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UPSTATE NEW YORK TRANSPLANT SERVICES INC
WILLIAMSVILLE, NY · EIN 161172453 · Form 990 · FY2024 · Large ($10M-$50M) · connectlife.org
revenue
$40.4M
expenses
$39.4M
net assets
$27.7M
employees
300
volunteers
33
program ratio
86%
mission · from form 990

TO IDENTIFY, AUGMENT, AND PROCURE TRANSPLANT ORGANS, BLOOD, AND EYES.

profile · synthesized from sources

ConnectLife, operating as UPSTATE NEW YORK TRANSPLANT SERVICES INC, is a nonprofit organ, eye, and tissue procurement organization serving Western New York. The organization coordinates the recovery and distribution of organs, tissues, and corneas for transplant, while also operating a community blood bank that supplies over 75% of the region’s blood needs. It educates the public on donation and supports donor families throughout the process.

irs program accomplishments · form 990 part iii · fy2024

What they reported doing

  1. #1 primary $13.41M
    TO IDENTIFY, AUGMENT AND PROCURE CORNEAS AND OTHER TISSUES AS WELL AS PROVIDE NECESSARY SERVICES FOR THEIR RETRIEVAL, TRANSPORTATION, TESTING, RECIPIENT SELECTION AND RELATED SERVICES.
  2. #2 $11.26M
    TO INCREASE BLOOD DONATION IN THE WESTERN NEW YORK COMMUNITY THROUGH A BLOOD BANK SERVICE. ALSO, TO KEEP DONATED BLOOD WITHIN WESTERN NEW YORK FOR LOCAL PATIENTS AT LOCAL HOSPITALS.
named programs · 3 · from sources

What they call their work

Community Blood Bank
Collects, processes, and distributes blood and blood components to hospitals across Western New York; ensures local blood stays in the region for local patients.
Family Services
Provides emotional support, resources, and post-donation outcome information to donor families; facilitates correspondence with transplant recipients if desired.
Organ, Eye, and Tissue Procurement
Coordinates the identification, recovery, testing, and distribution of organs, corneas, and tissues for transplantation; works with hospitals and the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to match donors with recipients.
activities · 4 groups

What they do

  • Blood and Marrow Donation Drives 3 activities
    • Conduct blood donation incentives and donor engagement programs
      Offers gift cards and raffle entries as incentives for blood donation, including $5 Tim Hortons cards during June, e-gift cards for O-negative donors, and raffles for Buffalo Sabres playoff tickets to encourage donor participation.
    • Operate community blood bank and organ procurement services
      Operates as Western New York's sole community blood bank and federally designated organ procurement organization, providing organ, eye, tissue, birth tissue, and blood donation services under one roof. Supplies over 75% of the blood required in Western New York and ensures donated blood is retained locally for use in regional hospitals.
    • Respond to blood supply emergencies and shortages
      Issues emergency appeals and actively solicits blood and platelet donations from the public in response to critically low regional blood supply levels and seasonal shortages.
  • Living Donor Transplant Support 2 activities
    • Coordinate organ, eye, and tissue recovery for transplant
      Identifies, procures, and coordinates the recovery of organs, corneas, and other tissues, providing services for their retrieval, transportation, testing, and recipient selection to support transplant needs.
    • Support donor and donor families through Family Services
      Provides ongoing support to donor families and potential donor families, including assistance accessing support services, obtaining donation outcome information, and facilitating correspondence with transplant recipients.
  • Healthcare Policy Advocacy 1 activity
    • Advocate for organ and tissue donation policy improvements
      Supports legislative initiatives such as the 2026 Doorways to Donation Act to expand organ donor registration opportunities and opposes regulatory changes that could negatively impact organ procurement organizations.
  • Honor and Memorial Recognition Programs 1 activity
    • Operate donor recognition and memorialization programs
      Operates a permanent Tribute Wall that allows family members, friends, and loved ones to honor and memorialize individuals affected by organ, eye, or tissue donation and transplantation through submitted messages.
financials · form 990 · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$40.41M
Contributions & grants$199K0%
Program service revenue$40.17M99%
Investment income$55K0%
Other revenue$-8K
expenses
Total expenses$39.45M
Program expenses86%
Admin / overhead14%
Fundraising0%
Salaries & benefits$16.77M
Grants paid out$0
Largest expense lineCompensation
balance sheet
Total assets$39.91M
Cash$80K
Investments$3.48M
Liabilities$12.17M
Net assets$27.74M
Liquid reserves1.1 mo
5 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue +7.0%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

paid leadership · 9
NameTitleHours/wkCompensation
MARK SIMON PRESIDENT (THROUGH 12/31/24) 36 $1.05M
KEVIN GRAMLICH CEO (PRESIDENT & CEO EFF. 1/1/25) 40 $424K
FREDERICK GILL CFO 39 $260K
KARA YOUNG TISSUE RECOVERY TEAM LEADER 40 $187K
AALIYAH BALL TISSUE RECOVERY TEAM LEADER 40 $181K
MATTHEW MOWREY SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BLOOD OPERATION 40 $175K
MARY PFEIFFER SENIOR DIRECTOR OF EYE AND TISSUE 40 $170K
SARAH DIINA SENIOR DIRECTOR OF MARKETING 40 $159K
ROXANE HUYLER FORMER SENIOR VP OF HUMAN RESOURCE 0 $114K
board members · 14
  • AMILCAR HILL — DIRECTOR
  • AMY NASH — DIRECTOR
  • BETH HUGHES — DIRECTOR
  • CHRISTINE STOLZENBURG — DIRECTOR
  • CHRISTOPHER COLLINS THRU 824 — DIRECTOR
  • DAVID CARLSON — SECRETARY
  • JOANNE BECKER MD — DIRECTOR
  • JOHN DUERR — DIRECTOR
  • JOHN G SCHMIDT JR — VICE CHAIR
  • MICHAEL LARRY — TREASURER
  • RICHARD A GRIMM III — CHAIR
  • RONALD RACCUIA — DIRECTOR
  • SAMUEL CLOUD MD — DIRECTOR
  • THOMAS NOONAN — DIRECTOR
relationships · 21

Who they work with

  • Bradford Regional Medical Center Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
  • Brooks Memorial Hospital Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
  • Buffalo Sabres Partner — Partner in donor incentive program offering raffles for home playoff game tickets.
  • Catholic Health Partner — Receives blood supply as needed
  • Center for Donation and Transplantation in Albany Partner — Partnership for tissue recovery established in 2019.
  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Government — Engaged in advocacy against proposed reimbursement changes affecting organ procurement organizations.
  • ConnectLife Network — UPSTATE NEW YORK TRANSPLANT SERVICES INC operates as ConnectLife, indicating a unified organizational identity.
  • Donate Life New York State Partner — Collaborated with leadership for a press conference in support of the 2026 Doorways to Donation Act.
  • ECMC Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
  • Federal Government Government — Federally designated as a not-for-profit organ procurement organization.
  • Fingerlakes Donor Recovery Network Partner — Partnership for tissue and eye recovery established in 2022.
  • Golisano Children's Hospital Partner — Recipient of blood and platelet transfusions for pediatric cancer patients
  • Kaleida Health Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
  • New York Power Authority Partner — Hosts ConnectLife blood drives as part of a corporate giving initiative.
  • Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
  • Olean General Hospital Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
  • Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Partner — ConnectLife contacts OPTN to begin matching donor organs with recipients using a computerized system based on medical criteria.
  • Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Partner — Receives blood supply as needed
  • Tim Hortons Partner — Partner in donor incentive program providing $5 gift cards to blood donors.
  • Western New York hospitals Partner — Provides blood supply to nearly every hospital in Western New York's eight counties.
  • Wyoming County Community Health System Partner — Sole supplier of blood products
strategies · 5

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Emotional and Commemorative Engagement
    methodology: commemorative_engagement
    By enabling public memorialization through tribute walls and supporting donor families emotionally, the organization strengthens personal connections to donation, increasing willingness to participate and sustain involvement because remembrance fosters meaning and healing around loss.
  • High-Impact Messaging and Systemic Registration
    methodology: high-impact-donation-messaging
    By framing donation as a high-impact act capable of saving or enhancing many lives and integrating donor registration with government systems like tax filing, the organization lowers barriers and increases registration rates because convenience and perceived efficacy jointly drive behavioral uptake.
  • Integrated Donation Services Model
    methodology: integrated_donation_services
    By operating a unified system for organ, eye, tissue, and blood donation, the organization streamlines donor registration, recovery, and distribution processes, increasing operational efficiency and donor reach because integration reduces fragmentation and leverages shared infrastructure and messaging.
  • Localized Blood Supply Model
    methodology: localized_blood_supply_chain
    By collecting and retaining blood donations within the local region, the organization ensures regional self-sufficiency and strengthens community trust, which in turn increases donor motivation and supply responsiveness for local hospitals because donors perceive direct impact and communal responsibility.
  • Youth and Community Education for Lifelong Engagement
    methodology: school-based_education_outreach
    By engaging schools and embedding donation education in youth programming, the organization cultivates early awareness and long-term donor identities, producing sustained donation rates over time because early exposure aligns with formative values of service and community responsibility.