Search Through Operating Grants for Nonprofits 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

Charitable Contributions

Costco Wholesale’s primary charitable efforts specifically focus on programs supporting children, education, and health and human services in the communities where we do business. Throughout the year we receive a large number of requests from nonprofit organizations striving to make a positive impact, and we are thankful to be able to provide support to a variety of organizations and causes. While we would like to respond favorably to all requests, understandably, the needs are far greater than our allocated resources and we are unable to accommodate them all.

Warehouse Donations:

Warehouse donations are handled at the warehouse level - please consult your local warehouse for up-to-date information regarding their donations contacts and review process.

Grant Applications

If the request is under consideration, you may be contacted by staff for any additional information needed. Applications are reviewed within 4-6 weeks, and decisions are made based on several factors, including: type of program; identified community need not otherwise available; indication that evidenced based data will establish measurable results of intended outcomes; community collaboration; broad base of financial support; project budget and operating expenses.

Mission

The DanPaul Foundation will use its resources to help train teachers and parents in early childhood development, protect children from abuse and neglect, stimulate children's personal social responsibilities, and offer them opportunities for enrichment and growth.

The Foundation will also encourage children to be concerned and informed about the environment and the underprivileged, particularly with regard to clean air and water, and adequate housing and nutrition for all.

Beliefs

The DanPaul Foundation believes that children should have ample opportunities for enrichment in their lives, and thus strives to provide many different ways to enrich and expand children's minds through direct programs and monetary support to organizations doing similar work.

We have provided or currently provide grants related to the following program areas:

• Workshops, Conferences, + Seminars: We strive to offer educational workshops, conferences, and seminars for parents and teachers on topics related to early childhood development.
• Student Scholarships: We aim to help students attending post-secondary education institutions by providing need-based and academic scholarships.
• Scientific Endeavors: We desire to advance scientific endeavors which seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
• Clean Air + Water: We hope to pass on knowledge and practical life skills to youth regarding their personal responsibility to the environment, teaching them about issues surrounding clean air and water.
• Child Advocacy: We believe in protecting children from abuse and neglect and particularly love to support programs that provide education and assistance to children as well as organizations advocating or caring for vulnerable children.
• Homelessness: We want to encourage young people to take a personal interest in seeing that adequate housing and proper nutrition, especially for the underprivileged and homeless, are available.
• Poverty + Neglect: We seek to help those in poverty as well as educate youth about their responsibility to consider the underprivileged and take care of those most in need of life's basic essentials like adequate housing and proper nutrition.
• Refugee Enrichment: We wish to help refugee youth by supporting programs that provide them enrichment and help them transition to life in a new country.

The DanPaul Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organizations as defined by the IRS. The Foundation is interested in providing funding to programs that directly serve the health, education, development, and welfare of the world's youth.

Grants range from a few hundred dollars up to $15,000 per calendar year.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation funds direct service non-profit organizations that help improve the quality of people’s lives by providing them with the tools they need to succeed. Since its inception in 1988, it has funded programs for those with special needs, summer camps for cancer-stricken or troubled children and ensured access to theater, arts and music programs by economically disadvantaged youth and their families. It has granted wishes for terminally ill children, awards for science and math fair winners, and funded programs to purchase clothing, school supplies and toys for needy children. The Foundation also has supported rescue missions, food banks, shelters for victims of domestic violence, free mammogram exams for low-income women, and dental screenings and preventive care for underprivileged youth.

When making a grant decision, we examine each organization’s financial stability, staffing and facility capacity, and relevant partnerships. Additionally, we assess the capability of an organization to sustain a program into the future and their ability to show measurable impact on the population they serve. Finally, funding is guided toward organizations that support low income, rural, and underserved populations through one of our four main focus areas:

Our Four Main Focus:

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation funds organizations that have accurately identified needs consistent with our mission and scope and who have successfully worked to provide programs and services that give youth and economically and socially disadvantaged individuals, families and those with special needs the tools they need to succeed in life.

Education

Education taps the immeasurable potential of the mind. Reaching children through early childhood education, after-school learning programs, post-secondary and graduate scholarships help our young people get the start they deserve. Providing higher education scholarships and funding educational programs helps build a strong educational foundation for future leaders.

Health and Human Services

Health and Human Services ensures the vitality of the human body and spirit. We target programs that ensure access to basic health care services to the most vulnerable members of our communities, as well as programs that educate our youth about wellness, nutrition, exercise and healthy lifestyles. We also support experiential programs that offer disabled or disadvantaged people opportunities they may not have otherwise.

Arts and Culture

Arts and Culture represents the innovation and creativity of a society. Through cultural endeavors we help bring people together to share their creative talents, intellects, passions, customs and bold initiatives to explore new ways of doing things. In the areas of theatre, art, and music the Foundation grants have helped organizations reach a broader audience, infused new life into programs and created long-lasting cultural traditions within our communities.

Community Service

Community Service touches the lives of everyone where they work, play and live. Despite our individual differences, we are linked by common interests to do more for the places we call home. The Foundation invests in organizations that fortify this connection. When everyone is involved one way or another in the improvement of their community, the community progresses in a positive direction.

What does this program do?

This program helps eligible communities prepare, or recover from, an emergency that threatens the availability of safe, reliable drinking water.

What kind of event can qualify as an emergency?

• Drought or flood
• Earthquake
• Tornado or hurricane
• Disease outbreak
• Chemical spill, leak or seepage
• Other disasters

How may the funds be used?

• Water transmission line grants up to $150,000 to construct waterline extensions, repair breaks or leaks in existing water distribution lines, and address related maintenance necessary to replenish the water supply
• Water source grants up to $1,000,000 are to construct a water source, intake or treatment facility

Why does USDA Rural Development do this?

This program helps prevent damage or restore households and business' access to clean, reliable drinking water in eligible rural areas and towns following natural disasters. Funding can improve the natural environment and encourage manufacturers and other businesses to locate or expand operations.

Global Impact Cash Grants

Cisco welcomes applications for Global Impact Cash Grants from community partners around the world who share our vision and offer an innovative approach to a critical social challenge.

We identify, incubate, and develop innovative solutions with the most impact. Global Impact Cash Grants go to nonprofits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that address a significant social problem. We’re looking for programs that fit within our investment areas, serve the underserved, and leverage technology to improve the reach and efficiency of services. We accept applications year-round from eligible organizations. An initial information form is used to determine whether your organization will be invited to complete a full application.

Social Investment Areas

At Cisco, we make social investments in three areas where we believe our technology and our people can make the biggest impact—education, economic empowerment, and crisis response, the last of which incorporates shelter, water, food, and disaster relief. Together, these investment areas help people overcome barriers of poverty and inequality, and make a lasting difference by fostering strong global communities.

Education Investments

Our strategy is to inclusively invest in technology-based solutions that increase equitable access to education while improving student performance, engagement, and career exploration. We support K-12 solutions that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) as well as literacy. We also consider programs that teach environmental sustainability, eliminate barriers to accessing climate change education, and invite student engagement globally to positively affect the environment.

What we look for:

• Innovative early grade solutions using the internet and technology to bridge the barriers preventing access to education for underserved students globally.
• Solutions that positively affect student attendance, attitudes, and behavior while inspiring action by students to improve learning outcomes, whether they participate in person, online, or in blended learning environments. 
• Solutions with high potential to replicate and scale globally, thereby increasing the availability of evidence-based solutions that support student-centricity, teacher capacity in the classroom, and increased parental participation to help students learn and develop.

Economic Empowerment

Our strategy is to invest in early stage, tech-enabled solutions that provide equitable access to the knowledge, skills, and resources that people need to support themselves and their families toward resilience, independence, and economic security.

Our goal is to support solutions that benefit individuals and families, and that contribute to local community growth and economic development in a sustainable economy.

We target our support in three interconnected areas:

• Skills development to help job seekers secure dignified employment and long-term career pathways in technology or other sectors, including environmental sustainability/green jobs.
• Inclusive entrepreneurship with small businesses as engines of local growth as well as high growth potential start-ups as large-scale job creators nationally and internationally, in technology or other sectors, including environment sustainability/green businesses.
• Banking the unbanked through relevant and affordable financial products and capacity building services.

Cisco Crisis Response

We seek to help overcome the cycle of poverty and dependence and achieve a more sustainable future through strategic investments. We back organizations that successfully address critical needs of underserved communities, because those who have their basic needs met are better equipped to learn and thrive.

What we look for:

• Innovative solutions that increase the capacity of grantees to deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently
• Design and implementation of web-based tools that increase the availability of, or improve access to, products and services that are necessary for people to survive and thrive
• Programs that increase access to clean water, food, shelter, or disaster relief and promote a more sustainable future for all
  • By policy, relief campaigns respond to significant natural disaster and humanitarian crises as opposed to those caused by human conflict. Also by policy, our investments in this area do not include healthcare solutions.

Climate Impact

Our strategy is to invest US$100 million in Cisco Foundation funds over the next decade to help reverse the impact of climate change, working toward a sustainable and regenerative future for all.

The commitment includes both grant and impact investment funding for early-stage climate innovation. Both categories of support will be focused on bold climate solutions, and the grants side will also concentrate on community education and activation. Grants will go to exceptionally aligned nonprofit organizations, while impact investments will go to highly promising for-profit solutions through the private sector and climate impact funds.

Funding comes from the Cisco Foundation and will focus on:

• Identifying bold and innovative solutions that:
  • Draw down the carbon already in the atmosphere
  • Regenerate depleted ecosystems and broadly support the transition to a regenerative future
• Developing curricular initiatives to spur community engagement that can lead to measurable behavioral change and collective action

We will prioritize organizations that can achieve, measure, and report outcomes such as:

• Reduction, capture, and/or sequestering of greenhouse gas and carbon emissions
• Increased energy efficiency and improved mapping and management of natural resources, such as ecosystem restoration, forest treatments, reforestation, and afforestation that also will help repair our water cycles
• Transition to inclusive, just, coliberatory, and regenerative operating models, ways of being, and ways of organizing economies
• Creation of, and increase in, access to green jobs and job training
• Changes in community and individual behavior that lead to carbon footprint reduction, community climate resilience, and localized roadmaps to a sustainable shared climate future for all

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

Community Works

NorthWestern Energy is a community within many communities. We are close to 1,600 individuals working collectively to build stronger communities in Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota through the production, generation and delivery of electricity and natural gas.

Our goal is to be a leading corporate citizen in each of the diverse communities we serve. In 2019, our Community Works Fund contributed more than $2.1 million in economic development, charitable donations and community sponsorships. We are invested fully in the community spirit that connects us in common purpose.

Grant Categories

NorthWestern Energy wants to make the communities it serves better places to live, work and prosper. That's why we're proud to donate to a wide range of worthy causes. We encourage qualified nonprofit organizations that operate within our service territory to apply for donations through our NorthWestern Energy Charitable Giving program. Our local committees review requests year-round and determine funding.

While we seek to support a wide range of community activities, donations will generally be made to those non-profit groups that have the greatest opportunity for positively affecting the communities we serve and are focused in one of the following categories:

Education:

• Education remains a primary focus of the company. Donations to education will primarily be made through university system foundations and scholarship programs. Donations will also be made in support of local colleges, and special primary and secondary education programs in the fields of science, technology, math, and youth leadership.

Health And Human Services:

• Donations will be considered for organizations serving human needs such as the United Way, youth homes and special community health and safety needs. Donations will generally not be made to national health organizations or for medical equipment or research funds.

Civic And Community:

• Donations will be considered for civic improvement, special events, and youth and senior citizen organizations.

Culture And The Arts::

• Donations will be considered for local museums, libraries, cultural centers and the performing arts.

Resource Conservation::

• Donations will be considered for requests regarding environmental preservation including habitat, fish, and wildlife protection.

Philanthropy is our commitment to communities in which we operate and broader society. We focus our resources on a limited number of key projects that can deliver valuable benefits from our contributions and those of our partners. We give priority to innovative, high-quality projects that meet the following criteria:

• promote sustainable development
• offer an opportunity for Roche to use its expertise and logistics capabilities
• involve Roche actively at an early stage with local authorities and established partners
• engage Roche employees in cultural (focus on contemporary arts), educational and social activities
• managed by an accredited charity

Our four focus areas

Humanitarian and Social

We direct the majority of our philanthropic donations to humanitarian and social development projects.

Science and education

We are dedicated to programmes that promote scientific interest and provide educational opportunities for young people around the world.

Community and Environment

We are committed to building stronger communities and responding to natural disasters sustainably.

Arts and Culture

We support groundbreaking contemporary art, cultural projects and activities that explore the parallels between innovation in art and in science. 

Since its inception, the Foundation, which is still led by Lester T. Sunderland's descendants, has focused on supporting construction projects, awarding grants to nonprofits in the Kansas City region and other markets traditionally served by the Ash Grove Cement Company. 

 The Foundation prefers to make grants for construction and special interest projects rather than for annual operating expenses. 

Grants for planning, design, construction, renovation, repairs and restoration of facilities are considered. Areas of interest include higher education, youth serving agencies, health facilities, community buildings, museums, civic projects and energy efficient affordable housing projects sponsored by qualified tax-exempt organizations. 

Funding Areas

In recent grant cycles, the Board of Trustees has awarded the majority of grants in four broadly defined areas:

Higher Education

In 2022, the Foundation awarded $49 million to more than 35 educational organizations. Grantees included community colleges, private colleges, and public universities.

Human Services

The Foundation awarded $30 million to human service nonprofits in 2022, and many grants in this area went to groups that provide essential services to youth and families. Grantees included a range of youth-focused groups, including Reconciliation Services, the Nebraska Youth Justice Initiative in Omaha, Nebraska and the Sno-Valley Senior Center in Carnation, Washington. 

Arts and Culture

Arts and culture projects received $23 million in 2022, including grants to the Springfield Art Museum in Springfield, Missouri, the Omaha Zoo and the Seattle Aquarium in Seattle, Washington. Health Care and Hospitals.

Health Care and Hospitals

This is a growing area of need in many communities the Foundation serves. In 2022, $65 million was awarded to hospitals and health-care groups to build and improve their facilities.

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.

What does this program do?

This program provides funding for clean and reliable drinking water systems, sanitary sewage disposal, sanitary solid waste disposal, and storm water drainage to households and businesses in eligible rural areas.

How may the funds be used?

Funds may be used to finance the acquisition, construction or improvement of:

• Drinking water sourcing, treatment, storage and distribution
• Sewer collection, transmission, treatment and disposal
• Solid waste collection, disposal and closure
• Storm water collection, transmission and disposal

In some cases, funding may also be available for related activities such as:

• Legal and engineering fees
• Land acquisition, water and land rights, permits and equipment
• Start-up operations and maintenance
• Interest incurred during construction
• Purchase of facilities to improve service or prevent loss of service
• Other costs determined to be necessary for completion of the project
• See 7 CFR Part 1780.7 and 1780.9 for a complete list

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.

Gupta Family Foundation is a private, nonprofit foundation headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, USA. Our mission is to support organizations that provide focused intervention in the lives of people who have been disadvantaged in some way to help them become self-reliant. We take a very broad view of “disadvantage” to include anything that holds a person back from realizing their potential, such as poverty, physical or mental disability, social alienation, etc. The foundation also supports relief agencies that serve people affected by emergencies such as natural disasters.

The foundation evaluates and awards annual and multi-year grants ranging from $5,000 to over $250,000 (USD). Our focus is on funding smaller organizations all around the world that are led by individuals with a deep personal commitment to their missions. 

Our selection criteria include:

• Mission alignment
• The organization is run by the founder or, if not, by a successor who embodies the original inspiration, passion and commitment of the founder.
• At least 90% of grant monies reaches the intended beneficiaries.
• The organization is non-sectarian, i.e.,
  • It does not, directly or indirectly, support or condone the proselytization of any religion,
  • It is not supported by or affiliated to a religious organization.

Social Justice Fund NW

Social Justice Fund NW is a foundation working at the frontlines of social change. We leverage the resources of our members to foster significant, long-term social justice solutions throughout  Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.

Emerging Justice Fund

In an effort to continue responding to the needs of our community, organizers, and activists SJF is so excited to launch our new grant cycle, the Emerging Justice Fund!

Emerging |  /əˈmərjənt/ | adjective – becoming apparent or prominent

The Emerging Justice Fund will move unrestricted funds to resource grassroots organizing for communities that have been and continue to be targeted by Federal, State and Local policies. Aligned with SJF’s intention to continue to move resources to groups that are most under represented in traditional grantmaking, the Emerging Justice Fund will resource organizations that are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color-led.

Funding

1-year grant of $10,000.

WESTAF’s TourWest Grant provides flexible funding for presenters/presenting organizations within the WESTAF region to support their regional touring program. WESTAF also encourages the inclusion of community/educational outreach as part of an organization’s presentation of touring artists. 

TourWest is a competitive grant program funded by the National Endowment for the Arts to provide subsidies to arts and community organizations in the 13-state WESTAF region and jurisdictions, including Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa for the presentation of touring performers and literary artists. 

Through TourWest, WESTAF and the National Endowment for the Arts aim to encourage the presentation of performing arts programming to culturally diverse audiences and those that do not typically enjoy ready access to the performing arts. In order to understand local needs and interests, WESTAF advocates working directly with individuals and groups from the communities that your organization seeks to serve. Community engagement and participation are key components of a successful TourWest grant application. 

WESTAF defines regional touring as programming that presents out-of-state touring artists and/or in-state touring artists traveling at least 50 miles to your venue. Presenters/presenting organizations are defined as organizations that present or host guest artists for engagements in their communities. Presenters can include but are not limited to community cultural organizations, community centers, churches, schools/colleges/universities, libraries, museums, film festivals/series, and performing arts centers. Typically, producing organizations or performing arts groups are not considered presenters, and are encouraged to contact WESTAF to discuss eligibility.

TourWest seeks to support the engagement of new audiences as well as collaboration between the presenters, artists, agents, and communities. In addition to working collaboratively with the artist(s) and/or community partners in planning the project, WESTAF encourages presenters to take advantage of opportunities such as block booking, presenter networks, and booking conferences to reduce costs and make artistic opportunities available to a broader audience. Partnerships and collaborative efforts between presenters are considered in the panel’s evaluation of an application and project.

Program Overview

Creative West’s TourWest grant program, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, provides funding to presenters and presenting organizations to bring touring performers and literary artists to communities throughout the Western region.

Regional touring is defined as:

Programming that brings out-of-state touring artists to your venue, or In-state artists traveling at least 50 miles from their home base TourWest focuses on expanding access to the performing arts, especially in underserved communities.

To support this goal:

• Creative West encourages working closely with local individuals and groups to understand and meet community needs.
• Applicants are urged to include community engagement or educational outreach activities in their projects.
• Collaboration with artists, agents, and community partners is highly encouraged, along with strategies like block booking and using presenter networks to reduce costs and maximize impact.

Our Current Priorities

For those requesting support for youth programs, the Foundation will continue to focus on rural BIPOC organizations and allowing organizations to use awarded funds for general operating support.

Recognizing the critical role of BIPOC organizations, the Charlotte Martin Foundation continues to make it a priority to partner with organizations doing progressive work specifically in the areas of youth education and climate change, with a special emphasis on serving communities of color. Three years ago, we created a fellowship designed around researching BIPOC led organizations within our 5-state region that align with our priorities. We recognize that private funding is inequitably given to white-led organizations and we want to show our commitment to redistributing resources to non-dominant, BIPOC organizations.

Increasing Opportunities for BIPOC:

Increasing racial equity and diversity for youth ages 6-18.

BIPOC led nonprofit organizations with diverse leadership and staff are the focus of our grant-making. Organizations based in rural communities are also a priority for our foundation.

Programs that create opportunities in areas of education, cultural expression and athletics. Including but not limited to:

• Increase access to and the creation of diverse cultural experiences.
• Improve school-based and out-of-school learning opportunities in areas such as science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) and other areas.
• Increase early college awareness and access to post-secondary education.
• Increase access to sports and diversify sports programs.

Guidelines for Youth Programs

Our program funding for youth ages 6-18 falls into three areas: Athletics, Culture and Education. Grants for youth programs must fall within one of these three program areas.

Youth Athletics

Athletics include a wide range of individual and team sports, with an emphasis on the value of sports for lifelong participation. School-sponsored intramural and after school sports programs have been greatly reduced, and middle-school aged youth have been most affected. After school athletics can be the incentive that gets kids involved in programs that also have educational and cultural components. Demand is increasing for athletics programs and facilities in rural areas and inner cities. More girls are getting involved in sports, requiring additional programs and space. Coaches are key to a positive experience for young people, and good coaching requires training.

Youth Culture

Culture includes art, music, dance, literature, theater, ethnic and regional heritage. Positive experiences in culture are essential in educating the whole person and should be an integral part of the lives of youth. Young people can use cultural experiences as creative resources to build self-esteem, promote personal growth, and preserve traditions. Arts and culture programs in the schools are being reduced or eliminated, and many communities, both urban and rural, have limited access to cultural resources.

Youth Education

All young people should have the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Education, in and out of school, happens best when youth direct their learning and engage in compelling problem-solving and critical thinking. Educators need support to play a vital role in assisting youth to investigate their passions and explore new interests. Rural schools often have less access to resources and curricula than urban schools. Both public and private schools need support.

Grant Opportunities

Communities need nonprofits to thrive

We believe in transformational ideas that help individuals, families and communities flourish—and since 1975, the Murdock Trust has invested more than $1.4 billion into nonprofit organizations that share our commitment to thinking bigger, challenging problems and making a true difference.

Strategic Project Grants

Capacity-building awards for mission-focused projects and infrastructure investment

Capital Grants

Is capital growth or expansion important to your nonprofit’s vision for long-term growth and success? The Murdock Trust regularly makes grants that support construction, renovation, land purchase and other capital projects. In most cases, we prefer to receive requests for these types of projects once your organization has raised a portion of the needed funds.

Grant Opportunities

Communities need nonprofits to thrive

We believe in transformational ideas that help individuals, families and communities flourish—and since 1975, the Murdock Trust has invested more than $1.4 billion into nonprofit organizations that share our commitment to thinking bigger, challenging problems and making a true difference.

Strategic Project Grants

Capacity-building awards for mission-focused projects and infrastructure investment

Equipment & Technology Grants

Best practices suggest that a healthy equipment and supporting technology infrastructure is essential. Please note that with these grants, recipient organizations are responsible for 50% or greater of the purchase cost.

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?

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation Vision

The Dudley T. Dougherty Foundation, "A Foundation for All", was established in 2002. It was begun in order to give a clear voice for those who wish to be a part of the many, worthy, forces for change in our world.

We are a foundation whose purpose is to look ahead towards the future, giving the past its due by remembering where we came from, and how much we can all accomplish together. We aim to make the critical difference on our planet by recognizing and having respect for our ever changing world. We respect all Life, the Environment, and all People, no matter who they are.

The Lawrence Foundation is a private family foundation focused on making grants to support environmental, human services and other causes.

The Lawrence Foundation was established in mid-2000. We make both program and operating grants and do not have any geographical restrictions on our grants. Nonprofit organizations that qualify for public charity status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or other similar organizations are eligible for grants from The Lawrence Foundation.  

Grant Amount and Types

Grants typically range between $5,000 - $10,000. In some limited cases we may make larger grants, but that is typically after we have gotten to know your organization over a period of time. We also generally don’t make multi-year grants, although we may fund the same organization on a year by year basis over a period of years.

General operating or program/project grant requests within our areas of interests are accepted. In general, regardless of whether a grant request is for general operating or program/project expenses, all of our grants will be issued as unrestricted grants.

Community Grants

Community Grants provide support for community projects or general operating costs. Proposed projects should be for the benefit of Park County residents. 

Funding will be prioritized for community issues identified in the We Will visioning process.

The Community Emergency Response Fund is available to provide flexible resources for nonprofits facing an unexpected emergency. These grants will fund repairs that must be addressed immediately in order to keep a local nonprofit operating

What kinds of projects are appropriate for an emergency grant request?

• Unforeseen situations that must be addressed immediately or the nonprofit will be unable to continue program delivery
• Support for nonprofit programs mobilized to address an emergency in one, or many Flathead Valley communities

There is no maximum request for a Community Emergency Response Fund grant. Whitefish CommunityFoundation will determine funding based on the grant request and the scale of the emergency

Each year, with proceeds from the Red Ants Pants Music Festival, the Red Ants Pants Foundation awards grants to organizations and individuals whose projects further our mission. Our granting is focused on projects that align with our mission pillar of enriching and promoting rural communities. Now having completed our eleventh grant cycle, the Red Ants Pants Foundation has granted over $190,000 to well over 100 entities across nearly every corner of Montana.

​Eligible individuals or organizations must have a mission and values in alignment with the Foundation and demonstrate that the grant award will be used in a way that furthers the mission and values of the Red Ants Pants Foundation.

The Mission of the Red Ants Pants Foundation:

• To develop and expand leadership roles for women.
• To preserve and support working family farms and ranches.
• To enrich and promote rural communities.

The Values of the Red Ants Pants Foundation:

• To recognize and cultivate a strong work ethic.
• To encourage and build self-reliance, especially for women.
• To educate the public on the importance of maintaining traditional work skills.
• To provide opportunities for people with different perspectives to connect, build bridges, and discover common ground.

Priority Area - Enrich and promote rural communities

We believe in the value of rural communities, because in small towns, we need each other, and we maintain the personal connection.

Proposed projects should:

• Primarily serve rural areas in the state of Montana 
• Demonstrate community support via financial or in-kind donations, matches, volunteers, partnerships etc
• Be spearheaded by competent individuals and/or organizations that demonstrate strong leadership capacity and the ability to leverage resources
• Demonstrate an impact on the quality of life through tangible effects on the local community

Examples include but are not limited to:

• Community educational resources such as libraries, museums
• Community gatherings or events
• Public gathering spaces - bring back the dance halls!
• Community cultural education sessions, gatherings, or organizations 
• Training for local leaders 
• Agricultural or civic organizations with programs or resources that support rural areas
• Other projects that are important in your community

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.

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.