high need, frequently underserved, marginalized or overlooked communities.
Greater New England: Equity & Environment Initiative (AF-EEI)
AF-EEI will provide finite and non-renewable, two-year funding to community regional and statewide organizations working to advance environmental justice through programmatic initiatives and/or policy-based work.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I apply?
The 501c3 IRS Designated organization will need to create an account at mtb.versaic.com if it does not already have one. From there please create an application and input the “Access Code” assigned to each Letter of Interest. Please refer to the specific Letter of Interest for the Access Code.
How will I know that the Foundation received my application?
The submitter of the application should receive an automated email from Versaic.
If you do not receive an acknowledgement email please email Ade Escayg, Jonathan Vazcones or Steve Flax.
All questions regarding the Amplify Fund should be directed to Ade Escayg, Jonathan Vazcones or Steve Flax.
My organization works in more than one of your focus areas. Can I submit multiple funding requests?
No. Please submit only one Letter of Interest on behalf of your organization. We recognize that many organizations do work across our focus areas or geographies. Your request should highlight all of the ways your organization meets our criteria.
We would like to apply for a grant in partnership with another nonprofit. Would that disqualify the partner organization from applying separately?
We encourage partnerships. If you are applying in partnership with another organization, one organization should serve as the lead applicant for the Letter of Interest. This would not disqualify the partner organization from applying separately, as long as they are not serving as a lead applicant on both LOIs.
Who is not eligible for funding?
- Individuals
- Capital campaigns
- Schools (public, private, or charter)
- Events or any type of sponsorships
- Films, publications, and documentaries
- Requests outside the United States
Amplify Fund - New York (AF-NY)
Eligible Counties: Rockland and Westchester Counties; Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk Counties); and the five boroughs of New York City (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond Counties)
Fund Overview:
AF-NY will provide finite, multi-year funding to community based organizations and intermediaries with a demonstrated commitment to high-need, frequently underserved, marginalized or overlooked communities that actively connect to the Community Development movement through community organizing.
The objective of this program is to provide support to trusted organizations that can help improve the lives of their communities through programmatic, capacity-building, and policy-based work with community focus as the change agent. This work should correspond to documented community needs and can include a range of issue areas, where organizing intersects with a built environment.
Priority will be given to applicant organizations that utilize community and tenant organizing as a way to improve the lives of their communities and social policy.
Given the time-limited nature of this funding, and the broad geographical reach of the Fund, we are asking that interested applicants first submit a Letter of Interest (see details in the LOI document). We will closely review each LOI, with the goal of inviting a limited number of applicants—no more than two dozen in total—to apply for funding.
Please note further that an invitation to submit a full application is not a guarantee of funding.
Timeline:
May 16, 2022: Letter of Interest (LOI) and Request For Proposal (RFP) information is released
July 1, 2022: Last day to submit an LOI for AF-NY
July 18 - 22, 2022: RFP will be disbursed to organizations moving forward for completion
September 9, 2022: RFP submission deadline
October 7, 2022: Selected organizations will be notified
Amplify Fund - Connecticut (AF-CT)
Counties Eligible to Apply: Any county in the state of Connecticut
Fund Overview:
AF-CT will provide finite, multi-year funding to community-based organizations and intermediaries with a demonstrated commitment to high need, and to constituencies frequently underserved, marginalized, or overlooked communities.
The objective of this program is to provide unrestricted support to trusted organizations to enable them to improve the lives of their communities through programmatic, capacity-building, and/or policy-based work. This work should correspond to documented community needs and can include a range of organizational or societal issue areas.
Priority will be given to applicant organizations that can clearly articulate the needs to be addressed, the strategies to be employed in response to those needs, and the plan to demonstrate the effectiveness of those strategies.
Given the time-limited nature of this funding, and the statewide reach of the Fund, we are asking that interested applicants first submit a Letter of Interest (see details in the LOI document). We will closely review each LOI, with the goal of inviting a limited number of applicants to apply for funding.
Please note further than an invitation to submit a full application is not a guarantee of funding.
Timeline:
May 23, 2022: Letter of Interest (LOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) information is released
July 1, 2022: Last day to submit an LOI for AF-CT
July 11 - 15, 2022: RFP will be disbursed to organizations moving forward for completion
September 16, 2022: RFP submission deadline
October 14, 2022: RFP submission deadline
Amplify Fund - Equity & Environment Initiative (AF-EEI)
States & Counties Eligible to Apply: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, the lower Hudson Valley of New York, the five boroughs (Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens and Richmond Counties), and Long Island.
Fund Overview:
AF-EEI will provide finite and non-renewable, two-year funding to community regional and statewide organizations working to advance environmental justice through programmatic initiatives and/or policy-based work.
The objective of this program is to provide support to trusted organizations that are engaged in environmental justice work to improve the lives of those in the communities they serve. This work should respond directly to documented needs, with the goal of reducing environmental harm and enhancing wellbeing.
Priority will be given to applicant organizations seeking to effect environmental improvement in communities facing one or more environmental justice concerns. Applicant organizations should be able to clearly articulate the needs to be addressed, the strategies to be employed in response to those needs, and the plan to demonstrate the effectiveness of those strategies.
Given the time-limited nature of this funding, and the broad geographic reach of the EEI, we are asking that interested applicants first submit a Letter of Interest (see details in LOI document). We will closely review each LOI, with the goal of inviting a limited number of applicants — not to exceed two dozen — to apply for funding.
Please note further that an invitation to submit a full application is not a guarantee of funding
Timeline:
May 31, 2022: Letter of Interest (LOI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) information is released
July 18, 2022: Last day to submit an LOI for AF-EEI
August 18 - 22, 2022: RFP will be disbursed to organizations moving forward for completion
September 23, 2022: RFP submission deadline
October 21, 2022: RFP submission deadline