18 foundations in North Dakota 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 totaling $100K or more that year. Together they paid $9.9M. The largest is Tom & Frances Leach Foundation Inc in Bismarck, which paid $2.0M across 71 grants in 2025. The ten biggest account for 87% of the state total. 10 of the 18 file a submission deadline. The rest leave that line blank or point to a website. At the median foundation, 33% 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
Foundations are ranked by dollars paid in each one's latest filed year. Click a column heading to sort. Deadlines are shown as filed.
| # | Foundation | City | Latest year | Grants paid | Grants | Median grant | First-time recipients | Deadline as filed | Assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom & Frances Leach Foundation Inc | Bismarck | 2025 | $2.0M | 71 | $10K | 24% | JUNE 30 WITH AWARDS MADE ANNUALLY IN NOVEMBER | $25.3M |
| 2 | Alva J Field Memorial Trust | Williston | 2024 | $1.4M | 224 | $4K | 35% | Request should be made prior to August 15th and December 15th of each semester. | $25.0M |
| 3 | Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota Caring Foundation | Fargo | 2025 | $990K | 280 | $2K | 33% | Deadlines vary. Specific details may be found at https://www.bcbsnd.com/caring-foundation/grants | $23.0M |
| 4 | Buck and Lois Scheele Foundation | Williston | 2025 | $862K | 16 | $10K | 11% | APPLICATIONS ARE ACCEPTED THROUGHOUT THE YEAR AND WILL BE REVIEWED AT BOARD MEETINGS. | $25.2M |
| 5 | Myra Foundation | Grand Forks | 2025 | $748K | 83 | $5K | 12% | APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED ANYTIME; DISTRIBUTIONS MADE AT YEAR END. | $15.6M |
| 6 | Fred M Hector Jr Charitable Trust | Fargo | 2024 | $663K | 40 | $10K | 35% | SEPTEMBER 15 ANNUALLY | $19.2M |
| 7 | Matt and Joann Butler Foundation | Fargo | 2024 | $570K | 6 | $95K | 45% | Not stated | $11.1M |
| 8 | Alex Stern Family Foundation | Fargo | 2025 | $554K | 69 | $5K | 32% | MARCH 31 AND AUGUST 31 | $9.0M |
| 9 | Arthur and Edith Pearson Foundation | Westhope | 2025 | $418K | 23 | $15K | 12% | Not stated | $8.6M |
| 10 | Mwe Scholarship Fund | Grand Forks | 2025 | $365K | 12 | $12K | 13% | Not stated | $7.9M |
| 11 | Roger L & Agnes C Dell Charitable Trust 1 | Fargo | 2025 | $348K | 23 | $10K | 40% | Not stated | $5.6M |
| 12 | John L Mccormick Memorial Tr | Fargo | 2025 | $225K | 14 | $10K | 16% | Not stated | $2.7M |
| 13 | Forum Communications Foundation | Fargo | 2024 | $137K | 11 | $2K | 12% | Not stated | $1.9M |
| 14 | Ralph Boone Charitable Foundation | Grand Forks | 2025 | $136K | 9 | $16K | 26% | Not stated | $2.2M |
| 15 | Seth Corporation | Grand Forks | 2024 | $130K | 11 | $2K | 97% | 11/17/2025 | $109K |
| 16 | Vincent Gaffney Foundation | Williston | 2024 | $126K | 20 | $3K | 73% | Not stated | $1.3M |
| 17 | Engel-kesting Foundation | Dickinson | 2025 | $108K | 8 | $14K | 38% | APPLICATIONS ARE ACCEPTED AT ANYTIME. NOTICE OF APPROVAL, REJECTION, OR REQUESTS FOR ADDITIONAL INFO | $1.7M |
| 18 | Faith and Freedom Foundation | Fargo | 2024 | $104K | 11 | $5K | 38% | SUBMISSIONS ARE RECEIVED ON AN ONGOING BASIS. | $559K |
Every one of them has its own page with the application terms as filed, every recipient, and the trustees. 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.
Each figure comes from each foundation's latest filed year, 2022 or later. A foundation is listed when its Form 990-PF says giving is not restricted to preselected organizations and it paid at least 5 grants totaling $100K or more that year. Grants and application terms come from each foundation's latest IRS 990-PF e-file return. 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 count once and totals can run low. Full method.
Source: IRS Form 990-PF e-file releases (public domain). Analysis: Civly.
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