Vincent Gaffney Foundation
Williston, ND · EIN 36-3507945. Reported 40 grants totalling $436,996 to 31 recipients across tax years 2020-2024. 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. Vincent Gaffney 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 $7,050. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,500 and $15,000; the smallest was $445 and the largest $62,000. 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. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Town of Medicine Lake | Medicine Lake, MT | $62,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Williston Community Builders | Williston, ND | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Daniels County Museum Association | Scobey, MT | $34,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The City of Scobey | Scobey, MT | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Town of Medicine Lake on Behalf of Medicine Lake Pool | Medical Lake, WA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Froid School Foundation | Froid, MT | $26,500 | 4 | 3 | 2024 |
| Coyote Clay Target League | Williston, ND | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| St Joseph's Catholic School | Williston, ND | $22,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The Sheridan County 4-H Council | Plentywood, MT | $18,700 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Scobey FFA Chapter | Scobey, MT | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sheridan Memorial Hospital Association | Plentywood, MT | $12,201 | 3 | 2 | 2023 |
| Lions Zone 1 Diabetes (sight 4 Kidz) | Williston, ND | $11,790 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Plentywood Town Square | Plentywood, MT | $11,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Roosevelt Co School District 65 - Froid School - Aged Program | Scobey, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Town of Medicine Lake | Medical Lake, WA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Trinity Christian School | Williston, ND | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Big Muddy Baseball League | Reserve, MT | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Culbertson Froid Bainville Health Care Corp Dba Roosevelt Medical Center | Culbertson, MT | $7,154 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Froid Public Schools Bpa Chapter (business Professionals of America) | Froid, MT | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Roosevelt Medical Center | Culbertson, MT | $5,550 | 3 | 2 | 2024 |
| Scobey Public School District #1 | Scobey, MT | $5,224 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sheridan County Fair Board | Plentywood, MT | $4,499 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Culbertson Little League | Culbertson, MT | $3,532 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Scobey Boy Scout Troop 298 | Scobey, MT | $3,150 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| BSA Troop 298 | Scobey, MT | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Eager Beavers 4-H Club | Outlook, MT | $2,500 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sheridan Saddle Club | Antelope, MT | $2,300 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Roosevelt Memorial Hospital | Culbertson, MT | $2,100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Sheridan County Food Bank | Plentywood, MT | $2,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Plentywood Schools | Plentywood, MT | $1,730 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Daniels Memorial Healthcare Center | Scobey, MT | $1,566 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
5 of 31 (16%) 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 25%, across 2 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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.
- Town of Medicine Lake
Sandblasting the outdoor pool. - Williston Community Builders
Funds for the Williston Water World and spcifically the Kiddy Pool. - Town of Medicine Lake on Behalf of Medicine Lake Pool
Pool for community's children - The City of Scobey
Splash Pad for community's children - Coyote Clay Target League
Trap/skeet combo fields. Co-ed league for grades 6-12 and estimates 138 athletes. - Froid School Foundation
Outdoor playground equipment for preschool
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2 | $8,720 | $4,360 |
| 2022 | 19 | $243,809 | $7,100 |
| 2023 | 10 | $77,687 | $4,577 |
| 2024 | 9 | $106,780 | $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
64% 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 $7,050. 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 Vincent Gaffney Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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: American State Bank Trust Box, Williston, ND, 58802. 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 36-3507945 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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