Skip to content

Montana · Nonprofit

THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION

THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION (Montana) receives grants from 245 organizations whose IRS filings report $75,494,136 to it, the largest being DENNIS & PHYLLIS WASHINGTON FOUNDATION ($21,128,455). 140 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$59M
Funders on record
245
Grants received
$75M
Net assets
$403M
140/245 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 22%
01What it does

What The University of Montana Foundation does

Mission

The University of Montana Foundation inspires philanthropic support to enhance excellence and opportunity at the university of montana.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. To provide academic and institutional support for the university of montana's programs and projects.

    $20,509,217 spentof which $20,504,771 as grants$411,246 earned by the program
    48% of program spending
  2. To provide support for the university of montana's capital projects.

    $14,163,964 spentof which $14,163,964 as grants
    33% of program spending
  3. To provide scholarships and awards to university of montana students.

    $8,318,698 spentof which $8,318,698 as grants
    19% of program spending
  4. Every successful foundation relies on a strong framework to ensure donated funds are responsibly managed, programs run smoothly, and the mission remains sustainable for years to come. The um contract and administration fees deliver this critical support and plays a strategic role in advancing our mission.

    $0 spent$1,641,802 earned by the program
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $42,991,879.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($77M) Expenses 100 ($28M) Net assets 100 ($264M)2018 Revenue 54 ($42M) Expenses 172 ($48M) Net assets 99 ($261M)2019 Revenue 52 ($40M) Expenses 148 ($42M) Net assets 99 ($262M)2020 Revenue 57 ($44M) Expenses 100 ($28M) Net assets 100 ($263M)2021 Revenue 95 ($73M) Expenses 86 ($24M) Net assets 123 ($325M)2022 Revenue 74 ($57M) Expenses 120 ($34M) Net assets 121 ($318M)2023 Revenue 44 ($33M) Expenses 125 ($35M) Net assets 126 ($333M)2024 Revenue 77 ($59M) Expenses 138 ($39M) Net assets 141 ($373M)2025 Revenue 76 ($59M) Expenses 193 ($54M) Net assets 153 ($403M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (76)Expenses (193)Net assets (153)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $300M to $368M (+23%).

$306M
$302M
$301M
$300M
$368M
$356M
$378M
$425M
$459M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

75% of THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,254 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$49M
’17
−$6.8M
’18
−$1.6M
’19
$16M
’20
$49M
’21
$23M
’22
−$1.7M
’23
$20M
’24
$4.5M
’25
1.5
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

Chief executive

Williams Cynthia

President & CEO

Board chair

Barlow Diane

Board chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed423942444240393839
Joined·+10+21+10+7+2+4+4+3
No longer listed·1318894552
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 46 funders to 103 funders, grant income rose $5.6M → $7.3M.

47 of 245 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

Left out of every figure on this page: $10k from one payer (the payer's own filing calls it a related party, largest Johnson Family Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION raised.

From the IRS filings of THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 245 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left

39% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION.

28%
largest funder
50%
top three
~9
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 59% · 2018 59% · 2019 24% · 2020 18% · 2021 44% · 2022 15% · 2023 15% — diversifying over time.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

43% of THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

64% of THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Montana funders.

NH
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
NY
MA
OR
NV
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
NE
MO
MD
DE
AZ
KS
NC
DC
LA
GA
TX
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Montana out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $26M arriving through sponsors registered in 25 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.

Operating margin8% · above the median
Months of reserve1.5mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)−3% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025

Organizations like THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Montana

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

79% of spending goes to programs.

Program 79%Management 13%Fundraising 8%

Governance

25
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

76%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 40 states

AK
ME
NH
WA
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
FL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION?
THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION (Montana) receives grants from 245 organizations whose IRS filings report $75,494,136 to it, the largest being DENNIS & PHYLLIS WASHINGTON FOUNDATION ($21,128,455). 140 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 245 organizations giving $75,494,136 in grants to THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION, 140 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION?
DENNIS & PHYLLIS WASHINGTON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $21,128,455 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Montana. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 245 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing