Montana grants for Nonprofits

This funding opportunity provides financial support for organizations to deliver specialized services to victims of crime, ensuring their unique needs are met across diverse communities.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations and government units for projects that directly benefit the residents of Blaine County, Montana, addressing important community needs.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations and public entities that serve the residents of Park County, Montana, and Mammoth, Wyoming, to support community initiatives that align with local priorities and demonstrate clear benefits to the community.

Our grantees work to build on the entrepreneurial spirit, strong community ties, and untapped potential within Native nations, communities of color, rural communities, and other resilient communities who have fewer opportunities to thrive on their own terms. We envision strong, vibrant communities where people are connected to good jobs and have the financial capability to build their assets and provide a secure future for their families and communities. A Need to Close the Opportunity Gaps Our economic system doesn’t work for everyone. It widens income and opportunity gaps, restrains economic mobility, and traps people and communities in a cycle of poverty and injustice. A disproportionate number of Native Americans, people of color, refugees, immigrants, and rural Americans are living in crisis—or just a paycheck away from it. Nationally, six in 10 families of color don’t have the cash on hand to cover basic expenses—like rent, medical emergencies, or the need to fix a car—for three months.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is inviting proposals for its ConocoPhillips SPIRIT of Conservation program, which is specifically designed to advance bird species and habitat conservation. This program directly aligns with NFWF's mission to address the alarming loss of 3 billion birds since 1970. The foundation's strategic priority is to support projects that conserve, restore, or enhance critical habitats and to gather essential bird population data, ultimately aiming to reverse population declines. The primary beneficiaries of this program are bird populations, both migratory and non-migratory, particularly those inhabiting grassland, wetland, sage-steppe, and coastal habitats. The program's impact goals include improving habitat quality and quantity, enhancing breeding and wintering grounds, and supporting stopover periods for birds along major migratory routes. Expected outcomes include a measurable increase in bird populations, improved habitat conditions, and the collection of vital data to inform future conservation efforts. The program's priorities and focuses are centered on implementing science-driven and strategic conservation. This involves addressing habitat degradation, fragmentation, and loss. Geographic focal areas are critical, spanning major migratory routes from the northern slope of Alaska to the north-south axis of the central United States, including the Gulf Coast regions of Texas and Louisiana. The program emphasizes innovative methods for gathering lacking bird population data and conserving specific habitat types. Grant awards typically range from $100,000 to $275,000, with projects expected to be completed within two years. Eligible applicants include a broad range of non-profit organizations, government agencies (U.S. federal, state, local, municipal, tribal), and educational institutions. This inclusive eligibility criteria reflects NFWF's theory of change, which recognizes that collaborative efforts across various sectors are essential for achieving large-scale, sustainable conservation impacts for bird populations and their habitats.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks accepts applications twice annually from landowners, watershed groups, and other nonprofits for the Future Fisheries Improvement Program. This program aims to fund habitat projects that benefit Montana's wild fish, focusing on improving or maintaining fish passage, restoring or protecting natural stream channels, riparian areas, essential habitats for spawning, and enhancing stream flow. Applicants must demonstrate public benefits and alignment with specific goals to improve fishing and protect wild fish populations. Preference is given to projects restoring habitats for native fishes. Funding covers design/build, construction, and maintenance costs, excluding administration and other indirect costs. Grant renewed every year. Grant Annual Summer deadline: May 15th

This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations that assist migrant and seasonal farmworkers with employment services, training, and housing solutions.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation strives to better the human condition by supporting programs and services that give people the tools to enhance the quality of their lives and to benefit society as a whole. The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation funds direct service non-profit organizations to improve the quality of people’s lives by providing them with the tools they need to succeed. Since its inception in 1988, the Foundation has funded programs around Montana and in the areas in which the Washington Companies operate. 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: Education, Health and Human Services, Arts and Culture, and Community Service.

The Humanities Montana Film + Video grant program is a competitive initiative designed to foster the development, production, and distribution of documentary films and series. These projects must engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways, aligning with Humanities Montana's mission to deepen public understanding of significant humanities questions. The program supports projects grounded in humanities scholarship, requiring a thoughtful, balanced, and analytical approach to subjects, while also demonstrating the potential to attract a broad general audience. The primary beneficiaries of this program are media producers collaborating with scholars, as well as the general public who will consume the resulting film and video content. The impact goals are to enhance public understanding of humanities themes, foster analytical thinking, and engage communities and cultures represented in the project content. The program aims to support projects that not only present diverse perspectives but also involve humanities scholars in all aspects, from research and script development to production and post-production. The grant prioritizes projects that focus on clearly defined humanities themes, build on sound humanities scholarship, and actively engage the general public in learning through appealing and accessible formats. Funding is categorized into three stages: Stage One for research and script development (up to $8,000), Stage Two for production (up to $10,000), and Stage Three for post-production and public distribution (up to $10,000). Each stage has specific prerequisites and expected deliverables, ensuring a structured progression of projects. Expected outcomes include the creation of completed scripts or detailed treatments in Stage One, rough cuts of films or videos in Stage Two, and fully distributed projects with public programming, outreach, and evaluation plans in Stage Three. Humanities Montana's strategic priority is to support major projects that may require multiyear support and significant stages of research, development, and production. The theory of change is that by funding high-quality, humanities-focused documentary films, they can effectively reach and engage broad audiences, thereby deepening public understanding and appreciation of the humanities.

This funding opportunity provides financial support for the construction, maintenance, and improvement of trails and shared-use paths throughout Montana, benefiting local communities and outdoor enthusiasts.

This grant provides funding to agricultural professionals and organizations in the Western U.S. to implement educational and demonstration projects that promote the adoption of sustainable farming practices based on previous research findings.

The Otto Bremer Trust (OBT) is implementing new grantmaking approaches to effectively invest in people, places, and opportunities in Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The new model includes Strategic Grants and Community Responsive Fund grants. Strategic Grants are awarded directly by OBT to organizations with at least $500,000 in expenses from the previous year, aligning with OBT's objectives. Community Responsive Fund grants are managed by intermediary partners, focusing on organizations with less than $500,000 in expenses.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to tribal entities and organizations in Montana for projects that enhance community forests, promote climate resilience, and improve environmental quality.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions for initiatives that improve earthquake safety and awareness across multiple states or nationally.

This funding opportunity provides $5,000 in unrestricted support to emerging organizations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, or Wyoming that are focused on community organizing and align with social justice values.

This grant provides financial support to Indigenous communities in Montana for search efforts to locate missing loved ones, addressing the urgent crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

The Community Investment Program (CIP) was created by the Montana Community Foundation in partnership with Grid United to support communities in Rosebud, Custer, and Fallon County. These areas are affected by Grid United’s North Plains Connector, a significant transmission line project. CIP aims to fund innovative projects that enhance the quality of life and strengthen community ties in Eastern Montana. The program is dedicated to supporting broad-impact initiatives that address community issues, leverage other support, encourage community involvement, offer creative problem-solving, respond to changing needs, and promote economic and community development.

This funding opportunity provides financial support for state and local governments, tribal organizations, educational institutions, and nonprofits to implement wildfire risk reduction projects and community fire preparedness initiatives across various regions, excluding Nevada and Wyoming.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations that assist migrant and seasonal farmworkers, focusing on enhancing job training, education, employment services, housing stability, and youth development initiatives.

The Humanities Montana’s Community Project Grants support public humanities programming throughout Montana. This initiative aligns with the foundation's mission to strengthen community and culture by promoting civic engagement, sparking thoughtful community dialogue, and reflecting on the human experience across the state. These grants are designed to foster bold and innovative projects that are meaningful to local communities and inspire timely community conversations. The primary target beneficiaries are the general public across Montana, with a particular emphasis on engaging diverse communities and cultures. The impact goals include deepening public understanding of significant humanities questions, building on sound humanities scholarship, and fostering analytical approaches that present a variety of perspectives. The program aims to strengthen cultural understanding and civic participation through accessible and appealing formats. The program prioritizes projects focused on clearly defined humanities themes. Funding is available for a wide array of formats, including storytelling, historical analysis, public writing workshops, literacy programs, ethical inquiry, interpretation at historic sites, book festivals, exhibits, lectures, speaker series, panel discussions, teacher institutes & workshops, humanities program planning, reading & discussion programs, and various humanities events. All projects must involve humanities scholars (academic, professional, or subject-expert) in all aspects and require at least one confirmed subject-expert. Expected outcomes include increased public engagement with humanities topics, enhanced community dialogue, and a deeper reflection on the human experience. Measurable results will likely be demonstrated through the reach and participation in the programs, the quality of humanities scholarship integrated, and the active involvement of communities and cultures represented in project content. For projects involving Native American communities, letters of support from participating scholars, researchers, and/or program participants are required, outlining their involvement. The maximum award for these grants ranges from $2,000 to $10,000.