Plank Stewardship Initiative
Sheridan, WY · EIN 46-4491120. Reported 40 grants totalling $793,427 to 26 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Plank Stewardship Initiative did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $21,542. Half of everything it gave fell between $6,500 and $27,000; the smallest was $1,800 and the largest $62,750. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
It also files a Form 990 with Schedule I
Separately from its 990-PF, this organization reported 1 grants on Form 990 Schedule I, with a median of $29,549 and a total of $29,549.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women in Ranching Inc | Cohagen, MT | $117,850 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Quivira Coalition | Santa Fe, NM | $94,700 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Montana Land Reliance | Helena, MT | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Intertribal Agriculture Council | Billings, MT | $74,500 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Winnett Aces Inc | Winnett, MT | $52,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| University of Wyoming | Laramie, WY | $36,940 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Crook County Natural Resource District | Sundance, WY | $31,670 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sheridan County Wy Conservation District | Sheridan, WY | $31,042 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Thunder Basin Grasslands Prairie Ecosystem Association | Douglas, WY | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Crook County Natural Resource Dist | Sundance, WY | $29,549 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sheridan County Mt Conservation District | Plentywood, MT | $28,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Wyoming Stock Growers Endowment Tr | Cheyenne, WY | $27,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Clear Creek Conservation District | Buffalo, WY | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Petroleum County Conservation District | Winnett, MT | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Johnson County Fire Relief Fund | Buffalo, WY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pheasants Forever Inc | St Paul, MN | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wyoming Farm Bureau Foundation | Laramie, WY | $19,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Montana Association of Conservation Districts | Helena, MT | $16,300 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Sheridan Community Land Trust | Sheridan, WY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wyoming Stockgrowers Land Trust | Cheyenne, WY | $8,250 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust | Cheyenne, WY | $7,425 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Campbell County Conservation Distri | Gillette, WY | $6,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hopa Mountain | Bozeman, MT | $4,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Ranchers Stewardship Alliance | Malta, MT | $3,866 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wyoming Stockgrowers Endowment Tr | Cheyenne, WY | $3,535 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Custer Count Mt Conservation Distri | Miles City, MT | $1,800 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
10 of 26 (38%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 64%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.
- Women in Ranching Inc
RANCHING EDUCATION FOR WOMEN - Montana Land Reliance
LAND CONSERVATION AND STEWARDSHIP - Quivira Coalition
SUSTAINABLE AG TECH ASSISTANCE - Intertribal Agriculture Council
SUSTAINABLE NATIVE AMERICAN AGRICULT - University of Wyoming
MANAGING GRASSES INVADING ECOSYSTEMS - Wyoming Stock Growers Endowment Tr
RANCHING STEWARDSHIP EDUCATION
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 20 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1 | $29,549 | $0 |
| 2022 | 1 | $31,670 | $31,670 |
| 2023 | 7 | $161,325 | $24,300 |
| 2024 | 16 | $287,035 | $20,000 |
| 2025 | 15 | $283,848 | $11,350 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Where its money goes
50% of its giving went to organizations in Montana. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $21,542. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Montana.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Plank Stewardship Initiative's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2022-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.
Address of record on the latest return: Po Box 7374, Sheridan, WY, 82801. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 46-4491120 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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