FundersMontana

Signal Peak Community Foundation

Helena, MT · EIN 45-2708352. Reported 67 grants totalling $1,042,724 to 42 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,000median grant
$1,042,724granted, 2021-2024
42organizations funded
44%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,614,024assets, latest filing

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. Signal Peak Community Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $5,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $20,000; the smallest was $578 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
28 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
13 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
12 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
9 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
3 grants
$100,000 and Up
1 grant

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
City of RoundupRoundup, MT$349,902442024
Musselshell CountyRoundup, MT$96,457222024
Roundup Memorial HealthcareRoundup, MT$75,000112021
Town of MelstoneMelstone, MT$62,619222024
Pine Ridge Golf CourseRoundup, MT$55,000222023
Roundup Community PartnersRoundup, MT$41,250222023
Montana Tech of the University of MontanaButte, MT$32,501442024
Earth Science FoundationRoundup, MT$30,688112022
Roundup Public SchoolsRoundup, MT$28,500112023
City of Roundup - Pine Ridge Golf CourseRoundup, MT$23,524112021
Melstone Public SchoolsMelstone, MT$22,842222024
Teddy Blue Abbott Monument Co Mussellshell Valley Historical MuseumRoundup, MT$20,000112022
Melstone Community Pool IncMelstone, MT$18,625112023
Roundup Baseball IncRoundup, MT$15,882332024
Musselshell Golden Valley 4-H CouncilRoundup, MT$14,759112024
Melstone Volunteer Fire DepartmentMelstone, MT$14,722112024
Friends of Musselshell SchoolMusselshell, MT$14,672112023
Roundup MarketRoundup, MT$12,750112024
Ride Committee - City of RoundupRoundup, MT$12,643222023
Montana State University - NorthernHavre, MT$12,000222024
John D Iverson Youth CenterRoundup, MT$9,576112021
Roundup Arts and CultureRoundup, MT$8,500112022
Montana Treasured Piecemakers QuiltsShepherd, MT$8,000222024
Montana State UniversityBozeman, MT$7,500332024
Quilts of ValorWinterset, IA$7,000222023
Montana State University - BillingsBillings, MT$6,812332024
Msu Billings City CollegeBillings, MT$5,000112024
Wyo TechLaramie, WY$5,000112024
Carroll CollegeHelena, MT$4,500222022
Melstone Area FoundationMelstone, MT$4,000112022
Boston UniversityChestnut Hill, MA$3,500222024
Northern Wyoming Community CollegeSheridan, WY$3,000222024
Marketplace for KidsMantador, ND$2,500112024
Washington CollegeChestertown, MD$2,500112021
Roundup PoolRoundup, MT$2,289112023
Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA$2,000112022
Northwestern Oklahoma UniversityAlva, OK$2,000222024
Rodeo RoundupRoundup, MT$1,133112023
Flathead Valley Community CollegeKalispell, MT$1,000112021
Northern Idaho CollegeCoeur Dalene, ID$1,000112023
Northwest CollegePowell, WY$1,000112024
Musselshell County Council on AgingRoundup, MT$578112024

18 of 42 (43%) received money in more than one year over the 4 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 44%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.

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.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 14 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.

Recreation & Sports
5 grants
Education
5 grants
Human Services
2 grants
Community Improvement
1 grant
Health Care
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20219$319,600$5,000
202218$259,065$6,607
202319$227,891$5,000
202421$236,168$5,000

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

Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 97% of this one's giving went to organizations in Montana. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.

Montana
$1.0M
Wyoming
$9K
Iowa
$7K
Massachusetts
$6K
North Dakota
$2K
Maryland
$2K
Oklahoma
$2K
Idaho
$1K

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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 the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc5 shared recipientsEducation Design Lab4 shared recipientsEnterprise Holdings Foundation4 shared recipientsTreacy Foundation4 shared recipientsTown Pump Charitable Foundation3 shared recipientsThe Darcy Lynn Dengel Foundation Inc3 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Montana.
  3. 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.
  4. 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 Signal Peak Community Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.

Address of record on the latest return: 1820 N Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT, 59601. 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 45-2708352 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded, which is the best available predictor of who it will fund next -- and a much better basis for deciding whether to write to them than a mission statement.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.