Welcome to the Southern Tier West Development Foundation. We are a regional community foundation created by and for the people and communities in Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua Counties and tax exempt under Sections 501(c)(3), 509(a)(1) and 170(b)(A)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code.

We're governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and work to improve the region's quality of life and economic vitality by meeting changing needs, strengthening community capacity and helping important community and economic development projects find success.

While most charitable organizations fund their activities from annual contributions, we pool charitable contributions received from many different donors into permanent, income-earning endowment funds. Our role is to:

- Build and manage permanent endowment
- Use the earnings from the endowment to support a wide range of regional and local community and economic development initiatives.
- Provide donors with a flexible range of giving and disbursement options.

We enable people with philanthropic interests to easily and effectively support the issues they care about - immediately, or through their will. Donors can establish a charitable fund with us by contributing a variety of assets and may also recommend grants - in their name, if they choose - to communities and nonprofit groups they want to support.

We seek to serve as a catalyst for the region to recognize its strengths and to develop a common vision for the future. Our motto reflects this commitment:

OUR COMMUNITY - WORTH THE INVESTMENT!