Montana Grants

This program provides funding to tribal communities in Montana for forestry projects that enhance green spaces, improve air and water quality, and support cultural practices and climate resilience.

This funding opportunity supports projects that improve habitats and migration routes for big game species in the western U.S., targeting conservation organizations, state and tribal agencies, and community groups involved in wildlife management.

This program provides financial support to rural and tribal agricultural businesses and communities in Montana to promote agritourism activities that connect agriculture with tourism.

This program provides financial support to individuals, businesses, and organizations in Montana to develop new agricultural products and processes through grants and loans for various project activities.

This program provides funding to support research, education, and local cooperative efforts aimed at managing and controlling noxious weeds across Montana.

This grant provides funding for nonprofit organizations to undertake projects that conserve, preserve, or restore the environment in specific regions of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations that enhance youth education, environmental conservation, and address community needs in Big Sky, Montana.

This grant provides funding for rural classroom teachers in selected states to develop and implement Place-Based Education projects in their schools.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to LGBTQ+ organizations in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington that prioritize serving BIPOC and TGNC communities, focusing on health, education, and community building initiatives.

This grant provides funding for full-time graduate students in the Western U.S. to collaborate with their academic advisors and local producers on projects that promote sustainable agriculture through research and education.

This program provides funding to various organizations and agencies for projects that manage invasive weeds and restore wildlife habitats across Montana's ecologically significant landscapes.

The First Nations’ Young Natural Resource Professionals Cohort is a 12-month enrichment opportunity designed to enhance the knowledge and networks of young natural resource professionals in the Northern Great Plains. This program directly aligns with the First Nations Development Institute's mission to support Native American communities, particularly in areas of natural resource management and tribal sovereignty. The grant, ranging from $1,000 to $10,000, aims to foster professional development and community-led conservation efforts within tribal lands. The primary beneficiaries of this program are 15 early-career natural resource professionals, aged 18-30, who are tribally-affiliated and employed by tribal natural resource and/or environmental departments in Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The program's impact goals are to develop professional, leadership, and technical skills among these individuals, enabling them to effectively employ tribal and community conservation priorities. The cohort prioritizes a deeper understanding of traditional stewardship practices, specialized project management training, and the ability to communicate the importance of upholding tribal sovereignty, cultural grounding, and connection to ancestral lands in resource management. Participants will gain access to a $5,000 stipend for their hosting Tribe, travel support for professional development, a $50,000 tribal grant to lead a conservation-focused project, and a supportive network with mentorship opportunities. Expected outcomes include participants gaining a deeper understanding of traditional stewardship practices, receiving specialized training in project management, and becoming adept at communicating the importance of tribal sovereignty and cultural connection in resource management. Measurable results will be demonstrated through the completion of conservation-focused projects and the sustained professional growth of the cohort members within their tribal communities. The project period runs from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations that deliver high-quality early childhood education and family services to low-income children and families across multiple states in the U.S.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations and government units for projects that directly benefit the residents of Blaine County, Montana, addressing important community needs.

The Social Justice Fund NorthWest (SJF) is offering the 2024 Base Building Grant, aimed at strengthening grassroots organizations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. This grant directly aligns with SJF's mission to foster social justice by investing in community organizing as a primary strategy. The program focuses on "Base Building," defined as a tactic that expands the number and engagement of people who share a vision for social justice and actively work to achieve it through organized strategies. This approach underscores SJF's strategic priority of empowering communities to drive systemic change. The grant targets organizations committed to community organizing and led by those most directly affected by the issues they address. Specifically, SJF prioritizes organizations with at least 51% leadership from Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, or those working predominantly in reservation, rural, or small-town communities. The impact goals are to build collective power, widen the base of engaged individuals, develop strong leadership within communities, and implement effective long-term strategies. The expected outcomes include a critical mass of collective power capable of winning and defending policy, cultural, or institutional changes, as well as a diverse and actively engaged membership. SJF's community organizing framework emphasizes four key areas: Collective Power, Widening the Base, Leadership Development, and Strategy and Long-Term Planning. Under Collective Power, the focus is on building a diverse membership and achieving policy or cultural wins. Widening the Base involves fostering authentic relationships with those most affected, recruiting new people, and using varied, tailored communication methods, including face-to-face engagement. Leadership Development ensures clear entry points to leadership, accessible political education, and continuous engagement and agitation. Finally, Strategy and Long-Term Planning requires organizations to develop and adapt a comprehensive base-building plan with clear goals, timelines, infrastructure, and accountability structures. The grant, providing $100,000 over two years ($50,000 annually), is open to nonprofit organizations, tribal agencies, or fiscally sponsored groups with 501(c)3 or 501(c)4 status, or federally recognized American Indian tribal governments. This funding mechanism directly supports SJF's theory of change, which posits that sustained investment in community-led organizing, focused on these core elements, will lead to meaningful and lasting social justice outcomes in the specified regions.

This grant provides $100,000 over two years to grassroots organizations in Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming that focus on building community power and leadership among diverse groups, with a priority for those led by BIPOC and working in rural or reservation areas.

This grant provides funding to states and territories to develop a coordinated early childhood education system that integrates various programs, including Head Start, to improve access and efficiency for families with children from birth to age five.

The U.S. Geological Surveys Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center (NOROCK) is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU Partner for research to assess distribution and threats to at-risk amphibians in the western USA. This research will focus specifically on how threats such as drought, non-native predators, habitat loss or transformation, environmental degradation, and pathogens are affecting the distribution and abundance of amphibians in the West. Field work will occur in the Northwest, Southwest, Rocky Mountains, and Great Plains, will occur primarily on BLM, NPS, USFWS, and USFS lands, and will focus on many species that are priorities to the Department of Interior and other partner agencies or stakeholders.

This program provides financial and technical support to Montana local governments for developing essential planning documents that help manage and protect renewable resources.

The Humanities Montana Film + Video grant program is a competitive initiative designed to foster the development, production, and distribution of documentary films and series. These projects must engage general audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways, aligning with Humanities Montana's mission to deepen public understanding of significant humanities questions. The program supports projects grounded in humanities scholarship, requiring a thoughtful, balanced, and analytical approach to subjects, while also demonstrating the potential to attract a broad general audience. The primary beneficiaries of this program are media producers collaborating with scholars, as well as the general public who will consume the resulting film and video content. The impact goals are to enhance public understanding of humanities themes, foster analytical thinking, and engage communities and cultures represented in the project content. The program aims to support projects that not only present diverse perspectives but also involve humanities scholars in all aspects, from research and script development to production and post-production. The grant prioritizes projects that focus on clearly defined humanities themes, build on sound humanities scholarship, and actively engage the general public in learning through appealing and accessible formats. Funding is categorized into three stages: Stage One for research and script development (up to $8,000), Stage Two for production (up to $10,000), and Stage Three for post-production and public distribution (up to $10,000). Each stage has specific prerequisites and expected deliverables, ensuring a structured progression of projects. Expected outcomes include the creation of completed scripts or detailed treatments in Stage One, rough cuts of films or videos in Stage Two, and fully distributed projects with public programming, outreach, and evaluation plans in Stage Three. Humanities Montana's strategic priority is to support major projects that may require multiyear support and significant stages of research, development, and production. The theory of change is that by funding high-quality, humanities-focused documentary films, they can effectively reach and engage broad audiences, thereby deepening public understanding and appreciation of the humanities.