Donate securely
Online charitable giving runs through Givebutter; campaign receipts and disbursement confirmations follow Givebutter’s normal donor communications.
How funds are raised
Connect Buffalo, Inc. expects to blend several funding types so no single source dictates the mission. Mix and timing shift by pilot phase; the list below is representative, not a promise of any particular award or sponsor.
- Charitable donations from individuals and families—often online through our Givebutter campaign (see above), sometimes by check or wire when arranged with finance.
- Grants from foundations, public agencies, and corporate giving aligned with digital equity—project-restricted when required, general operating when partners trust our stewardship.
- Sponsorships and institutional commitments for milestones, equipment, or cohort support—structured as gifts or grants, with expectations documented up front. See funding options for how we talk about tiers; final terms live in agreements, not marketing copy.
- Project partnerships that bring cash, services, or in-kind contributions (hardware, connectivity, expertise) under clear scopes—see project partners.
- In-kind support recorded at fair value for internal planning and grant reporting where required; we do not treat volunteer time as a substitute for cash reserves.
We do not sell equity or pay dividends; anything that looks like earned revenue (e.g., cost-recovery fees in a future program) would be disclosed in reporting and filings when material. Grant officers and sponsors may start diligence at outreach@connectbuffalo.org.
How we operate as a nonprofit
Connect Buffalo, Inc. does business as Connect Buffalo and exists for public benefit—digital equity programs for residents—not to enrich founders, directors, or insiders. The commitments below are how we intend to run; specifics evolve with counsel and board policy as we scale.
Mission-first money
Revenue and donations support exempt purposes: pilots, equipment, training, support capacity, and prudent reserves—not private distributions. Surpluses are reinvested in the mission or held for continuity, consistent with nonprofit rules and board direction.
No personal financial windfalls from the charity
We do not use the organization as a vehicle for unrelated private gain. If officers, directors, or staff receive compensation, it is for real work, at reasonable levels compared to similar roles, documented and approved through governance—not a back door to pull donor dollars for personal enrichment. Transactions with insiders are avoided unless they are fair, necessary, and in the charity's best interest, consistent with IRS excess-benefit expectations.
Board oversight & accountability
The board exercises fiduciary oversight: budgets, material contracts, risk, and major program bets are weighed against resident outcomes and long-term sustainability—not short-term optics. Financial statements and internal controls strengthen as operations mature; external review paths (audit or independent review) follow scale and funder requirements.
Conflicts of interest
Directors, officers, and key staff disclose material conflicts. Anyone with a conflict steps back from related decisions. We do not self-deal: related-party arrangements require disclosure, arm's-length terms, and board-level scrutiny when they cannot be avoided entirely.
Donor intent
Restricted gifts are used for the purposes donors specify. Unrestricted support covers programs and responsible overhead (administration, compliance, fundraising) at levels consistent with healthy nonprofit practice—not padded insider perks.
Questions or concerns
For diligence, accounting detail, or good-faith questions about governance or use of funds, email outreach@connectbuffalo.org. We take credible concerns seriously and route them to leadership and, when appropriate, independent advisors.
Quarterly impact reporting (commitment)
- Deployments: hubs installed, relays live, stabilization milestones achieved.
- Service quality: high-level uptime and incident remediation themes (resident privacy preserved).
- Support: Navigator touches, escalation patterns, backlog trends.
- Learning: retrospectives informing the next rollout phase—not marketing spin.
Narrative summaries will appear through the Updates channel; aggregates may later surface in dashboards when pilots produce stable metrics.
Federal & state filings
Legal name: Connect Buffalo, Inc.. Federal Tax ID (EIN): 42-1990070 — use for donations, grants, and vendor onboarding. Public-facing materials use the Connect Buffalo name; contracts, banking, and government filings use the legal name above unless a jurisdiction specifies otherwise.
- After IRS exemption is finalized, Form 990 (or applicable variant) PDFs link here—typically within the cadence filings become public.
- State charity registrations and annual reports, where required, follow the same public-release pattern.
- Until full public filings are linked, philanthropic partners may request diligence materials privately via outreach@connectbuffalo.org.
Data handling reference
Site privacy practices (local drafts, CSV exports, mapping lookups) are described on our Privacy Policy.
Long-term stewardship (beyond filings)
Quarterly packets and audited artifacts answer “what happened.” A separate continuity narrative answers “how the network—and the nonprofit—persist through funding cycles, winters, refreshes, and workforce rotations.” Read Sustainability → for the detailed durability thesis: financial diversification, lifecycle engineering, ecological tradeoffs we refuse to bleach-wash, and consent-aligned contraction planning.