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Humanities Montana at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Humanities Montana

Humanities Montana serves communities through stories and conversation.

$69k
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$9k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$799kEducation$196kRecreation & Sports$61kHuman Services$47kEnvironment$27kYouth Development$26kCommunity Improvement$24kScience & Tech$20kOther$0
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 4 grants below total $29,658, the rows itemized in this filing. The $69,012 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $39,354 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$7,840
Median grant
1
States reached
$687k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
River Arts & Books Corporatio$8,800
Montana History Foundation$7,840
University of Montana$6,561
University of Montana Western$6,457
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY21–21, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 23%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%CENTER POLE: $10k → 23%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$709k · 22 repeat orgs$579k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +51% since the first grant, against +18% for those funded once.

22 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 20 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

22
59

Total granted

$709k
$570k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+51%
+18%

Still filing today

73%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 70% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $9k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementRecreation & SportsEnvironmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • CL
    CROW LANGUAGE CONSORTIUM INC
    3× · 2020–2022 · $68k · revenue +104%
  • BS
    BIG SKY FILM INSTITUTE
    3× · 2017–2021 · $46k · revenue +92%
  • MW
    MISSOULA WRITING COLLABORATIVE
    3× · 2018–2021 · $40k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • LW
    LEARNING WITH MEANING INC
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue -71%
  • CC
    CARTER COUNTY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETYgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +439%
  • CD
    CHIEF DULL KNIFE COLLEGEgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $18k · revenue +66%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
The Michael Murphey Western Institute in
Arts & Culture
2
Boundary County Historical Society Inc

Museum

Arts & Culture
3
Treasure County 89 Ers Inc

Preserving small town, local, historical assets - museum

—
4
Cascadia Art Museum

Cascadia Art Museum is an educational nonprofit 501(c)3 organization celebrating the rich tradition of the visual arts in the Northwest region, as shaped by the Cascade Mountains. The museum provides enriching experiences for community and…

Human Services
5
Museum of the Plains

The purposeof the museum of the plains is to preserve significant objects of the past. the museum fo the plains is an encyclopedic history museum established to bring about a better understanding and appreciation by the community and…

Arts & Culture
6
Montana Center for the Arts

Montana center for the arts purpose is to nurture, promote and expand cultural engagement and opportunity in our region. through collaboration with the community at large, and in partnership with the area's diverse cultural and educational…

Arts & Culture
7
The Shoshone Museum Association

To preserve, interpret, and display local and natural history for education purposes.

—
8
Scenic Montana Trails
—
9
Chelan County Historical Society

Developed by, for, and in conjunction with the community, the cashmere museum and pioneer village seeks to engage, educate, and entertain visitors both local and international. hundreds of volunteers have worked thousands of hours to make…

Arts & Culture
10
Wind River Valley Artist Guild
—
11
National Pronghorn Interpretive and Visitors Center

Educating the public about the biology, habitat and welfare of the Pronghorn.

Arts & Culture
12
Blaine County Wildlife Museum Foundation

To establish and operate the blaine county wildlife museum with the intent to provide quality wildlife museum exhibiting montana wildlife in their natural habitats, complete with audio and visual enhancement.

Arts & Culture
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Montana History Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Aasaisst to Language Society. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

64 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 64 of the 82 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
22
Early backer (in before they grew)
60/64
Grantees still filing
46/64
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CROW LANGUAGE CONSORTIUM INC: $68,000 · Arts & CultureCROW LANGUAGE CONSORTIUM INCMISSOULA CULTURAL COUNCIL dba ARTS MISSOULA: $58,000 · Arts & CultureMISSOULA CULTURAL COUNCIL dba ARTS MISSOULABIG SKY FILM INSTITUTE: $45,500 · Arts & CultureBIG SKY FILM INSTITUTEMISSOULA WRITING COLLABORATIVE: $40,275 · Arts & CultureMISSOULA WRITING COLLABORATIVEMONTANA HISTORY FOUNDATION: $37,060 · Arts & CultureMONTANA HISTORY FOUNDATIONEXTREME HISTORY PROJECT: $37,000 · Arts & CultureEXTREME HISTORY PROJECTMISSOULA ART MUSEUM: $26,352 · Arts & CultureFrom The Heart Productions: $25,000 · Arts & CultureELK RIVER ARTS & LECTURES: $23,500 · Arts & Culture+24 more: $252,021 · Arts & Culture+24 moreTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA: $99,262 · OtherTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANAMSU BILLINGS: $51,619 · OtherMSU BILLINGSALPINE ARTISANS INC: $22,000 · OtherLEARNING WITH MEANING INC: $20,000 · OtherCARTER COUNTY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $19,620 · OtherCITY OF BILLINGS: $19,000 · Other+33 more: $323,519 · Other+33 moreTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: $24,500 · EducationFLATHEAD LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $10,000 · EducationEXPRESS TO SPEAK INC: $8,250 · EducationMERLIN MEDIATION COUNSELING & CONSULTING INC: $23,500 · Human ServicesCenter Pole: $10,000 · Human ServicesBUTTE AMERICA FOUNDATION: $10,000 · Community ImprovementNORTH-MISSOULA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $6,000 · Community ImprovementWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF MONTANA: $14,500 · InternationalMONTANA STATE PARKS FOUNDATION: $7,000 · Recreation & SportsMINT FILM MT: $6,000 · Recreation & Sports
Arts & Culture$612,708Other$555,020Education$42,750Human Services$33,500Community Improvement$16,000International$14,500Recreation & Sports$13,000

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCROW LANGUAGE CONSORTIUM INC: $68,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetMISSOULA CULTURAL COUNCIL dba ARTS MISSOULA: $58,000 over 5y, 5.4% of budgetBIG SKY FILM INSTITUTE: $45,500 over 3y, 7.3% of budgetMISSOULA WRITING COLLABORATIVE: $40,275 over 3y, 7.7% of budgetMONTANA HISTORY FOUNDATION: $37,060 over 4y, 1.0% of budgetEXTREME HISTORY PROJECT: $37,000 over 3y, 16% of budgetMISSOULA ART MUSEUM: $26,352 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetFrom The Heart Productions: $25,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: $24,500 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetMERLIN MEDIATION COUNSELING & CONSULTING INC: $23,500 over 3y, 17% of budgetELK RIVER ARTS & LECTURES: $23,500 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetALPINE ARTISANS INC: $22,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetLEARNING WITH MEANING INC: $20,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetCARTER COUNTY GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY: $19,620 over 1y, 24% of budgetFRIENDS OF THE YELLOWSTONE GATEWAY MUSEUM OF PARK COUNTY INC: $19,000 over 2y, 16% of budgetCHIEF DULL KNIFE COLLEGE: $18,300 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetYELLOWSTONE ART MUSEUM: $17,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetBITTER ROOT VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $17,000 over 2y, 3.5% of budgetA VOICE ART VISION & OUTREACH IN COMMUNITY EDUCATION: $15,750 over 2y, 25% of budgetWORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL OF MONTANA: $14,500 over 1y, 6.5% of budgetMONTANA ART GALLERY DIRECTORS ASSOC: $11,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetSCHOOLHOUSE HISTORY AND ART CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 9.9% of budgetWISE WONDERS CHILDRENS MUSEUM INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetLEWISTOWN ART CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 7.1% of budgetInternational Traditional Games Soc: $10,000 over 1y, 9.0% of budgetCASCADE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetMAPS MEDIA INSTITUTE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.7% of budgetAASAISST TO LANGUAGE SOCIETY: $10,000 over 1y, 17% of budgetNORTHWEST MONTANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC: $10,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetFLATHEAD LIBRARY FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetHuntley Project Museum: $10,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetARTEMIS WILDLIFE FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 2y, 4.6% of budgetStillwater Historical Society: $10,000 over 1y, 5.1% of budgetUSS MONTANA COMMITTEE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetThe Paradise Center: $10,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetBOZEMAN ART MUSEUM: $10,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetINTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION PHOTOGRAPHERS: $10,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetCenter Pole: $10,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMAHCHIWMINAHNAHTIK CHIPPEWA AND CREE LANGUAGE REVITALIZATION: $10,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetINDEPENDENT FEATURE PROJECT INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetBoys and Girls Club of Lodge Grass: $10,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetRANGE RIDERS INC: $10,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetMONDAK HERITAGE CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 3.5% of budgetMontana Jewish Project: $10,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetLEWIS & CLARK FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetFRIENDS OF MONTANA PBS INC: $9,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMONTANA PRESERVATION ALLIANCE INC: $8,500 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetEXPRESS TO SPEAK INC: $8,250 over 1y, 30% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Dennis & Phyllis Wash…Montana History Found…First Interstate Banc…Montana Community Fou…Treacy FoundationThe Greater Montana F…The High Stakes Found…Town Pump Charitable …The Steele-Reese Foun…Potlatch FundM J Murdock Charitabl…First Nations Develop…
Dennis & Phyllis Washington FoundationMT52.3× affinity25 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Dennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation · Montana History Foundation · First Interstate BancSystem Foundation Inc · Montana Community Foundation Inc · Treacy Foundation · The Greater Montana Foundation · The High Stakes Foundation · Town Pump Charitable Foundation · The Steele-Reese Foundation Xxxxx1004 · Potlatch Fund · M J Murdock Charitable Trust · First Nations Development Institute

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Humanities Montana funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Humanities Montana. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    13report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 82 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Humanities Montana’s filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home