Search Through Grants for Land Conservation in Montana in the U.S.

Making community possible

At U.S. Bank, we are dedicated to supporting our communities through responsive and humbled actions focused on addressing racial and economic inequities and creating lasting change in our communities. Through our Community Possible Grant Program, we are partnering with organizations that focus on economic and workforce advancement, safe and affordable housing and communities connected through arts and culture.

The U.S. Bank Foundation is committed to making Community Possible through Work, Home and Play. We advance this work through collaborative grant making to bring equitable and lasting change through our focus on sustainable, high-impact funding with 501c3 nonprofit partners.

How we partner with nonprofits

We focus on collaborative grantmaking and sustainable, high-impact funding with 501(c)(3) nonprofit partners. We partner with organizations that support:

• Economic and workforce advancement
• Safe and affordable housing
• Community arts and culture

Our strategy

Our community affairs and foundation team work closely with U.S. Bank regional leadership, business resource groups and our National Community Advisory Committee to ensure that prevailing needs are addressed in all the communities we serve.

To make the most meaningful impact, we prioritize organizations that:

• Focus on economic development issues related to work, home and play
• Address more than one of the grant pillars (work, home and play)
• Are based in and serve designated U.S. Bank communities
• Advance diversity, equity and inclusion

Background

Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of underserved communities across the globe by supporting scalable, innovative, and impact-first solutions that leverage existing systems and stakeholders. Our goal is to find social entrepreneurs with dynamic products or services that have a proven ability to positively impact the lives of underserved people, and nurture those organizations at the early stages by providing capacity, capital, and community.

Our application process is designed to be open and accessible, and we accept applications year round from across our priority geographies and sectors. Borrowing from our venture capital legacy, we find exceptional entrepreneurs and provide them with: 

Capacity

• The core of DRK’s model is deep and extensive operational and technical support for each portfolio organization, both through dedicated hands-on Board service and specialist capacity-building resources for fundraising, board and organizational development, leadership, financial support, and scaling strategy,

Capital

• DRK provides up to $300,000 USD in either unrestricted grant funding or investment capital over a three-year period, and

Community

• DRK convenes our portfolio and alumni annually, facilitating connections and community. 

What We Fund

DRK Foundation funds early-stage social impact organizations solving the world’s biggest social and environmental problems using bold, scalable approaches.

What stage of growth does DRK Foundation typically fund?

Early stage: Organizations who are early stage, which we define as post-pilot and pre-scale. This typically means: 

• Your program, product or service is already being used in the market or in the field, 
• You have early indication that your model is having its intended impact on the beneficiary populations,
• Your organization is relatively young (ideally between two and five years old, although we will consider both younger and older organizations).

Venture funding: In the case of for profits, we typically support Seed to Series A organizations, and never lead rounds; we also generally but not exclusively refrain from participating in financings exceeding a $15M USD post-money valuation.  

Community Grants

State Farm is committed to helping build safer, stronger and better-educated communities.

• ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​We are committed to auto and home safety programs and activities that help people manage the risks of everyday life.
• We invest in education, economic empowerment and community development projects, programs and services that help people realize their dreams.
• We help maintain the vibrancy of our communities by assisting nonprofits that support community revitalization.

Good Neighbor Citizenship company grants focus on safety, community development and education.

Focus Areas

Safety Grants

We strive to keep our customers and communities safe. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Auto safety — improving driver, passenger, vehicle or roadway safety
• Home safety — shielding homes from fires, crime or natural disasters
• Disaster preparedness and mitigation
• Disaster recovery

Community Development

We support nonprofits that invest and develop stronger neighborhoods. That's why our funding is directed toward:

• Affordable housing — home construction and repair
• Commercial/small business development
• Job training
• Neighborhood revitalization
• Financial literacy
• Sustainable housing and transportation
• Food insecurity

Education

Our education funding is directed toward initiatives that support the following programs:

• Higher education
• K-12 academic performance
• K-12 STEM
• Pathways for college and career success

Mission

The mission of the Hearst Foundations is to identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States can build healthy, productive and satisfying lives. Through its grantmaking, the Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of focus—culture, education, health and social service—and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Whether providing a scholarship to a deserving student, supporting a rural health clinic or bringing artists into schools so children can see firsthand the beauty of the arts, the Foundations’ focus is consistent: to help those in need, those underserved and those underrepresented in society. Since the Foundations were formed in the 1940s, the scale and capabilities of the grant making have changed, but the mission has not.

Culture Grant

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those that enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent. Supported organizations include arts schools, ballets, museums, operas, performing arts centers, symphonies and theaters.

Funding Priorities in Culture

In the recent past, 25% of total funding has been allocated to Culture. Organizations with budgets over $10 million have received 60% of the funding in Culture.

The Hearst Foundations are only able to fund approximately 25% of all grant requests, of which about 80% is directed to prior grantees and about 20% is targeted toward new grantees.

Types of Support

Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Goals & Objectives

The Hazardous Fuels Reduction Grant focuses on reducing the risk of wildland fire and catastrophic losses to resources and property in high-priority areas; which may result from a wildland fire encroaching from adjacent National Forest System (NFS) lands.

Source-funding is USFS State, Private, and Tribal Forestry dollars which are for work on nonfederal lands to protect communities when hazardous fuels reduction activities are planned on adjacent USFS lands. This is accomplished by reducing the volume of hazardous fuels within a defined project area; through thinning, pruning, slash disposal, pile burning, and other conventionally accepted methods of fuels reduction. Public education and outreach about risks and responsibilities of living in the wildland urban interface (WUI) may be carried out in support of the primary goal of reducing hazardous fuels.

Criteria

Projects funded under this program must meeting the following intent:

• Protect communities within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) when prescribed fire is planned on USFS lands that have the potential to place WUI communities at risk. Projects shall be located within an average fire weather single-day burn window of USFS treatments units; generally interpreted to be 3-5 miles in western and central Montana and 10 miles in eastern Montana, subject to forest conditions.
• Occur within a specific geographic boundary, aligning treatments across neighboring properties to maximize benefits of project activities.
• Project initiation must be in advance and within three years of planned hazardous fuels reduction activities on adjacent USFS lands.

What is Ecosystem Thinking?

Humans are an integral part of the ecosystem, and living in consistent connection with the natural world is good and healthy. Everything is connected. The decisions we make have upstream and downstream effects.

A healthy bull elk is part of a much larger story. His existence reflects an intricate food web supported by everything from soil and water to songbirds and predators.

This is Ecosystem Thinking.

What are Ecosystem Grants?

We believe extraordinary impacts can be made not only by large organizations but also by grassroots efforts led by passionate individuals.

SITKA Ecosystem Grants fund proposed projects that improve the state and function of an ecosystem, allow for the growth of the hunting experience through access and education, and create opportunities for collaborative conservation.

Our Funding Priorities

• Nurturing Natural Systems
  • Habitat Restoration,
  • Biodiversity,
  • Conservation,
  • Working Landscapes
• Encouraging the Hunting Experience
  • Mentorship,
  • Access,
  • Education,
  • Well-Being
• Shared Stewardship
  • Prioritizing Whole Ecosystems Through Collaboration

Examples of Funded Projects

• Supporting efforts to remove fencing that prohibits or threatens ungulate migrations in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and efforts to install wildlife friendly fencing in key migratory areas.
• Supporting research efforts to better understand mallard duck overwinter habitat use and population dynamics in the Mississippi River Flyway.
• Supporting a scholarship fund for a Montana backcountry hunting course tailored to youth and first time hunters.
• Supporting a local trail crew who, on their personal time, maintain and restore public trails.
• Supporting efforts to restore the Mississippi River Delta by planting native trees to help capture downstream transported sediment, strengthen existing freshwater ecosystems and reduce the rate at which critical habitat and land is lost due to sea level rise, increase frequency and severity of storms, saltwater encroachment and a reduction of land building downstream sediment transport.
• Supporting efforts by leading scientific groups and universities to research CWD with hopes of curbing its spread, and lobbying efforts to pass legislation that can increase CWD education, advocacy and awareness.

Funding Amount and Duration

SITKA Ecosystem Grants vary in amount depending on significance of the project, though most range between US $3,000 and $20,000. However, we do not have a cap on individual grant funding requests. Each grant request is reviewed on a case by case basis. SEG funds often serve as complimentary support, which is why we encourage applicants to seek additional, concurrent funding, and disclose supporting funds and partners within the SEG application.

Typically, SITKA Ecosystem Grants support projects for one year. However, in certain circumstances, we support grants on a multi-year basis.

We have strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the country that are working to advance economic mobility and social progress in low- and moderate-income communities. Our focus areas include basic needs like food and housing, workforce development and education, and community development. In addition to our philanthropic investments, we also encourage our employees to make a difference by offering robust employee giving and volunteering programs, including the opportunity to direct funds to organizations they support through volunteer efforts, and a matching gifts program that doubles their individual giving to causes they care about. Last year, we invested $350 million in the communities we serve, and employees contributed more than 1 million volunteer hours and directed $65 million through individual giving and matching gifts to support nonprofits.Through our regional U.S. sponsorships, we support the economic, social and cultural life of the places we live and work. We provide an extensive program of arts and sports sponsorships to help maintain vibrant, healthy communities.Sponsorships supporting communitiesBank of America welcomes your sponsorship proposal for opportunities that make our communities a better place to live and work. We are particularly interested in providing support to address needs vital to the health of our communities through a focus on:

• preserving neighborhoods;
• educating the workforce for 21st century jobs;
• addressing critical needs such as hunger and emergency shelter;
• arts and culture;
• the environment; and
• diversity and inclusion programs.

Grants are made at the Foundation’s discretion based on our current funding strategies focused on housing, jobs and hunger. 

Our Mission

The Tony Robbins Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of people often forgotten.

We’re dedicated to creating positive changes in the lives of youth, seniors, the hungry, homeless and the imprisoned population, all who need a boost envisioning a happier and deeply satisfying way of life. Our passionate staff, generous donors and caring group of international volunteers provide the vision, inspiration, and resources needed to empower these important members of our society.

Grants

Dedicated to meeting challenges within the global community, creating solutions and taking action, The Tony Robbins Foundation provides monetary donations to various organizations around the world. Funding requests are evaluated on an ongoing basis. We look for organizations that align with our mission to empower individuals and organizations to make a significant difference in the quality of life of those often forgotten.

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

The Montana Noxious Weed Trust Fund (NWTF) Grant Program was established by the 1985 Montana Legislature to provide funding for the development and implementation of weed management programs. Grant awards of up to $75,000 are available for noxious weed research projects, state and community education/development projects, and local cooperative - landowner cost share grants. 

Specific Project Types

Local Cooperative Projects (New and Continuing)

Local Cooperative projects involve on the ground treatment of noxious weeds and require the participation of a minimum of three adjacent landowners. Participating landowners will develop a cooperative weed management area, map noxious weeds in the project area, develop long term weed control plans and must have a committed dollar amount for treatment prior to application submission.

Local Cooperative projects are required to have a minimum of 50% hard match for commercial application, herbicide, and revegetation costs.

Administrative costs are available for Local Cooperative project coordinators that have not received a Special County/Reservation Grant.

Local Cooperative projects should:

• support the State Weed Management Plan and meet Cooperative Weed Management Area (CWMA) criteria,
• adhere closely to herbicide costs listed in the State Term Contract for Agricultural Chemicals,
• have measurable objectives that describe how renewable resources will be enhanced,
• utilize appropriate integrated management techniques,
• provide a time schedule for beginning and completing all phases of the project,
• incorporate an annual monitoring plan to effectively track progress, and
• provide educational opportunities for land managers. 

New Local Cooperative projects require completion of an environmental assessment (EA) for the project area. EA requirements under the Noxious Weed Trust Fund Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (May 2010) include:

• General Vegetation.
• Soils (includes soil maps).
• Ground and Surface Water (includes project maps and well locations).
• Air quality.
• Habitat of fish & wildlife.
• Threatened, endangered and species of concern (includes list of animals from MNHP or FWP).
• Historical and archeological sites (includes a letter from the Montana Historical Society).

Research Projects

Research projects may include chemical, non-chemical, biological, and integrated approaches to weed control. Creative proposals for investigating new weed management techniques are encouraged. Matching funds are not required and any in-kind match or forgone indirect costs can be noted in the application.

Research projects should:

• Support the State Weed Management Plan.
• Be developed in cooperation with land managers to address land management needs.
• Increase knowledge of noxious weeds and/or improve an important aspect of noxious weed management.
• Enhance a new or existing method of weed management.
• Provide the foundation for a positive long term effect on threatened natural resources.
• Contain specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely project objectives.
• Explain the purpose of the research, what research has been done in the past, and what improvement and/or increased knowledge the project will produce.
• Effectively disseminate project results to end users.
• Provide a time schedule for beginning and completing all phases of the project.

Applicants are encouraged to contact the State Biological Control Coordinator to discuss and collaborate on biological control components of the project.

Education/Development Projects

Education/Development projects include mapping, monitoring, planning, and education. Matching funds are not required and any in-kind match or forgone indirect costs can be noted in the application.

Education/Development projects should:

• Support the State Weed Management Plan.
• Build partnerships and include collaborative resources from weed management resources.
• Promote public awareness about noxious weed impacts and illustrate opportunities for action.
• Be based on sound ecological principles.
• Include a detailed action plan of how the project will be completed.
• Contain specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely project objectives.
• Specify how project success will be monitored and measured, including long-term evaluation.
• Provide a time schedule for beginning and completing all phases of the project.

Applicants are encouraged to contact the State Education Coordinator to discuss and collaborate on educational components of the project.

The Foundation embraces the protection of biodiversity as its overarching priority.

Frank Weeden, the Foundation’s founder and original benefactor, established the Weeden Foundation to address the impact of growing human populations and overuse of natural resources on the biological fabric of the planet. Since his death in 1984, the Foundation has helped preserve more than 6 million acres of biologically important habitat worldwide and provided financing for the first debt-for-nature swap in Bolivia in 1992, a strategy that is now widely used by international conservation organizations. Program efforts have supported projects in environmentally sensitive regions of the western United States, Alaska, Russia, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Belize, Namibia, Mexico, and various Caribbean nations.

Focus Areas

On a more general scale the Foundation supports the following focus areas.

Bird Conservation

Our goal in the Bird Conservation program area is to conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. In particular we seek to fund grantees that work to prevent bird species extinctions and to prevent declining populations of bird species from becoming endangered. We specifically focus on protecting and restoring public and private bird habitat and we assist in acquiring land for threatened bird species. Finally we support protection of bird migration corridors in North and South America.

Systemic Support program at the U.S. national policy level for wildlife corridors, the Endangered Species Act, and additional wilderness designation.

Our goal in Systemic Support is to improve the effectiveness of environmental efforts through specialized services. Specific objectives include:

• support the Endangered Species Act through litigation, lobbying, grassroots campaigns and public education generally,
• promote organizations providing support for groups engaged in wilderness protection, land conservation, endangered species protection, wildlife corridor issues, and management of public lands, an
• improve federal and state support for environmentally sustainable practices, wilderness designations, and wildlife corridors. 

Global Biodiversity

Our goal in Global Biodiversity is to support campaigns and/or groups in biodiversity hotspots. Specific objectives are to

• protect global temperate rainforests,
• support creation of wildlife corridors,
• land acquisition and protection for endangered species and,
• support projects that involve indigenous peoples in the process and stewardship of conservation projects.

Environmental Education

The Foundation’s Environment Education program area focuses on supporting grantees that will provide future leaders with the tools to effect environmental policies. These policies complement the other grantees of the Foundation including biodiversity and habitat protection. Sustainable environmental policies must include both immediate actions as well as education to anticipate and to prevent future environmental impact.

Marine Wildlife Conservation

The Marine Wildlife Conservation Program Area focuses on helping to protect endangered marine species in the Americas through research, advocacy, policy change, and habitat conservation.

To address the adverse impact of economic and human population growth on biodiversity, the Foundation’s grantmaking includes both Consumption and Population programs.

The Foundation’s Sustainable Consumption program currently focuses on promoting greater use of environmental paper. Grantmaking in this area aims to broaden the market for environmental papers and packaging through markets campaigns, shareholder activism, consumer-targeted education, and dialogue with the corporate sector. This year we have expanded our packaging program to include efforts to reduce plastics in the waste stream, through strategies such as eliminating single use plastic disposables by promoting reusable packaging for grocery stores, take-out, and delivery.

The Foundation’s International Population program area is focused on reducing population growth rates in countries recognized for their rich biodiverse landscapes and that have a total fertility rate exceeding replacement levels. To achieve this goal, the Foundation funds groups that facilitate initiatives related to family planning, women’s education and women’s empowerment in countries with such rich and recognized biodiversity. The Foundation also supports advocacy efforts addressing global population growth in the context of environmental sustainability.

Idaho and Montana Grant Program

The Steele-Reese Foundation is a charitable trust committed to supporting rural communities and the tax-exempt entities that serve them in Idaho, Montana, in the Native nations that share the geography, and in Appalachian Kentucky. Since its inception, the Foundation has maintained a focus on the unique challenges of rural living and on helping people build healthy, successful, and sustainable communities.

We support Rural Education, Rural Human/Social Services, Rural Conservation and Preservation, Rural Health, and Rural Arts and Humanities projects. Applications from organizations operating outside of the Foundation's regional or programming areas are not eligible for funding. Please check back periodically for the latest updates about the Foundation's priorities and application policies.

Idaho and Montana Grant Program

In its Idaho and Montana Grant Program, The Steele-Reese Foundation makes grants only to federally tax-exempt entities for work in rural Idaho and Montana communities, and in Native nations with whom we share this geography. 

Program Areas

Rural Education

In both the Appalachian Kentucky and Idaho and Montana Grant Programs, the Foundation focuses on early childhood to Grade 12 education programming. Examples include funding for supplemental programs in early childhood education settings; elementary, middle, and high school programs that improve outcomes for students; support of literacy programs and out-of-school-time services; and charter schools and other model school programs that provide quality educational options for students and families. We also provide assistance to small public libraries. The Foundation does not accept applications to directly fund higher education, though we will consider early childhood to Grade 12 programs operated by colleges or universities or state or local education districts.

The Foundation considers education projects that demonstrate a comprehensive level of engagement with participants that result in clear and measurable outcomes. We are not able to fund those projects with single or limited interactions with students or those whose primary outcome is to raise awareness or introduce a concept. We are unable to support summer camps.

The Foundation also supports a small college scholarship program only for graduates of high schools in Lemhi and Custer Counties, Idaho.

Rural Human/Social Services 

In the Idaho and Montana Grant Program, the Foundation considers programs in support of low-income and under-represented populations, including elders, homeless individuals, people living with disabilities, young children, disadvantaged or disconnected older youth, young people or adults involved in the criminal justice system, and survivors of abuse or domestic violence. Programming within this area also includes support to local libraries, fire-protection services, and local food banks.

Rural Conservation and Preservation 

In the Idaho and Montana Grant Program, the Foundation considers land, water, and wildlife conservation; historic preservation and restoration projects; and ecosystem protection programs. All conservation or environmental programs must be locally focused on rural communities or landscapes.

National organizations are eligible for support only if all Steele-Reese Foundation funds will be employed directly in projects located in the geographical areas served by the Foundation and if the coordinating entity can demonstrate substantial connections to the people and organizations in these areas.

Rural Health 

In the Idaho and Montana Grant Program, the Foundation considers services in preventive health programs; medical clinics; small hospitals; EMS and ambulance units; family-planning programs, and hospices. The Foundation is not able to support major equipment purchases for rural medical facilities.

Rural Arts and Humanities 

In the Idaho and Montana Grant Program, the Foundation considers local arts programs, and the broader support of creative arts activities and efforts to maintain the rich histories of the Foundation’s funding geographies. 

Capital Improvements and Campaigns

In all program areas, the Foundation makes a limited number of grants for capital improvements, fixtures, and remodeling, retrofitting, and building new structures. In projects involving the building of a new facility or other large-scale capital endeavors, we typically make these grants only during the closing phases when a substantial portion of the required funds are already in hand. 

Funding

The minimum grant awarded by the Foundation is $5,000. We rarely make grants of up to $50,000 for a single year or make multi-year grants.

The Foundation is dedicated to providing financial assistance to organizations committed to improving our world. Solutions to the problems of today's world still lie in the values of innovation, practicality, hard work, and compassion.

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

• Education
• Social Service
• Health care
• Civic and cultural
• Environmental

The categories above are not intended to limit the interest of the Foundation from considering other worthwhile projects. In general, the Foundation guidelines are broad to give us flexibility in providing grants.

The majority of our grants are made in the U.S. However, like Dr. Scholl, we recognize the need for a global outlook. Non-U.S. grants are given to organizations where directors have knowledge of the grantee.

Definition and Purpose

The Cinnabar Foundation supports organizations that effectively conserve, preserve and restore the natural environment in Montana and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Program/Project Grants provide funding that enables an organization to carry out a specific project, program or campaign. 

Priority for Program/Project Grants will be given to projects that align with the Cinnabar Foundation's priorities and advance the Foundation's strategic vision and conservation goals. 

Conservation Program Areas

The Cinnabar Foundation has adopted four key program areas that align with its Strategic Framework, each with specific focus areas designed to drive impact and further the Foundation's mission. Conservation program areas and focuses are described below.

Please note that in 2025, the Cinnabar Foundation Board of Directors has adopted a new policy regarding educational programs. Cinnabar has de-emphasized funding K-12 education and community-based ecology and conservation programs that are not embedded in the applying organization’s broader conservation work.

• For example, if an organization is strictly a K-12 or community-based ecology or conservation program without a broader conservation work, Cinnabar will likely not fund that organization in 2025. However, if education is one element of the organization’s broader conservation strategy (and that strategy aligns with Cinnabar’s mission), that organization will be considered. 

2025 Program Areas

• Build an informed constituency to inspire conservation actions that advocate to preserve and restore our natural heritage as we adapt to change
• Support the advancement of climate strategies and solutions 
• Support stewardship practices that enhance ecosystem health 
• Prevent or mitigate irresponsible natural resource extraction 
• Nurture the next generation of conservation leaders and stewards 

• Protect wildlife habitat and migration corridors
• Conserve strategic open space and agricultural lands that protect habitat and migration corridors

• Advocate, preserve and protect our public lands and public access
• Support citizen science and field work restoration programs

• Protect, restore and advocate on behalf of clean air, water and fisheries
• Support citizen science and field work restoration programs

Applications will be accepted in any of these four program areas as long as they are focused on one or more of the bulleted criteria.

2025 Funding Priorities 

​Cinnabar has four funding priorities which are hierarchically described below.

• Build an informed constituency to inspire conservation actions that advocate to preserve, protect and restore clean air, water, lands and public access, wildlife, fisheries, and wildlands in Montana and the GYE
• Expand knowledge through scientific research and data collecting to find and implement solutions to environmental and conservation challenges (includes citizen science)
• Conserve strategic open space and agricultural lands that protect wildlife habitat and migration corridors
• Protect public lands and advance critical wilderness projects

Funding Amount

Applicants seeking Program/Project support are advised that grant amounts will not exceed 50% of the total project budget, or $15,000, whichever is less. Cinnabar rarely funds more than 25% of total program/project expenses.

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

About High Stakes Foundation

The High Stakes Foundation supports visionary people and organizations in Montana through grants and program related investments. We fund transformational ideas that promote equality, climate change solutions, economic development, local agriculture, sustainable communities, ecosystem preservation and leadership. We believe in solutions which support vibrant, interconnected communities that give everyone in the local community a direct, long-term interest in the prosperity, health, and beauty of Montana.

We primarily provide general operating support grants to dynamic mission-aligned change-makers.

Focus Areas

We support talented and skilled leaders and their organizations who are focused on:Civic EngagementWe support change makers working to engage, inform and activate constituents in support of a vibrant, just democracy. Climate ChangeWe support proactive solutions to protect the environment. ConservationWe believe in conserving public lands for future generations. Economic DevelopmentWe champion increased opportunity and robust, sustainable local economies. LeadershipWe encourage the next generation of Montana community leaders. Local Food SystemsWe support local food security in Montana. Social JusticeWe value a vibrant, informed democracy, and promote a just, equitable society. SustainabilityWe believe in reducing our footprint here in Montana and around the globe. Please see FAQs for additional guidelines.

Montana Forest Action Plan

The Montana Forest Action Plan convened key statewide stakeholders and tribal nations to reassess statewide forest conditions, identify priority areas for treatment, and develop a cross-boundary plan to accomplish landscape-scale forest restoration.

The plan consists of three main parts:

• Montana Forest Action Plan
  • The Montana Forest Action Plan provides recommended goals and strategies to help promote cross-boundary, landscape scale forest restoration and management.
• The Priority Areas
  • The Priority Areas for Focused Attention show the places in Montana that would benefit most from cross-boundary work.
• The Assessment
  • The Statewide Assessment of Forest Conditions provides an updated analysis of forest conditions and trends.          

Pre-propsals

The DNRC is excited to announce that funding has been secured from the State’s Fire Suppression Fund to help further the implementation of the Montana Forest Action Plan (MFAP) which identifies where priority forest treatments should be focused statewide. DNRC is requesting project pre-proposals that reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health on state, county, tribal, and private lands, as well as federal lands through the Good Neighbor Authority.

Strong proposals will involve multiple collaborating partners, engaged in cross-boundary management to address at least one of the following through forest management and conservation actions: forest health; wildfire risk; working forests and economies; biodiversity and habitat; human and community health; urban and community forests. Additionally, projects should be implementation-ready and have a completion timeline not to exceed 24 months.

Funding

Funding requests should be a minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $300,000 for single party applications or $500,000 for multi-party applications.

There is a 4:1 match ratio (grant : match) requirement for all projects.

Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Grant Program

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s Forestry Assistance Bureau (FAB) is now accepting new project ideas for the Landscape Scale Restoration Grant Program. You are not being asked for a full proposal, or even a pre-proposal. We want a pitch. This process is designed to solicit your best ideas and develop them based on a dialogue, rather than who can write the best proposal.

The State and Private Forestry (S&PF) Landscape Scale Restoration (LSR) Grant Program was established in 2008 to address priorities identified in state Forest Action Plans and the three S&PF national goals:

• conserve working forest landscapes,
• protect forests from harm, and e
• nhance public benefits from trees and forests.

LSR projects are intended to be outcome-driven, cross-boundary, landscape-scale, innovative, and meet priority needs. Funds are awarded to states exclusively for projects on non-federal lands and cannot be used to compensate federal labor or expenses.

Each year, the DNRC develops 3 proposals for the nationwide LSR review and scoring process in September. Some of our best ideas come from our partners, and funds for successful proposals may be sub-awarded to partners to carry out project goals and objectives. Partners may include but are not limited to non-profit organizations, local and municipal governments, and other non-DNRC state agencies. The maximum award amount is $300,000.

Background

The Maki Foundation, established in 1981, is concerned with environmental protection in the western United States. The Foundation awards grants to organizations and projects where modest support can make a significant contribution. Most awards range from $1,000 to $5,000. Because of its small size, the Foundation rarely funds groups with annual budgets over $1 million.

At this time, the Foundation's priorities are as follows:

• wilderness and wildlands protection
• river and wetlands conservation
• biological diversity conservation
• public lands management

Future Fisheries Improvement Program

For almost two decades, FWP's Future Fisheries Improvement Program has worked to restore rivers, streams, and lakes to improve and restore Montana's wild fish habitats. Between $500,000 and $650,000 are available each year for projects that revitalize wild fish populations. Any entity proposing a project that would benefit wild fish will be considered for funding.

An independent citizen review panel evaluates all applications and makes funding recommendations to the Fish & Wildlife Commission.

Background and history

In 1995, Montana Legislature created the Future Fisheries Improvement Program (FFIP), to restore essential habitats for the growth and propagation of wild fish populations in lakes, rivers, and streams. In 1999, the Legislature expanded the FFIP by adding funding from the Resource Indemnity Trust Fund (RIT) and directing a portion of the funding to projects that specifically enhance bull trout and cutthroat trout, with emphasis on mineral reclamation projects. In 2013, the RIT funding was expanded to all cover of Montana’s native fish species.

Funding

Funds used to implement the FFIP originate from the sale of Montana fishing licenses. A portion of the funding also comes from interest generated from Montana’s RIT Fund. 

Use of Funds

Program funding may be provided for costs of design/build, construction, and maintenance of projects that restore, enhance, or protect habitat for wild fishes. 

Project Types

Projects have included (but are not limited to):

• Riparian fencing and off-stream water development to improve habitat along streamside areas
• Re-vegetation of stream banks and streamside areas to stabilize banks and cool the water
• Installation of screening devices on irrigation diversions to prevent the loss of fish into the ditches
• Removal of barriers, or installation of fish ladders around barriers, to facilitate the upstream movement of spawning fishes
• Construction of barriers in selected locations to prevent non-native trout from competing or hybridizing with genetically pure native cutthroat populations
• Reconstruction of stream channels that have been modified from their natural form as a result of land use practices or channelization
• Water conservation measures that result in a greater quantity of water left in-stream
• Installation of habitat structures in lakes and reservoirs that provide cover or enhance spawning

Available Funding

The Montana Legislature gives authority for the Program to expend funds. Approximately $1.2 million is available for each biennium (two years; four grant cycles). Approved funding varies by grant cycle; over the last five years, the average grant award was approximately $30,000.

Calling to Serve

Since its inception in 2016, the Robinson Foundation has sought to demonstrate God’s love through sharing the gifts we have received. We understand the often unspoken hardships and struggles that people in and outside of our community face everyday. As such, our contributions are focused on relieving these hardships for the betterment of our world.

As a family-operated foundation, we pray that our small efforts will not only create immediate change in the lives of our neighbors, but will help set those lives on a course for success in the future. We are thankful for each and every day we have on this earth to use what God has granted us to make a difference.

Areas of Interest

• Animal Welfare
• Children & Families
• Disaster Relief
• Education
• Medical Assistance
• Nature & Wildlife Conservation
• Poverty Relief
• Religious & Spiritual Endeavors
• Veterans' Issues

Grant Considerations

We take many different aspects of applications into account when making grant issuing decisions, however these are some of the high-level questions we ask ourselves during the process:

• How does the organization serve their key audience goals?
• Is the organization fiscally responsible?
• Will a grant have a tangible, meaningful impact?
• Will we see direct results from this grant?
• Does the organization have other financial contributors?

Our Core Principles:

• Relevance: We continually seek information regarding significant opportunities in our region and in our focus areas to ensure that we are responding to current needs and opportunities.
• Community Engagement: We seek to foster community engagement in protecting wildlife and habitat and in engaging youth skills to build directly on community needs and strengths.
• Focus on Place: Grounded in the Northwest, we fund in urban, rural and tribal communities in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington where people work to improve the places that they live.
• Expand Opportunity: We give special consideration in our grant making to benefit and expand opportunities for underserved populations in our region.

Wildlife and Habitat Programs: Promoting Biodiversity in a Changing Climate

Conservation efforts that utilize the impacts of climate change when selecting areas for protection.

Engaging a community of citizens, scientists, and conservationists in educating the public about biodiversity and climate change.

Restoring important lands for biodiversity, focal species, and landscape connectivity. Including but not limited to:

• Assessments to identify species and communities at risk, including strategies to work toward ecosystem resilience.
• Identification of barriers to migration and mitigation measures to enhance landscape connectivity.
• Adaptive restoration strategies based on predicted species range expansion and contraction.
• Promoting the biodiversity of the marine and freshwater environments.

Guidelines for Wildlife and Habitat Programs

As development pressures increase, the stewardship of vital ecosystems is critical for protecting wildlife populations and habitat. The effort must be based on solid conservation biology, recognizing the resilience, complexity and interdependence of all life. Conservation of critical habitat and species requires comprehensive strategies and collaboration among partners working in the region, recognizing the limitation of funds available. Stewardship is the shared responsibility of empowered citizens, engaged scientists, collaborating foundations, informed business and property owners, and an accountable government. Healthy and diverse wildlife populations and habitat must be preserved through sound government policies and a range of creative conservation approaches. The principle of sustainability requires that environment, economics and equity are considered together to protect the quality of life at every level.

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

Conservation Stewardship Program

The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps you build on your existing conservation efforts while strengthening your operation.

Whether you are looking to improve grazing conditions, increase crop resiliency, or develop wildlife habitat, we can custom design a CSP plan to help you meet those goals. We can help you identify natural resource problems in your operation and provide technical and financial assistance to solve those problems or attain higher stewardship levels in an environmentally beneficial and cost-effective manner.

How It Works

If you are already taking steps to improve the condition of the land, chances are, CSP can help you find new ways to meet your goals.

NRCS works one-on-one with producers to develop a conservation plan that outlines and enhances existing efforts, using new conservation practices or activities, based on management objectives for your operation. Producers implement practices and activities in their conservation plan that expands on the benefits of cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving their agricultural operations.

For example, if you have been planting a cover crop, you may decide to try an enhancement for a multi species cover crop or implement a deep-rooted cover crop to break up soil compaction and further improve the health of your soil.

CSP offers annual payments for implementing these practices on your land and operating and maintaining existing conservation efforts. Want to take it a step further? CSP also offers bundles where you can select a suite of enhancements and receive a higher payment rate.

Benefits

CSP is for working lands and is the largest conservation program in the United States. Thousands of people voluntarily enroll in the program because it helps them enhance natural resources and improve their business operation.

CSP participants are seeing real results.  Some of these benefits include:

• Enhanced resiliency to weather and market volatility
• Decreased need for agricultural inputs
• Improved wildlife habitat conditions

CSP Contracts

The program represents a genuine commitment to conservation – CSP contracts are for five years, with the opportunity to compete for a contract renewal if you successfully fulfill the initial contract and agree to achieve additional conservation objectives. An NRCS conservation planner will work closely with you, throughout the entire contract process.

Contract payments are based on two components:

• Payments to maintain the existing level of conservation, based on the land uses included in the contract and an NRCS assessment of existing stewardship at the time of enrollment, and
• Payments to implement additional conservation activities.

Most participants will be eligible for a $4000 minimum payment during any year that their total annual contract payment falls below the minimum payment amount.

Montana Priority Resource Concerns

• Degraded Plant Condition
• Field Sediment, Nutrient and Pathogen Loss
• Fire Management
• Livestock Production Limitations
• Pest Pressure
• Soil Quality Limitations
• Terrestrial Habitat (Fish and Wildlife – Inadequate Habitat)
• Wind and Water Erosion

Overview

The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is NRCS’ flagship conservation program that helps farmers, ranchers and forest landowners integrate conservation into working lands.

Through EQIP, NRCS provides agricultural producers and non-industrial forest managers with financial resources and one-on-one help to plan and implement improvements, or what NRCS calls conservation practices.  Using these practices can lead to cleaner water and air, healthier soil and better wildlife habitat, all while improving agricultural operations.

In Montana, NRCS uses a “Focused Conservation” strategy to guide its EQIP investments. Learn more about Montana Focused Conservation.

Targeted Implementation Plans (TIPs)

Targeted Implementation Plans are local-level EQIP initiatives used by NRCS in Montana to guide on-the ground implementation of locally developed Long Range County Plans. See what's available in your county.

EQIP Initiatives Offered in Montana

Targeted EQIP financial assistance is available through general EQIP and several other initiatives. These initiatives address priority natural resource concerns on the most vulnerable lands, target conservation assistance in high priority watersheds, or help stimulate the development and adoption of innovation and technology.

The following initiatives are currently offered in Montana:

• Conservation Incentive Contracts
• Community Agriculture Initiative
• Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Projects
  • Connecting Fuels Treatments in the Salish Mountains and Whitefish Range
  • Fire Adapted Bitterroot Project
  • Gallatin Valley Forest Resiliency and Watershed Health Project
  • Libby Surround Stewardship Project
• National Water Quality Initiative Projects
  • Camp and Godfrey Creeks
  • Shields River
• On-Farm Energy Initiative
• Organic Initiative
• Regional Conservation Partnership Program Projects
  • Big Game Habitat Improvement Project
  • Northern Great Plains Grassland Conservation Project
  • Flint Creek Valley Conservation Partnership Project
  • Bitterroot Conservation Connectivity Project
• Sage Grouse Initiative

Montana Priority Resource Concerns

• Degraded Plant Condition
• Field Sediment, Nutrient and Pathogen Loss
• Fire Management
• Livestock Production Limitations
• Pest Pressure
• Soil Quality Limitations
• Terrestrial Habitat (Fish and Wildlife – Inadequate Habitat)
• Wind and Water Erosion

Mission

Our mission is to promote actions and foster understanding to inspire conservation from the Rhododendron Preserve to the Salish Sea region.

New in 2024, this competitive grant opportunity is focused on conservation, preservation, and restoration projects proposed by conservation-focused non-profit organizations in the states of Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Idaho plus Eastern Washington State.

Norm Winn was a passionate conservationist. His contributions to the Pacific Northwest are legendary from helping pass the 1976 Alpine Lakes Wilderness bill, 1984 Washington Wilderness Act, the Olympic National Park ocean strip additions in 1988. He also worked with Senator Patty Murray on the Plum Creek Land Exchange.

Norm served on the Board of Directors of the Keta Legacy Foundation, also known as the Mountaineers Foundation, for many years. His area of focus was the grants the Foundation awarded to conservation organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest. Norm was adamant that both large and small organizations be supported through the Foundation’s extensive granting program.

Norm Winn Memorial Conservation Grant

The Norm Winn Memorial Conservation Grant is a competitive grant for projects that support the environment through conservation, preservation, or restoration.

• Conservation: work to minimize use of finite natural resources and our negative impacts on ecosystem health.
• Preservation: work to protect ecosystem, species, and other irreplaceable elements of the region.
• Restoration: work to re-establish the healthy functions of an ecosystem.

Grants are awarded on a competitive basis and the amount granted may vary based on the project type and scope. The maximum amount that may be requested is $25,000.

Program Specifics

The Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Program is a federal grant program administered by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP). The LWCF Program provides matching grant funds to state, tribal, and local government entities to develop outdoor recreation. Montana’s LWCF Program has funded over 800 projects throughout Montana since its creation in 1964.

The 2020-2024 Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (SCORP) provides guidance to direct Montana’s state-side apportionment of the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant program.