Letter from Cami, MCF Board Chair |
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Thank you for your commitment to Montana.
Sincerely,
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Upon the establishment of MCF, Montana was divided into seven geographical regions and MCF had up to 30 Regional Representatives from each area forming regional committees separate from the Board of Directors. By 1996, this had grown to nine regions with regional committees of up to 40 members. The nine regions worked together in four Regional Operating Networks. The Regional Committees assisted in all aspects of MCF and elected board members. Some were more active than others and none had any paid staff.
Today, 35 years later, our Board of Directors consists of 18 members with four officer seats, including Board Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer. In addition to the Board, MCF also has three advisory committees. The MCF Board of Directors represents many parts of Montana. We have representatives from all corners of the state and representatives from four of the seven reservations.
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Meet our New Board Members: Mack Clapp and Courtney Scott |
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Mack Clapp retired as a Chief Investment Officer from the Directors Guild of America in 2013. Located in Missoula, Mack has been an active member of philanthropy in Montana since 1996 when he served on the Audit Committee for the Eureka Bank Board of Directors. Mack has served on the Montana Community Foundation’s Investment Committee since 2018 and established the Investment Committee at the University of Montana Foundation where he served for 11 years. He also served on the investment committee and Board of Directors at Headwaters Health Foundation of Western Montana and the investment committee for the Sempra Energy Nuclear Decommission Trust. Mack has a Bacher of Arts degree in Business Administration and an Master of Science in Finance, both from the University of Montana. He believes, with his business and investment background, he can add value and perspective, and contribute to the future success at MCF.
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Courtney Scott is currently the Program Director at the Foundation for Community Vitality. Courtney also serves on the board of directors for the Foundation for Community Vitality and Scott Family Services and Family Council. Additionally, she serves as an Advisor for the Museum of the Rockies – American Indian Exhibition. Her work in philanthropy has included purposefully managing relational grantmaking, strategic collaboration, nimble distribution of funds, and site visits for the Foundation for Community Vitality Board and fellow funder groups. She also supported fast response efforts during the pandemic in Native communities and taught and moderated roundtables on creative funding solutions at Strengthening the Circle, a Native non-profit leadership program. Through her familial philanthropic work, she has developed a charter defining purpose and motivation for a non-governing board focused on multi-family foundational assistance.
Courtney has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sculpture and a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Biology from Pizter College in San Francisco. She also has a Master of Arts degree in Marine Biology with an emphasis on Science Education Research and Assessment from San Francisco State. She feels she has much to learn regarding board governance and more traditional philanthropy but comes to MCF eager to learn and contribute when and where she can.
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MCF Awards More than $450,000 to Support Mental Health Access and Awareness in Montana |
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MCF recently granted $29,000 from the Montana Mental Health Access Fund, which was established at MCF in 2021 to leverage technology and other resources to increase access to mental health services to every corner of Montana. Grants were awarded to the following organizations:
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$8,000 to Youth Dynamics to support the hiring of additional case managers and increase access to their services in Shelby and Wolf Point.
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$10,000 to Awareness Network to assist Lewis and Clark County Suicide Prevention Coalition in establishing a therapy component of the Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors of Lewis and Clark area (LOSS LCA) program, which provides support and resources to those who’ve lost a loved one to suicide and is the first program of its kind in Montana.
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$5,000 to Mountain Home Montana, Inc. to expand their maternal and child mental health outreach and therapeutic services within Missoula and surrounding rural and tribal communities through their Community Center.
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$6,000 to Florence Crittenton Home and Services to implement a peer support group called the "Indigenous Mother's Alliance” which is designed to increase social and cultural support for the Native American parents served by Florence Crittenton and is intended to promote the importance of culture while navigating life and its challenges as an Indigenous woman, mother, and community member.
Support from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation enabled MCF to provide additional support to statewide projects and initiatives that increase mental health access and build awareness of mental health needs in Montana.
This includes a $330,000 grant to support the Telehealth Crisis Initiative, a project of Frontier Psychiatry to create a statewide telehealth crisis response network covering all hospital emergency rooms in Montana.
MCF also awarded $100,000 to the Northern Ag Network in support of “Beyond the Weather”, an advertising campaign that launched in 2021 to break the stigma surrounding mental health in rural Montana and normalize discussions surrounding mental health conversations and accessing mental health services.
You can learn more about the Montana Mental Health Access Fund grantees here.
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Grants from the Montana Disaster Recovery Fund Support Flood Recovery in Local Communities |
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With floods, wildfires, and other natural disasters becoming more common in Montana, philanthropy plays an important role in ensuring that communities have the resources they need to prepare, respond, and recover from these adverse events. At MCF, we believe that by collaborating with local community foundations, which are intimately involved with the unmet needs in their communities, we can make the biggest impact.
As a result, when historic flooding in June 2022 impacted Southern Montana communities, including Red Lodge, Gardiner, Livingston, and Fromberg, we partnered with Montana communities to deploy resources from the Montana Disaster Recovery Fund (MDRF). Through this partnership, we granted $105,000 to four local community foundations for the following recovery projects:
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Red Lodge Area Community Foundation (RLACF) - $25,000 to convene public forums with disaster response partners to identify obstacles and barriers to disaster recovery, along with opportunities to build resilience to future disasters.
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Absarokee Community Foundation (ACF) - $25,000 to support the Stillwater Valley Watershed Council (SVWC) in establishing a River Assessment Triage Team (RATT) to provide recommendations for restoration/remediation efforts; these recommendations will be used to seek funding to make the watershed more resilient to future disasters.
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Nye Community Foundation (NCF) - $25,000 for immediate assistance, essential items, or lost income for residents and/or cleanup efforts (including a RATT).
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Park County Community Foundation (PCCF) - $15,000 for administrative costs for PCCF related to the Southwest Montana Flood Relief Fund. PCCF waived an administrative fee, so they have been supporting flood recovery through the organization's financial reserves and increased employee capacity.
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Beartooth RC&D - $15,000 to meet unmet needs in rural areas in their region, which encompasses Big Horn, Carbon, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, and Yellowstone Co. This will be done through $1,000 sub-grants to rural organizations in need of assistance
We want to extend a special thank you to The Funders Network for Smart and Livable Communities, Montana Bankers Association, and the many generous donors who gave to MCF's Montana Disaster Recovery Fund to support Montanans and their communities affected by the flooding.
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2023-24 Scholarship Applications are Now Open |
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Scholarships are now available for the 2023-2024 school year. Last year, MCF awarded more than $800,000 in scholarships to benefit Montana students.
Scholarship awards generally range between $500 and $40,000, 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 17 at midnight for most scholarships.
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Montana Mental Health Access Fund for Indigenous Communities |
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The Montana Mental Health Access Fund was created to help increase access to mental health services across Montana, with a particular focus on tribal communities. The fund supports innovative ideas for improving mental health and well-being on Reservations in Montana, including leveraging technology and other resources to provide mental health services in even the hardest-to-reach areas and populations. Find the full guidelines and apply here.
The application deadline is April 30, 2023.
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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 13 to March 17, 2023.
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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Darby Town Endowment Fund |
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Grants will be made from the Darby Town Endowment Fund, established at MCF by Richard and Barbara Ackerman in 1999 and enhanced through generous contributions from community members. Applicants must be either a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or an exempt governmental unit. Individual grants will be up to $5,000. While grants must be used for projects benefiting the Darby community and residents, the grantee organization does not need to be based in Darby. Only one application is allowed per organization.
Eligible projects must provide a direct, ongoing benefit to local residents, be sustainable, and address important, unmet needs. Ineligible projects include one-time events, conferences, workshops, planning, research, untested projects, and partisan or sectarian activities.
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What You Need to Know about Annual Endowment Distributions |
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The annual endowment distribution 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 6, 2023. 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 distribution payout process.
What if our bank account information has changed?
Distributions are made via ACH payments to your organization’s bank account. If your bank account information has changed since March 1, 2022, please complete the Direct Deposit Form and return it by mail by February 6, 2023. 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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