Funders › Montana

Don't Be a Jerk

Bozeman, MT · EIN 92-0592680. Reported 37 grants totalling $105,448 to 35 recipients across tax years 2023-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$926median grant
$105,448granted, 2023-2025
35recipients, as named on its returns
33%of grantees funded again the next year
$54,463assets, 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. Don't Be a Jerk 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 $926. Half of everything it gave fell between $500 and $2,000; the smallest was $125 and the largest $20,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
19 grants
$1,000 - $5,000
12 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
1 grant
$10,000 - $25,000
5 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
LntBoulder, CO$20,000112025
Treefort for GoodBoise, ID$15,000112025
She JumpsSalt Lake City, UT$14,800112025
Lgbtq OutdoorsFort Worth, TX$10,000112025
Sf PrideSan Francisco, CA$10,000112025
Red Ants Pants FoundationWhite Sulphur Springs, MT$6,500112025
Public Land Water Access Association IncBozeman, MT$4,218332025
Bozeman Film SocietyBozeman, MT$2,500112025
Food Bank of Northern NevadaSparks, NV$2,100112025
Covellite PresentsButte, MT$2,000112025
Scandals PridePortland, OR$2,000112025
NimsefPonderay, ID$1,908112025
Friends of KgltBozeman, MT$1,820112025
Antelope Butte FoundationDayton, WY$1,500112025
Vanlife PrideIndianapolis, IN$1,250112025
Save a BrainSalt Lake City, UT$1,000112025
Wy EqualityCheyenne, WY$1,000112025
Held Gso IncGreensboro, NC$926112025
H2OZARKSKimberling City, MO$750112025
Bozeman SoccerBozeman, MT$500112025
Bridger Ski FoundationBozeman, MT$500112025
Foster the EarthValley Center, CA$500112024
Mountain West Recreation AllianceIdaho Falls, ID$500112025
Nashville Humane AssociationNashville, TN$500112025
Outside inPortland, OR$500112025
Random Acts of SillinessBozeman, MT$500112025
Shady Pines RadioPortland, OR$500112025
Spina Bifida Association of KentuckyLouisville, KY$500112025
Hot Dog SafariWorcester, MA$361112025
Portneuf Valley Adaptive SportsInkom, ID$350112025
United Way MissoulaMissoula, MT$240112025
Bridger Ski PatrolBozeman, MT$200112025
Cooperative Wilderness Handicapped Outdoor Group Co Idaho State UniversityPocatello, ID$200112024
Pebblie Ski PatrolBozeman, MT$200112025
Skate Like a GirlSeattle, WA$125112025

1 of 35 (3%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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 33%, across 1 year-to-year transition. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is less consistent than most. 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 15 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.

Recreation & Sports
4 grants
Arts & Culture
3 grants
Environment
2 grants
Diseases & Disorders
2 grants
Food & Nutrition
1 grant
Human Services
1 grant
Animal Welfare
1 grant
Community Improvement
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20231$1,500$1,500
20243$1,390$500
202533$102,558$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

19% of its giving went to organizations in Colorado. If your organization is based elsewhere, look in the recipient list for grants to your area before writing.

Colorado
$20K
Montana
$19K
Idaho
$18K
Utah
$16K
California
$10K
Texas
$10K
Oregon
$3K
Wyoming
$2K

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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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc9 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund8 shared recipientsVanguard Charitable Endowment Program7 shared recipientsMorgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc5 shared recipientsAmerican Endowment Foundation4 shared recipientsAmerican Online Giving Foundation Inc4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $926. 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 Colorado.
  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 Don't Be a Jerk's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2022-2025). 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: Po Box 1851, Bozeman, MT, 59771. 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 92-0592680 · 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.