The Greater Montana Foundation
Helena, MT · EIN 81-6009847. Reported 80 grants totalling $1,379,672 to 48 organizations across tax years 2021-2024. 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. The Greater Montana 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.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $14,750. Half of everything it gave fell between $8,000 and $25,000; the smallest was $3,000 and the largest $50,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
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.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends of Montana PBS | Bozeman, MT | $162,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Maps Media Institute | Hamilton, MT | $158,000 | 6 | 4 | 2024 |
| Montana Broadcasters Association | Bonner, MT | $148,672 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| From the Heart Productions | Oxnard, CA | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Montana Public Radio | Missoula, MT | $97,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| University of Montana School of Journalism | Missoula, MT | $94,000 | 5 | 4 | 2024 |
| Montana Free Press | Helena, MT | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Maps Media Lab | Hamilton, MT | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Montana Television Network | Helena, MT | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Montana Television Networkkxlh | Helena, MT | $35,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Montana History Foundation | Helena, MT | $28,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Bear Hug Cattle Company | Manhattan, MT | $23,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Friends of Montana PBS (cooke City Avalanche) | Bozeman, MT | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Granite County Historical Society | Philipsburg, MT | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Uss Montana Committee | Big Fork, MT | $20,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Extreme History Project | Bozeman, MT | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Montana International Film Festival | Billings, MT | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| One Montana | Bozeman, MT | $15,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Montana Kids Co-Op | Polson, MT | $14,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Common Ground Project | Emigrant, MT | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Big Sky Film Institute | Missoula, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Big Sky Film Institute (when They Were Here) | Missoula, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Glacier National Park Conservancy (rise Up Montana) | Columbia Falls, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Helena Civic Television | Helena, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Inclusive Outdoors Project (lotus Producers) | Bozeman, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Leadership Montana | Helena, MT | $10,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Meagher Country Stewardship Council | White Sulphur Springs, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Montana Casagal Association | Missoula, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Montana Historical Society | Helena, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Montana State University Foundation | Bozeman, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Montana State University School of Film & Photography | Bozeman, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Turtle Island Tales | Bozeman, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Vox Box Arts Collective (fireside Films) | Glendale, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Working Quiet Butte (beyond Yellowstone) | Butte, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Cine Billings (beartooth Films) | Billings, MT | $9,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Alternative Energy Resources Organization | Helena, MT | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sweet Grass Arts Alliance | Big Timber, MT | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Archie Bray Foundation | Helena, MT | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Myrna Loy | Helena, MT | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Crow Language Consortium | Billings, MT | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Winnett Aces | Winnett, MT | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Missoula Butterfly House | Missoula, MT | $6,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Billings Good Evening LLC | Billings, MT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Crazy Mountain Museum | Big Timber, MT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nate Chute Foundation | Whitefish, MT | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Montana Television Networkkrtv | Great Falls, MT | $4,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Center for Restorative Youth Justice | Kalispell, MT | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Montana Playwrights Network | Helena, MT | $3,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
14 of 48 (29%) 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 56%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. 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.
- Friends of Montana PBS
SUPPORT FOR NUMEROUS PROGRAMS INCLUDING BACKROADS OF MONTANA, 11TH AND GRANT, AND NEW PROGRAMS. - Montana Broadcasters Association
EB AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING AND SUPPORT FOR A U.S. SENATE DEBATE. - Montana Television Network
CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR THE STORY-TELLING SERIES, "UNDER THE BIG SKY." - Montana Television Networkkxlh
TO SUPPORT THE ONGOING STORYTELLING SERIES, "UNDER THE BIG SKY," ABOUT THE DRIVERS OF COMMERCE IN MONTANA. - From the Heart Productions
FOR MONTANA SESSIONS, A COLLECTION OF SHORT FILMS FEATURING SOME OF MONTANA'S FINEST MUSICIANS PERFORMING LIVE IN OUTDOOR LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT THE STATE. - Maps Media Institute
SUPPORTS THE GENERAL OPERATIONS OF MAPS MEDIA INSTITUTE.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 39 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 18 | $327,135 | $19,750 |
| 2022 | 20 | $348,300 | $13,500 |
| 2023 | 22 | $344,500 | $14,500 |
| 2024 | 20 | $359,737 | $10,000 |
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. 92% 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.
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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.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $14,750. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- 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 The Greater Montana 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: 1750 N Washington St, 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 81-6009847 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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