Grants for Churches in Montana (2026 Guide)

What federal rules allow a congregation to fund with grant money is covered in our grants for churches guide. This page is Montana-specific. Programs for Montana nonprofits that aren't congregations are in the Montana grants guide.

Foundation Grants to Montana Churches by the Numbers

Montana ranks 39th among the 50 states with 575 foundation grants to churches and ministries, and its $3,600 median is the lowest of the ten mid-sized states Grantsights compared this month, according to Grantsights analysis of the filings.

One camp project skews the total. Per the same filings, Montana's two grants of $1 million or more were successive payments, $2.5 million in all, for a cafeteria at a Billings Bible church's camp. That single project is 24.2% of every church dollar in the state data. Without it, the remaining 573 grants total $7.8 million and average $13,669. Grants of $100,000 or more are only 18 of 575 but carry 51% of the dollars. A small congregation should plan from the $3,600 median, not the average.

A third of funders take requests, which is unusually high. According to the filings, 61 of 184 foundations, 33.2%, name an application route, against 23.1% nationally. Among the ten mid-sized states Grantsights compared, only West Virginia (43.3%) and New Hampshire (35.1%) did better.

Most still give to one church. Only 51 foundations, 28%, gave to two or more different Montana recipients, against 49% nationally, and 72% gave to a single recipient. Just 6% gave to three or more. A family foundation that has paid the same congregation's bills for years won't add yours because a letter arrived, so a mass mailing is a red flag.

Half the funders mostly give elsewhere. Only 49% of these foundations direct most of their church giving to Montana. For the rest, a Montana church is a side interest, which fits a summer or retirement tie to a town like Whitefish or Bozeman, though the filings don't say why. The top 10 foundations hold 63.2% of the dollars, so a handful of donors shape the whole picture.

Where Montana Church Grants Go

Billings leads with 99 grants and $4.2 million, according to Grantsights analysis of the filings, but $2.5 million of that is the one camp project. Rows group recipients by mailing city; the snapshot has no ZIP codes, and a mailing address can be a parish office or post office box.

Bozeman pays best among the bigger towns. Its 53 grants carry a $6,800 median, and 12 of its 28 funders name a route, the most open city in the data. A Gallatin Valley congregation has the strongest case for a well-researched letter.

Missoula gets many small gifts. Its 48 grants have a $2,000 median, less than a third of Bozeman's. Size requests to match.

Whitefish is all introductions. Its 15 grants have a $12,000 median, but none of its 6 funders names a route. That looks like second-home donors giving to the church they attend in summer, an inference from the counts, and a proposal from a stranger is unlikely to change it.

The rest of the state is thin. The ten cities above hold 348 of 575 grants, 61%, and 87 recipient cities appear in all. A church in Havre, Glendive, Lewistown, or a reservation town will find one or two local funders at most, so its plan should lean on its diocese or synod, TEFAP, and EFSP.

Working the Church Funder List in Montana

Montana's 33.2% route share makes the list more useful here than in most states, because a third of the foundations on it say how to ask. You can see Montana church funders free before deciding. The Grantsights church funder list covers every state, and for each foundation it shows the church and ministry grants from its own 990-PF (amount, recipient, year, purpose, and filing link) and whether the filing says it takes requests. It's a single payment with no subscription, refundable for 30 days.

1. Start with the 61 route-naming funders. Read Part XV of each filing for the address, format, and any deadline, then write only to those whose past recipients look like your church.
2. Use the tradition counts. Catholic-named recipients appear 98 times in the Montana records, Lutheran 71, Presbyterian 50, Baptist 28, Episcopal 25, and Methodist 21.
3. Follow youth and camp giving. Missions (26 mentions), community work (24), and youth (21) lead the purpose keywords, and the largest gift in the data went to a camp. A church with a camp, youth program, or school has the clearest story to tell.

Where a filing says preselected only, Montana's small-town networks matter: a member who knows a trustee is the only door. Our guide to foundations that give grants to churches shows what to look for in a 990-PF.

What the Montana Constitution Says About Public Money and Churches

Montana's no-aid clause is 1 sentence long and names churches directly. Grantsights read Article X, Section 6 in the Montana Code Annotated's constitution text (opens in a new tab) on November 6, 2026. Subsection (1) says government bodies "shall not make any direct or indirect appropriation or payment from any public fund or monies, or any grant of lands or other property for any sectarian purpose or to aid any church, school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled in whole or in part by any church, sect, or denomination." Subsection (2) exempts federal money given to the state for non-public education.

What Espinoza decided. Montana created a tax credit for donations to private-school scholarship groups, and the Department of Revenue wrote a rule barring the scholarships at religious schools to satisfy Article X, Section 6. The Montana Supreme Court then struck down the whole program. On June 30, 2020, in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab), 591 U.S. 464, a 5 to 4 Court reversed, holding that applying the no-aid clause this way discriminated against religious schools and families in violation of the Free Exercise Clause. Chief Justice Roberts summed it up: a state "need not subsidize private education," but once it does, it can't disqualify private schools just for being religious.

What it didn't decide. The Court didn't erase Article X, Section 6; it said the Montana court should have disregarded it in that application. It didn't require Montana to fund private schools at all. And the opinion said the case "turns expressly on religious status and not religious use," leaving questions about paying for religious activity for another day.

What it means for a congregation. Read with Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (opens in a new tab) (2017), which involved a church preschool's playground, Espinoza means a Montana program open to all nonprofits can't turn a church away just because it's a church. It doesn't make worship, religious instruction, or evangelism fundable, and federal pass-through money excludes those uses too. Our government grants for churches guide explains where federal rules draw the line.

Montana Security Grants for Churches

Montana applicants could request up to $200,000 per site, for no more than three sites and $600,000 per applicant, in the FY2026 Nonprofit Security Grant Program, according to Montana Disaster and Emergency Services' NSGP page (opens in a new tab). The application window closed Wednesday, July 15, 2026, at 11:55 p.m., and the agency has sent its project list to FEMA for final review. The page was last updated September 4, 2026, and the agency's resources page (opens in a new tab) still lists FY2026 state guidance as coming soon. No FY2027 dates were posted on November 6, 2026, and Grantsights found no state-funded security grant for Montana houses of worship.

The open-award rule trips up repeat applicants. A congregation that won in an earlier year and hasn't closed out that grant was shut out of FY2026. Finish and close an award before the next window rather than after it.

At the national level, the FY2026 program has $300 million, divided equally between urban-area and state allocations, compared with $274.5 million in FY2025, per FEMA's nonprofit security page (opens in a new tab), which names places of worship among eligible organizations. FEMA announced FY2026 recipients on September 28, 2026. Our church security grants guide covers the vulnerability assessment, and the SAM registration guide explains the UEI step.

Historic Preservation: The Montana Historic Preservation Grant

Montana runs a state-funded preservation grant big enough to pay for a church roof: up to $350,000 per project. According to the Department of Commerce's 2026 MHPG guidelines (opens in a new tab), the program was created in 2019 by Senate Bill 338 and is open to persons (through a fiscal agent), associations including nonprofits, and governing units. The guidelines don't exclude religious properties.

A church building has won it. The Department of Commerce's June 29, 2023 release (opens in a new tab) listed the Ringling Church at $141,773 among more than $10 million in awards; the release doesn't say who owns the building or whether a congregation still worships there. The honest friction is timing and the public-access test: the cycle runs every two years, the legislature has the final say, and a sanctuary open only for services may struggle to show public benefit. A church that hosts concerts, tours, or community meetings has a stronger application. The next deadline wasn't posted on November 6, 2026.

A Great Falls case in point. Union Bethel AME Church, built in 1917 and listed on the National Register, secured a $497,712 National Park Service African American Civil Rights grant, awarded through the Montana Historical Society, and $200,000 from the National Trust's Black church program, The Electric reported (opens in a new tab) on May 13, 2025. Great Falls agreed to pass through $20,000 in Certified Local Government money for design. Bids came in near $1.3 million against roughly $700,000 in grants, so the work on brick, an access lift, restrooms, and wiring was scaled back. Expect bids to outrun grants.

Tax credits need income. Montana's credit equals 25% of the federal rehabilitation credit, under MCA 15-31-151 (opens in a new tab), and the federal credit is available only for income-producing buildings (opens in a new tab). A worship-only sanctuary qualifies for neither.

National funds, so far without a Montana winner this year. Two church programs on the National Trust's grants page (opens in a new tab) fit Montana buildings: Preserving Black Churches grants of $50,000 to $200,000 and National Fund for Sacred Places grants up to $500,000. The Trust's October 20, 2026 announcement (opens in a new tab) funded 30 of 466 applicants, none in Montana. Our church building repair grants guide and historic churches guide cover both.

Food: TEFAP at 300%, the Montana Food Bank Network, and EFSP

Montana sets TEFAP household eligibility below 300% of the federal poverty guidelines, well above the 185% or 200% many states use, according to the Department of Public Health and Human Services' TEFAP page (opens in a new tab). Its FFY 2026 final guidelines, effective February 10, 2026, allow annual income up to $47,880 for one person and $167,160 for eight, plus $17,040 for each added member.

• Who distributes. The department names the Montana Food Bank Network in Missoula as its contracted recipient agency, with local pantries and meal programs listed under it.
• Churches already do this. The department's list includes the Thompson Falls A.O.G. Church Food Pantry, Troy Community Baptist Food Pantry, Bitterroot Valley Calvary Chapel in Hamilton, and Vineyard Mercy Ministry in Great Falls.
• What qualifies. Public or private nonprofits that provide nutrition help to low-income people; a meal program must show it mainly serves people with low incomes. Agencies no longer have to keep household addresses on file.

A church that wants to join should call the Montana Food Bank Network about partner status. The 300% line means most households a rural pantry serves will qualify, so the limit is usually storage and volunteer hours, not eligibility. Our church food pantry grants guide covers the records food banks ask for.

EFSP. Montana's Phase 43 (FY2025) Emergency Food and Shelter Program allocation totals $373,180, according to the EFSP National Board's Phase 43 allocation table (opens in a new tab).

The State Set-Aside holds 59% of Montana's EFSP money, and that's good news for rural churches. Only 8 of Montana's 56 counties get their own allocation, so a pantry in the other 48, including Yellowstone County (Billings) and Lewis and Clark County (Helena), applies through the set-aside committee. Ask the committee when it next takes applications.

Denominational and Regional Funds in Montana

Montana's two Catholic dioceses each run a grant program for their own parishes, with diocesan grants of up to $5,000 in the west. Grantsights checked each funder below on its own page on November 6, 2026.

Grantsights didn't verify congregational grants from the ELCA Montana Synod (its site showed no grant page), the Episcopal Diocese of Montana, the United Methodist Mountain Sky Conference, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's Montana District, or the Montana Community Foundation, so they aren't listed.

What Montana Church Grant Lists Don't Tell You

$3,600 is the typical Montana church grant, and national lists built on big-city numbers miss that. Five Montana facts they leave out:

1. One camp project is a quarter of the dollars. Strip it out and Montana's average falls to $13,669.
2. A third of funders publish a route. That 33.2% beats the national 23.1%, so a careful letter has better odds here.
3. Article X, Section 6 still names churches. Espinoza limits it for programs open to everyone, but it didn't erase it.
4. The state funds preservation directly. The MHPG goes up to $350,000, open to nonprofits, every two years.
5. The EFSP set-aside is the main pool. It holds 59% of the state's allocation and covers 48 counties, Billings and Helena included.

A 90-Day Plan for a Montana Church

1. First two weeks: the basics. Pull together your exemption letter or group ruling, bylaws, a current officer list, and a year-end financial report. Close out any open NSGP award now, and begin SAM registration if you'll seek security money.
2. Weeks 2 to 6: assess the building. Get a vulnerability assessment and photos for each site. If the building is 50 or more years old, gather its history, register listing, and contractor estimates for the roof, foundation, or windows.
3. Weeks 4 to 10: write to route-naming funders. Pick the Montana foundations in your region that name a route and have funded churches like yours, and send each a one-page letter tied to one project at $1,500 to $5,000.
4. Weeks 8 to 13: food and diocese. Call the Montana Food Bank Network about pantry partnership, ask the State Set-Aside Committee about its next EFSP round, and ask your diocese, synod, or conference for its 2027 dates.

The church grant path index groups programs by need, and the free eligibility checker shows open programs for an organization's profile. Volunteer-led congregations should start with our grants for small churches guide.

Limits of the Montana Data

575 grants is what shows up in the filings Grantsights has loaded, not every gift Montana churches received. Public charities and community foundations don't file 990-PFs, so their giving isn't counted. Filings trail grants by a year or more, and a church filed under an unusual name can be missed. Purpose keywords undercount because many purposes are blank or say only "charitable purpose." Mailing cities can be a diocesan office. Grantsights couldn't confirm Montana's FY2027 NSGP dates, the next MHPG deadline, the Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana's 2027 calendar, or grant programs of the state's Protestant judicatories.

Sources Checked

Grantsights checked these 15 sources on November 6, 2026:

• Montana Constitution, Article X, Section 6 (opens in a new tab); Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab); Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer (opens in a new tab)
• Montana Disaster and Emergency Services NSGP page (opens in a new tab) and NSGP resources page (opens in a new tab); FEMA NSGP page (opens in a new tab)
• Montana Department of Commerce 2026 MHPG guidelines (opens in a new tab) and June 29, 2023 award release (opens in a new tab); MCA 15-31-151 (opens in a new tab); National Park Service tax credit eligibility (opens in a new tab); National Trust grants (opens in a new tab) and 2026 Sacred Places awards (opens in a new tab); The Electric on Union Bethel AME (opens in a new tab) (May 13, 2025)
• Department of Public Health and Human Services TEFAP page (opens in a new tab); EFSP National Board Phase 43 allocations (opens in a new tab)
• Funder pages: Foundation for the Diocese of Helena grants (opens in a new tab), Catholic Foundation of Eastern Montana grant program (opens in a new tab)
• Grantsights analysis of Montana recipients in the 990-PF filings Grantsights has loaded, tax years 2021 to 2025, as of November 5, 2026