Letter from Kelly, MCF Board Chair
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Find your gifts and give them away.
Thank you for being part of the Montana Community Foundation’s (MCF) collective efforts to support Montana communities. 2021 was another challenging year but being part of the MCF family has allowed me to see first-hand just how caring and generous people can be when it comes to helping their Montana neighbors.
In 2021, through the incredible generosity of our state, we were able to award more than $4 million in grants, $400,000 in scholarships, and surpassed $150 million in assets to benefit Montana and beyond.
As we move into 2022, please join me in identifying your gifts and how they can support your community. I recently retired after 30 years of leading a corporate foundation. While I gained many skills from that experience, I am finding that I have many more to offer my community such as gardening, cooking, driving someone to an appointment, shopping for someone (I am really good at this one!), serving on nonprofit boards, and volunteering my time. The opportunities to support our communities are as endless as the skills we have to offer.
I’m sure many have heard of a “barn raising” – a collective action of neighbors coming together to literally raise a barn. I think about this a lot and how important it was in the history of building community in Montana. Community members came with their tools and skills, they shared meals, they networked, they discussed their community needs, they built trusted relationships with their neighbors, and they enjoyed learning from one another. You might say that the barn that was built was just an added benefit to what the community gained.
So, for 2022, find your gifts and give them away to raise up your community.
Yours in gratitude,
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Kelly Bruggeman
Board Chair
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3 Things You Should Know about MCF’s New Board Members |
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Shane Doyle
- An enrolled member of the Crow Tribe and is from Crow Agency, Montana
- Has a master’s degree in Native American Studies at Montana State University and is currently working on a Ph.D. in education
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He is a founding member of Native Nexus, an educational consulting company that helps with implementing Indian Education
Andrea “Angie” Main
- An enrolled member of the Fort Belknap Gros Ventre Tribe
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Executive Director for NACDC Financial Services, Inc., a Certified Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) in Browning
- Professional background includes over 30 years of experience in administration, contracts & grants management, fundraising, business and financial literacy education, training and technical assistance for small businesses, and community development in Tribal communities
Sheila Rice
Leonard Smith
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Founder and current Executive Director of Native American Development Corporation (NADC), a nonprofit Community Development Corporation and Native American Manufacturer’s Network
- Assiniboine & Sioux tribal member of the Fort Peck Tribes
- US Army Veteran
Kenneth “Kenny” Smoker, Jr
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Director of the Fort Peck Tribes’ Health Promotion Disease Prevention (HPDP) Program since its inception in 2003
- Served for 10 years on the Fort Peck Tribes Council and was the Fort Peck Tribes Indian Health Services (I) chief executive officer for 14 years
- He has an MBA and is a Health Programs Specialist
Dale Woolhiser
- Has worked in the Financial Services industry since 1976
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Previously served on MCF’s board from 2009-2019 and has been involved in Montana’s growing community foundation field since 2000, when he served as the first President of the newly-minted Missoula Community Foundation
- Was born in Jordan, Montana, and grew up in Ekalaka and Miles City
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Montana lost a true treasure with the passing of John Talbot on December 9, 2021. John is remembered for his commitment to community, quality journalism, and so much more. John and his wife, Sue, have been strong supporters of MCF and the community foundation movement. They’ve made several contributions in support of MCF and have partnered with us for many planned gifts.
John was also a former publisher of the Missoulian and a founder of Missoula's International Choral Festival. John and Sue played a major role in fundraising for UM's Don Anderson Hall, which provided a new home for the journalism school after it was dedicated in May 2007. They also have been faithful supporters of the UM College of Visual and Performing Arts, as well as the arts in Montana generally.
As an early board member and president of the Five Valleys Land Trust, John helped start the campaign to protect public lands on Mount Jumbo and Mount Sentinel. He also volunteered as a writing coach at Hellgate High School and assisted at the dental clinic at Partnership Health Center.
Read more about the life of John Talbot here.
To offer your sympathy during this difficult time, you can make a gift in Honor of John to the Five Valleys Land Trust.
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2022-23 Scholarship Applications are Now Open |
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Scholarships are now available for the 2022-2023 school year. This year, MCF will award more than $450,000 in scholarships to benefit Montana students.
Scholarship awards generally range between $500 and $20,000, some of which are renewable for multiple years. Qualifications vary widely, resulting in scholarship eligibility for a diverse range of students. Both traditional and nontraditional Montana students are encouraged to apply. See a list of available scholarships here.
Students can apply online using MCF’s application platform until March 18 at midnight for most scholarships.
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Dearborn Ranch Scholarship Fund Doubles College Scholarships for Montana Highway Patrol and Montana Game Warden Families
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MCF is pleased to announce that the Dearborn Ranch Scholarship Fund has doubled the number of students who are eligible to receive a scholarship from the fund. In addition, the annual scholarship amount each student will double from $5,000 to $10,000 per year.
With this additional funding, each year ten graduating high school seniors with a parent who is an active uniformed Montana Highway Patrol Officer and ten graduating high school seniors with a parent who is an active uniformed Montana Game Warden are now eligible to receive a scholarship. That’s twenty students EACH receiving $10,000 a year for up to four years. WOW!
Students can apply for the Dearborn Ranch Scholarship for the upcoming 2022-2023 academic year online at mtcf.org/scholarships.
The Dearborn Ranch Scholarship Fund was established at MCF in 2002 by The Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation. Now in its 20th year, the Dearborn Ranch Scholarship Fund has awarded nearly $2 million in scholarships to almost 100 Montana high school students who have used the scholarship to pay for their undergraduate education at Montana universities, including Montana State University, University of Montana, and Montana Tech. Read more about the Dearborn Ranch Scholarship here.
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The annual endowment payout process is well underway as the MCF team gets ready to distribute millions of dollars to Montana organizations in the first part of March. Below are answers to commonly asked questions about annual endowment distributions.
What are annual endowment distributions?
Annual endowment distributions are paid out each spring from qualifying endowment funds at Montana Community Foundation (MCF) to benefiting beneficiaries.
When can benefiting organizations expect to see funds in their account?
We plan to make ACH (electronic) payments on Monday, March 1, 2022. While payments will be initiated electronically on Monday, benefiting organizations will see these distributions in their bank account by the end of the week, depending on how quickly their bank processes the deposit.
Who receives information about my organization’s distribution(s)?
After the electronic payment is sent, a letter is mailed to the designated fund representative with the amount of the distribution(s), the fund(s) making the distribution, and the mailing address for the donor, unless it is an anonymous donor, in which case, you can send a thank you directly to MCF and we will pass it along for you. Need to update your fund representative information? Contact Cathy.
By the end of March, MCF sends a communication to the donors who established designated endowments that benefit specific organizations. We inform the donors how much was distributed to the benefiting organization through the endowment payout process.
Distributions are made via ACH payments to your organization’s bank account. If your bank account information has changed since March 1, 2021, please complete the Direct Deposit Form and return it by mail by February 4, 2022. If your bank was sold/merged with another bank, we need a new ACH form, even if you didn’t change your accounts. If nothing has changed or if you recently sent in a new ACH form, you don’t need to do anything.
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Grant Cycle for William B. Pratt Endowment Fund is Now Open |
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The annual grant cycle for grants from the William B. Pratt Endowment Fund to benefit Indigenous Montanans, Folk, Traditional, and Media Arts is now open. Grants will range in size from $500 to $2,000 and must be matched dollar-for-dollar. Grant applications will be accepted from January 14 to March 31, 2022. Apply for grants here. You can also find the full list of guidelines here.
The William B. Pratt Endowment Fund is a legacy gift to the people of Montana to help them tell and share stories – especially the untold ones – about Montana’s arts, culture, and history and to learn about the traditional art forms and cultures of this unique state. Learn more about the fund here.
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Partner Highlight: Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC)
By Katy Spence, MEIC Communications & Engagement Director She/Her
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The Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) is known throughout Montana and the West as a strong advocate for a constitutionally protected “clean and healthful environment.” Founded in 1973, MEIC works across the state of Montana advocating to protect the air, water, land, and a life-sustaining climate.
MEIC was founded by Montanans concerned with protecting and restoring Montana’s natural environment. Thousands of Montanans support MEIC as members, whether through donations, expertise, or activism. When people have a question or issue about a natural resources project near their home, they can come to MEIC for advice.
For nearly 50 years, MEIC has racked up accomplishments and policy victories that will affect the Montana environment for generations to come. Read more about MEIC here.
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Hello, Montana with Heather Ohs |
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Heather Ohs, Philanthropy Officer, sits down with Jody Grant, Programming & Marketing Director of the Alberta Bair Theater in Billings.
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