Great Falls Area Community Foundation

Mission

To provide opportunities for visionary philanthropy to the Great Falls area by connecting people who care with causes that matter now and far into the future.

Great Falls Area Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Montana Community Foundation.

Great Falls Area Community Foundation's 2024 Grant Cycle is Open July 1-31, 2024

Guidelines and Application

Vision Statement: The vision of the Great Falls Area Community Foundation is to develop sustainable resources to support projects that will help create a safe, vibrant, and liveable community.

Values Statement: The Great Falls Area Community Foundation is committed to improving the community's quality of life by addressing unmet needs and fulfilling unrealized opportunities.


We value:
Generosity and believe that the GFACF is a good steward of resources that belong to the community;

All community members and treat all persons with honesty, integrity, and fairness;

Collaboration and believe we can serve as a catalyst for discussions of community needs by convening philanthropy workshops and presentations.

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History

The Great Falls Area Community Foundation (GFACF) is the successor of the Montana Community Foundation’s C. M. Russell Region. Since the early 1990s, the C. M. Russell Region acted primarily as a re-granting organization for pass-through funds from MCF to 501c3s in a nine county area. GFACF has changed its mission and focus and now serves as a community foundation for the Great Falls area. We believe a community foundation, as a permanent source of funding, is a community’s savings account preserved in an endowment. GFACF makes grants from its distributable funds and is a way for donors to invest in the community to help them meet their charitable goals.

GFACF Board

  • Sarah Cawley - Chair
  • Hannah Grotbo
  • Sheila Rice
  • Brian Patrick
  • Mike Masters
  • Jonathan Mungle
  • Timothy Sanne
  • Tracy McIntyre
  • Mike Bicsak

Good Works

Because the Great Falls Area Community Foundation believes that a visioning process is fundamental to community change and growth, GFACF provides leadership opportunities and matching funding to assist in Leadership Great Falls Class projects. LGF is a comprehensive training program sponsored by the Great Falls Area Chamber of Commerce. Its purpose is to educate and motivate existing and potential leaders by encouraging community involvement for the betterment of the community.

The VISION GREAT FALLS XPO LGF 2009 class project gathered support, participation and input from existing community programs, leaders, and residents regarding community vision. They brought together all the ideas and concepts they found and through Vision XPO provided a forum for moving the ideas beyond concepts to actions benefiting our community.

GFACF provided matching funds for the Leadership Great Falls project to fund My Student in Need, a local charity that works with teachers to make sure school children have their needs for school supplies, clothing, and other items fulfilled.

Another grant was to the Upper Missouri River Heritage Area Planning Corporation for matching funds to complete the feasibility study for the Heritage Area, which would promote economic development and tourism in Central Montana.

The GFACF has provided grants to local nonprofits to improve our community and support the arts, culture, human needs, economic development, and education.

Contributions can be mailed to:

Great Falls Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1896, Great Falls, MT 59403

Download GFACF Giving Book