Funders › Montana

Cobb Foundation

Great Falls, MT · EIN 81-6009358. Reported 204 grants totalling $317,200 to 81 recipients across tax years 2021-2024. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$1,000median grant
$317,200granted, 2021-2024
81recipients, as named on its returns
84%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,955,876assets, latest filing

Does this foundation accept applications?

Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. Cobb Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.

This is the foundation's own statement to the IRS, not our judgement, and it says nothing about whether they have a form, a deadline, or an appetite for new grantees. Treat it as the reason this foundation is worth your research time, not as an invitation. Many small foundations of this kind have no website and no application process -- a letter of inquiry is the normal first step.

How big are its grants?

The median grant is $1,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $1,000 and $2,000; the smallest was $250 and the largest $7,500. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
49 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
146 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
9 grants

Every organization it funded

This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by name and state as they were written on the returns, so an organization entered under two different names appears twice. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which that name received money.

OrganizationLocationTotal receivedGrantsYears fundedLast
Montana State UniversityBozeman, MT$30,000442024
University of Montana FoundationMissoula, MT$28,000442024
Carroll CollegeHelena, MT$11,000442024
St Matthias Augusta Altar SocietyAugusta, MT$11,000442024
Trinity Reformed ChurchRifle, CO$9,000442024
University of ProvidenceGreat Falls, MT$9,000442024
Camp MarshallHelena, MT$8,000442024
Christ Church EpiscopalKalispell, MT$8,000442024
Church of IncarnationGreat Falls, MT$8,000442024
Montana School for the Deaf & Blind FoundationGreat Falls, MT$8,000442024
Liberty Classical AcademyNew Castle, CO$7,000442024
Pregnancy Resource CenterGlenwood Springs, CO$6,500442024
Tacoma Rescue MissionTacoma, WA$6,100442024
Flathead Valley Community CollegeKalispell, MT$6,000332023
Montana St Chapter PeoBozeman, MT$6,000332024
St Peter's ChurchTacoma, WA$5,700442024
Augusta High SchoolAugusta, MT$5,000442024
Choteau High SchoolChoteau, MT$5,000112021
Marble RetreatCarbondale, CO$5,000442024
Montana State University - NorthernHavre, MT$5,000332024
Florence CrittentonHelena, MT$4,500442024
Friendship CenterHelena, MT$4,500442024
New BeginningsSeattle, WA$4,500442024
RytherSeattle, WA$4,450222024
Ryther LeagueSeattle, WA$4,450222024
Eagle MountGreat Falls, MT$4,000442024
Glacier Symphony & ChoraleKalispell, MT$4,000442024
Our Lady of GuadalupeLakewood, WA$4,000442024
Pediatric Interim Care CenterKent, WA$4,000442024
Rocky Mountain CollegeBillings, MT$4,000222022
Ryther Child CenterSeattle, WA$4,000222022
Ryther Child Center LeagueSeattle, WA$4,000222022
Samaritan HouseKalispell, MT$4,000442024
St Francis HouseSeattle, WA$4,000442024
Paris Gibson Square MuseumGreat Falls, MT$3,750442024
Easterseals GoodwillGreat Falls, MT$3,550112021
Center for Mental Health FoundationGreat Falls, MT$3,500332024
Benchmark Wrestling ClubAugusta, MT$3,400332024
Lighthouse Christian Home & Services IncKalispell, MT$3,400442024
Northwest Mt History MuseumKalispell, MT$3,350442024
Fisher HouseTacoma, WA$3,000442024
Sparrow's NestKalispell, MT$2,450332024
Northwest Veterans Food PantryKalispell, MT$2,400332024
Augusta MuseumAugusta, MT$2,300442024
Augusta Food ShareAugusta, MT$2,100222024
Covenant HouseTopeka, KS$2,000222024
Flathead Valley Community College FoundationKalispell, MT$2,000112024
Mt St Chapter PeoBozeman, MT$2,000112023
Hockaday Museum of ArtKalispell, MT$1,800222022
Land to Hand MontanaWhitefish, MT$1,800222024
Augusta Schools FFA ProgramAugusta, MT$1,750222024
Flathead Youth HomesKalispell, MT$1,650222022
Holy Cross ChurchTacoma, WA$1,500222023
Augusta Hardest Working StudentAugusta, MT$1,000442024
Augusta Most Improved StudentAugusta, MT$1,000442024
Bright Eyes Animal ShelterChoteau, MT$1,000112021
Canine CompanionsSeattle, WA$1,000112024
Flathead Warming CenterKalispell, MT$1,000112021
Food LifelineSeattle, WA$1,000112021
Franciscan HospiceUniversity Place, WA$1,000112021
Glacier Art MuseumKalispell, MT$1,000112024
Golden Triangle Mental HealthGreat Falls, MT$1,000112021
Msu - Northern Montana CollegeHavre, MT$1,000112021
North Valley Music SchoolWhitefish, MT$1,000112024
Nourish Pierce CountyTacoma, WA$1,000112024
Pet Paw SeeGreat Falls, MT$1,000112021
St Jude's Research HospitalMemphis, TN$1,000112021
Street Support KcRoeland Park, KS$1,000112024
Wishing Well ProjectCut Bank, MT$1,000222024
Genesis ProjectKent, WA$900112021
Holy Cross Altar SocietyTacoma, WA$900112024
Northwest CenterRenton, WA$900112021
Augusta SchoolsAugusta, MT$800112021
Dream Adaptive Recreation IncWhitefish, MT$800112021
Hockaday Center for the ArtsKalispell, MT$800112023
Augusta Chamber of CommerceAugusta, MT$500112024
Community LoavesKirkland, WA$500112024
Lift UpCarbondale, CO$500112024
Water for PeopleDenver, CO$500112021
Advocate Safehouse ProjectGlenwood Springs, CO$400112024
Protect the ClearwaterSeeley Lake, MT$300112023

52 of 81 (64%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.

Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 84%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is unusually consistent. This measures how often it paid the same organizations again. It says nothing about whether it would consider a new one.

What the money was for

Taken verbatim from the purpose field of its filings. This is the closest thing to a statement of what this foundation cares about, in its own words.

What kind of organizations it funds

By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 61 grants where we could match the recipient to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's. The match, made from the name and address on the return, is ours.

Education
19 grants
Human Services
11 grants
Housing & Shelter
9 grants
Health Care
6 grants
Food & Nutrition
5 grants
Recreation & Sports
4 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Environment
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
202158$92,800$1,000
202244$70,000$1,000
202346$70,000$1,000
202456$84,400$1,000

Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.

Where its money goes

72% of its giving went to organizations in Montana. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Montana
$227K
Washington
$57K
Colorado
$29K
Kansas
$3K
Tennessee
$1K

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Funders that support the same organizations

These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.

Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund21 shared recipientsDonor Advised Charitable Giving Inc18 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc13 shared recipientsDennis & Phyllis Washington Foundation11 shared recipientsMontana Community Foundation Inc11 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program11 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $1,000. A request many times that size asks for something it has rarely or never given.
  2. Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in Montana.
  3. Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
  4. Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.

Where these numbers come from

Everything above is taken from Cobb Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Grant figures are from its returns. Matching recipients to registered organizations, their IRS classifications, the retention rate and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations, described in how we build this.

Address of record on the latest return: 21 10TH St S, Great Falls, MT, 59401. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.

EIN 81-6009358 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this

This is history, not an open call. Foundation returns are published about a year after the tax year ends. Nothing on this page is a deadline. It is a record of who this foundation has actually funded.

Is something here wrong about your foundation? Email [email protected] and we will correct it.