Funders › Montana

Signal Peak Community Foundation

Helena, MT · EIN 45-2708352. Reported 90 grants totalling $1,595,980 to 49 recipients across tax years 2021-2025. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.

Yesaccepts unsolicited requests
$5,228median grant
$1,595,980granted, 2021-2025
49recipients, as named on its returns
46%of grantees funded again the next year
$1,606,074assets, 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. Signal Peak Community 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 $5,228. Half of everything it gave fell between $2,000 and $21,250; the smallest was $578 and the largest $200,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.

Under $1,000
1 grant
$1,000 - $5,000
35 grants
$5,000 - $10,000
19 grants
$10,000 - $25,000
14 grants
$25,000 - $50,000
13 grants
$50,000 - $100,000
5 grants
$100,000 and Up
3 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
City of RoundupRoundup, MT$483,690552025
Musselshell CountyRoundup, MT$146,457332025
Roundup Community PartnersRoundup, MT$141,250332025
City of Roundup - Pine Ridge Golf CourseRoundup, MT$93,524222025
Roundup Memorial HealthcareRoundup, MT$75,000112021
Montana Tech of the University of MontanaButte, MT$66,501552025
Town of MelstoneMelstone, MT$62,619222024
Pine Ridge Golf CourseRoundup, MT$55,000222023
Melstone Community Pool IncMelstone, MT$53,625222025
Musselshell Golden Valley 4-H CouncilRoundup, MT$34,675222025
Earth Science FoundationRoundup, MT$30,688112022
Melstone Public SchoolsMelstone, MT$28,887332025
Roundup Public SchoolsRoundup, MT$28,500112023
Grand Lodge Af&am of Montana - Unity #71Roundup, MT$25,000112025
Roundup FFA AlumniRoundup, MT$25,000112025
Teddy Blue Abbott Monument Co Mussellshell Valley Historical MuseumRoundup, MT$20,000112022
Montana State University - BillingsBillings, MT$18,812442025
Roundup Baseball IncRoundup, MT$15,882332024
Melstone Volunteer Fire DepartmentMelstone, MT$14,722112024
Friends of Musselshell SchoolMusselshell, MT$14,672112023
Montana State University - NorthernHavre, MT$13,000332025
Montana Treasured Piecemakers QuiltsShepherd, MT$13,000332025
Roundup MarketRoundup, MT$12,750112024
Ride Committee - City of RoundupRoundup, MT$12,643222023
Wyo TechLaramie, WY$10,000222025
John D Iverson Youth CenterRoundup, MT$9,576112021
Montana State UniversityBozeman, MT$9,500442025
Roundup Arts and CultureRoundup, MT$8,500112022
Rodeo RoundupRoundup, MT$7,493222025
Quilts of ValorWinterset, IA$7,000222023
Carroll CollegeHelena, MT$6,500332025
Roundup Commemorative GardenRoundup, MT$6,197112025
VFW Post 4925Roundup, MT$5,500112025
Msu Billings City CollegeBillings, MT$5,000112024
Musselshell County Food Bank - Golden Thimble ClubRoundup, MT$4,950112025
Boston CollegeChestnut Hill, MA$4,500222025
Melstone Area FoundationMelstone, MT$4,000112022
Boston UniversityChestnut Hill, MA$3,500222024
Northern Wyoming Community CollegeSheridan, WY$3,000222024
Marketplace for KidsMantador, ND$2,500112024
Washington CollegeChestertown, MD$2,500112021
Roundup PoolRoundup, MT$2,289112023
Northwestern Oklahoma UniversityAlva, OK$2,000222024
Dawson Community CollegeGlendive, MT$1,000112025
Flathead Valley Community CollegeKalispell, MT$1,000112021
Northern Idaho CollegeCoeur Dalene, ID$1,000112023
Northwest CollegePowell, WY$1,000112024
Oklahoma State UniversityStillwater, OK$1,000112025
Musselshell County Council on AgingRoundup, MT$578112024

24 of 49 (49%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 46%, across 4 year-to-year transitions. 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 17 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
6 grants
Education
6 grants
Community Improvement
2 grants
Human Services
2 grants
Health Care
1 grant

Giving by year

Tax yearGrantsTotalMedian grant
20219$319,600$5,000
202218$259,065$6,607
202319$227,891$5,000
202421$236,168$5,000
202523$553,256$6,197

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

98% 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
$1.6M
Wyoming
$14K
Massachusetts
$8K
Iowa
$7K
Oklahoma
$3K
North Dakota
$2K
Maryland
$2K
Idaho
$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.

Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc6 shared recipientsEducation Design Lab5 shared recipientsTreacy Foundation5 shared recipientsTown Pump Charitable Foundation4 shared recipientsEnterprise Holdings Foundation4 shared recipientsFidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund4 shared recipients

How to approach this foundation

  1. Check you are its size. The median grant is $5,228. 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 Signal Peak Community Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). 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: 1820 N Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT, 59601. 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 45-2708352 · 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.