What Montana Nonprofits Should Know About the Billings Community Foundation

Serving the greater Yellowstone region since 2007, the Billings Community Foundation (BCF) is a local leader in Montana philanthropy. Two staff members and 13 board members lead the foundation, which focuses on a nine-county region and typically awards grants between $2,500 and $5,000.

Here are some facts about BCF to guide Montana grantseekers.

Evolving yearly priorities

BCF is a responsive funder that pays attention to local needs and recognizes that those needs change from year to year. BCF openly acknowledges that its grant program will also change and adapt to what is most pressing at any given time. The foundation awards grants through multiple funds that it manages. Here’s a list of these funds, followed by example grantees that received awards in a recent funding cycle.

Bernard Rose Family Advised Fund – Montana Wilderness School
David and Martha Redmon Family Advised Fund – Veteran’s Navigation Network
James A. Wrightson Educational Fund – Western Heritage Center
Matthews-Dousman Memorial Endowment Fund at Montana Community Foundation – Eagle Mount Billings
Tancy and Ralph Spence Family Advised Fund – Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools
Obert Undem Endowment for Community Vitality – CASA of Yellowstone County
Thomas and Amoretta Wilkins Endowment Fund – Billings Community Foundation Capital Campaign
Muryl and Lu Myhre Foundation Endowment (by invitation only) – Boys and Girls Club of Billings

Focus on rural communities

Although Billings is the largest city in Montana, with a population of over 117,000 residents, BCT often focuses on rural needs in the region. The funder’s service area encompasses the rural communities of southeastern and south-central Montana in the counties of Yellowstone, Musselshell, Rosebud, Custer, Treasure, Bighorn, Carbon, Stillwater and Fergus.

Annual community grant opportunities

BCF offers an annual grant cycle that typically opens for applications in early June. These annual grant cycles provide over $100,000 per year to regional causes. Applicants can submit their forms and supporting materials through the funder’s online system. The foundation notifies grantees of its decisions in September and hosts a grant award celebration in October.

Overall, nonprofit capacity-building is a top cause for this community foundation. BCF provides capacity-building support to nonprofits for board training, strategic planning, program evaluation and leadership development. It’s a funder that values collaboration and looks for group-driven projects among the over 800 registered charities in Billings and the surrounding areas. The foundation awards grants for projects and programs that respond to unmet needs in local communities and also hosts an endowment challenge with a matching grant initiative to build nonprofit sustainability.

There are additional opportunities for nonprofits to get involved with BCF through the annual Yellowstone Valley Gives event and the foundation’s “brown bag” lunch program with monthly educational and collaborative workshop opportunities.

The emergency response fund

For local needs that cannot wait until the next annual grant cycle, BCF has an emergency response fund that is available on an as-needed basis. For example, BCF partnered with the United Way of Yellowstone County to create a COVID-19 response fund, in which 75% of all contributions met needs in the following priority categories:

Shelter and housing assistance
Food security for children, families and seniors
Basic needs to meet increased demand
Maintaining existing services to vulnerable population
Nonprofit capacity to meet social distancing guidelines

Based on this example, we’d expect BCF to respond to other types of disasters and emergency situations that affect Montana residents with another targeted fund.

Read more about this funder in IP’s full profile of the Billings Community Foundation, which is part of our Montana foundation guide.

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