44 foundations in Montana told the IRS on the latest Form 990-PF that giving is not restricted to organizations picked in advance, and each paid at least 5 grants worth $100K or more that year. Together they paid $74.5M. The largest is Dennis R Washington Foundation Inc in Missoula, which paid $39.6M across 515 grants in 2024. The ten biggest account for 87% of the state total, so most of this money sits with a small number of funders. 34 of the 44 file a submission deadline; the rest leave that line blank or point to a website. In a typical one, 21% of the year's grant dollars went to organizations it had not funded before.
Analysis by Matthew Hanauer, PhD, Chief Technology Officer at Civly, from IRS Form 990-PF filings · All states
Ranked by dollars paid in the foundation's own latest filed year. Click a column heading to sort. Deadlines print exactly as the foundation filed them, including the vague ones.
| # | Foundation | City | Latest year | Grants paid | Grants | Median grant | First-time recipients | Deadline as filed | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dennis R Washington Foundation Inc | Missoula | 2024 | $39.6M | 515 | $10K | 21% | GRANT APPLICATIONS ARE REVIEWED ON A ROLLING BASIS, WITH DECISIONS GENERALLY MADE WITHIN 90 DAYS. | $1.1B |
| 2 | First Interstate Bancsystem Foundation Inc | Billings | 2025 | $5.0M | 754 | $2K | 28% | Refer to Foundation website for online application. | $19.2M |
| 3 | Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana | Missoula | 2023 | $4.1M | 102 | $8K | 25% | VISIT WEBSITE FOR MOST CURRENT INFO WWW.HEADWATERSMT.ORG | $127.5M |
| 4 | Montana Healthcare Foundation | Bozeman | 2024 | $3.6M | 108 | $25K | 24% | VISIT WWW.MTHF.ORG FOR SUBMISSION DEADLINES. | $283.9M |
| 5 | Town Pump Charitable Foundation | Butte | 2023 | $3.2M | 659 | $2K | 31% | Not stated | $78.4M |
| 6 | Cross Charitable Foundation Inc | Bozeman | 2023 | $2.8M | 113 | $22K | 9% | SEPTEMBER 31, | $58.2M |
| 7 | Treacy Company | Helena | 2025 | $2.4M | 105 | $15K | 55% | MAY 1 | $43.7M |
| 8 | Charles M Bair Memorial Trust Fund | Billings | 2024 | $1.8M | 40 | $22K | 8% | THE TRUSTEES WILL PROCESS SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO APRIL FIFTEENTH. SE | $10.1M |
| 9 | The High Stakes Foundation | Missoula | 2025 | $1.1M | 62 | $20K | 24% | April 1 and September 1 | $2.5M |
| 10 | Charles M Bair Family Tr Fund | Billings | 2024 | $1.0M | 49 | $15K | 14% | March 1st | $33.9M |
| 11 | Jane S Heman Foundation Inc | Stevensville | 2025 | $910K | 30 | $25K | 14% | APPLICATION DEADLINES ARE FEBRUARY 1ST, MAY 1ST, AUGUST 1ST, AND OCTOBER 1ST. | $7.0M |
| 12 | Alice Lee Lund Charitable Tr | Great Falls | 2024 | $822K | 14 | $22K | 1% | QUARTERLY | $12.2M |
| 13 | Sample Foundation Inc | Billings | 2023 | $555K | 76 | $5K | 45% | AUGUST 1 | $7.7M |
| 14 | Signal Peak Community Foundation | Helena | 2025 | $553K | 23 | $6K | 12% | APRIL 15 AND SEPTEMBER 15 EACH YEAR | $1.6M |
| 15 | Lippard-clawiter Foundation Inc | Great Falls | 2025 | $536K | 50 | $5K | 6% | SEPTEMBER 30 | $8.7M |
| 16 | Rapp Family Foundation Inc | Hamilton | 2024 | $529K | 96 | $3K | 21% | 2ND FRIDAY MAR JUN SEPT | $8.0M |
| 17 | Elizabeth a Lynn Foundation | Lakeside | 2024 | $448K | 18 | $22K | 44% | Not stated | $5.3M |
| 18 | Storm Castle Foundation | Big Sky | 2023 | $424K | 21 | $10K | 12% | Not stated | $29.3M |
| 19 | Gallagher Western Montana Charitable Foundation Inc 50400930 | Missoula | 2025 | $380K | 46 | $5K | 44% | CONTACT ABOVE | $4.8M |
| 20 | Greater Montana Foundation | Helena | 2025 | $372K | 22 | $12K | 58% | FOR 2025 GRANTS THE DEADLINE IS APRIL 1, 2025 | $8.3M |
| 21 | Montana Opioid Abatement Tr | Billings | 2024 | $335K | 5 | $70K | n/a | PERPETUAL | $28.2M |
| 22 | Montana Mental Health Tr | Helena | 2024 | $301K | 15 | $20K | 40% | SEPTEMBER 30TH | $257K |
| 23 | Marshall and Mary Brondum Special Assistance Foundation Inc | Missoula | 2024 | $266K | 84 | $2K | 81% | 45 DAYS PRIOR TO QUARTERLY MEETINGS APR, JUL, OCT, JAN | $5.6M |
| 24 | Harold W Sweatt Foundation | Big Sky | 2025 | $264K | 65 | $3K | 28% | Not stated | $3.3M |
| 25 | Boe Brothers Foundation | Great Falls | 2025 | $260K | 22 | $3K | 2% | Not stated | $5.1M |
| 26 | Hawkins Scholarship Foundation | Great Falls | 2025 | $228K | 259 | $900 | 70% | BEFORE GRADUATION | $4.1M |
| 27 | Bentley Foundation | Billings | 2025 | $210K | 8 | $12K | 0% | CONTACT FOUNDATION | $2.2M |
| 28 | Telemachus Foundation to Empower the Poor and End War | Stevensville | 2023 | $207K | 24 | $5K | 17% | Not stated | $2.4M |
| 29 | Leroy and Claris Strand Foundation | Stanford | 2025 | $201K | 62 | $2K | 29% | MAY 1 AND NOVEMBER 1 | $37.7M |
| 30 | Five Points Foundation | Bozeman | 2024 | $187K | 23 | $2K | 29% | Not stated | $2.0M |
| 31 | Brosovich Family Foundation | Billings | 2024 | $175K | 34 | $2K | 7% | Contact Foundation | $3.6M |
| 32 | Ge Mcdonald Foundation | Billings | 2025 | $172K | 16 | $5K | 0% | Contact Foundation at mailing address. | $906K |
| 33 | Gertrude Kamps Memorial Foundation | Billings | 2024 | $151K | 22 | $5K | 1% | THE BOARD MEETS IN SEPT. OF EACH YEAR. REQUESTS SHOULD BE RECEIVED PRIOR TO THAT MEETING | $2.7M |
| 34 | Madrona Hill Foundation | Missoula | 2024 | $150K | 5 | $25K | 0% | THE BOARD MEETS TO REVIEW REQUESTS ON 4/30 AND 10/30 | $2.6M |
| 35 | Nibs and Edna Allen Foundation | Miles City | 2024 | $144K | 22 | $5K | 34% | SEE WEBSITE AT WWW.ALLENFOUNDATION.NET - APPLY FOR FUNDING | $2.2M |
| 36 | Lynn & Helen Clark Fund | Billings | 2024 | $143K | 20 | $5K | 16% | APRIL 30 | $3.0M |
| 37 | Max and Betty Swanson Foundation | Missoula | 2024 | $140K | 60 | $1K | 10% | NONE AT THIS TIME | $3.3M |
| 38 | Flathead Educational Foundation | Kalispell | 2024 | $126K | 51 | $2K | 100% | APRIL 1 | $2.3M |
| 39 | Gebhardt Scholarship Foundation | Roundup | 2024 | $122K | 41 | $3K | 24% | APRIL 1 OF EACH YEAR | $991K |
| 40 | Sands Memorial Foundation Inc | Havre | 2025 | $116K | 17 | $6K | 0% | Not stated | $3.6M |
| 41 | Logjam Foundation | Missoula | 2024 | $115K | 5 | $25K | 44% | Not stated | $6K |
| 42 | The Gerhart Foundation | Great Falls | 2025 | $114K | 17 | $5K | 7% | Not stated | $2.3M |
| 43 | Pennmont Foundation Inc | Bozeman | 2022 | $114K | 15 | $5K | 0% | SEPTEMBER 30TH | $2.3M |
| 44 | Dont Be a Jerk | Bozeman | 2025 | $103K | 33 | $1K | 100% | NO SUBMISSION DEADLINES | $54K |
The 25 largest by dollars paid have their own page with the application terms as filed, every recipient, and the trustees. The rest are listed here in full. Where a cell says n/a the filing does not carry that figure: a first-time recipient share needs more than one year of grants on record, and the asset figure comes from the IRS business master file, which does not cover every foundation.
Every figure on this page is that foundation's own latest filed year, which is 2022 or later. A foundation is listed because its Form 990-PF says it does not restrict giving to preselected organizations and it paid at least 5 grants totaling $100K or more that year. Latest-year grants and terms per foundation from IRS 990-PF e-file returns; the newest tax year is partial until the IRS finishes releasing it. Grants are de-duplicated on funder, year, recipient and amount, so identical repeat grants collapse into one and totals can run low. Full method.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF e-file releases (public domain). Analysis: Civly.
This page names every foundation in Montana that will read a request. Civly Grant Matching reads your own filings, matches your programs against millions of paid grants by purpose, geography and grant size, and hands back the funders with the deadline, the restrictions and the named trustees attached.
See Grant Matching