Gianforte Foundation Giving & Family Philosophy

“Creating lasting change” is the tagline for the Gianforte Family Foundation launched in 2004 by Greg and Susan Gianforte. The Foundation’s mission in 2023 is to support organizations that equip people to improve their lives in a sustainable way. Located in Bozeman, Montana, The Gianforte Charitable Family Trust, commonly referred to as the Gianforte Family Foundation, has trustees Greg and Susan Gianforte and their son, Richard Gianforte.

A quick peek at the Foundation’s 2023 website provides the reader with a mission and giving philosophy that is tied to helping people and the community, with a nod to their personal faith. Organizations are selected for funding that supports the Foundation’s four focus areas, as outlined below:

“Our mission is to support organizations that equip people to improve their lives in a sustainable way. We do this by partnering with nonprofits dedicated to:

Jobs, Education, and Entrepreneurship
- Providing better educational and economic opportunities to families and individuals.
Christian Outreach and Discipleship
- Strengthening Christian faith through long-term meaningful relationships.
Families and the Vulnerable
- Strengthening families and helping our neighbors in need.
Bozeman and Helena Arts and Culture
- Presenting community-wide quality performi ng arts for the Bozeman and Helena communities.”(Note: Helena was added in 2022)

Source: Gianforte Family Foundation website

However, looking more deeply into the Foundation’s history reveals that the Foundation has, over the years, subtly shifted the way it describes itself to the public. For instance, the inaugural 2005 Annual Report, provides more detail on the conservative policy issues (bolded by this blog) by woven throughout their giving strategies:

“While there are many worthy fields in philanthropy, we have chosen four areas in which to focus our giving so that our foundation can be most effective. Below is a general description of each focus area.

Jobs, Education, and the Family

These organizations work at levels ranging from local to international, advocating issues like school choice, quality education, religious freedom, economic improvement, and traditional family values.

Valuing and Protecting the Vulnerable

These organizations work to help the hurting and lift people out of poverty by providing disaster relief, education, and emotional and spiritual support.

Christian Outreach and Discipleship

These organizations minister the Christian faith by sharing the gospel, providing discipleship, and supplying faith-based resources to individuals and families.” (Source: 2005 Annual Report)

Today, these highlighted conservative policies, like advocating for school choice, religious freedom, and traditional family values, are less prominently broadcast to the public at large.

As a family trust, the Gianforte’s personal philosophies are tied to their giving and their mission. Although the Foundation’s website today may present moderation, the Foundation’s 2015 about-us website page reveals the family’s Christian Conservative intentions for giving over their first decade. It describes the creation of the Foundation in response to God’s great goodness to them – giving them the ability to equip people with knowledge and a means to improve their lives and circumstances for the long term, as well as creating lasting change in their communities. Consider the wording of the 2015 mission below, which calls out the intentional focus on supporting Christian organizations engaged in education, poverty, and outreach work. Although the Gianforte Family Foundation’s mission today focuses on these same areas, it’s not clear to the public the extent that faith plays in the Foundation’s giving.

Money matters. Within a decade the Gianforte Family Foundation’s 2015 Annual Giving Report summarized a record year, with over 150 grants and gifts to organizations spread across the globe, bringing total giving since the foundation began to over $43 million. And the Foundation website touted that the Foundation had become ”one of the top giving foundations in the state of Montana”.

By 2016, the Foundation was experiencing a milestone giving out 200 grants totaling $8.2 Million. The Gianforte Family Foundation 2016 Annual Giving Report, produced in 2017, further illustrated how the Foundation was moving away from explicit conservative language and toward moderation:

**Source:** Gianforte Family Foundation 2016 Annual Giving Report

It was also during this time that questions concerning Greg Gianforte’s political ambitions and the relationship of his family foundation were raised in an article by Jayme Fraser of the Billings Gazette in March 27, 2016, (updated Feb 7, 2017) when Gianforte was running for Governor of Montana: Gianforte's charitable giving reveals social conservatism not discussed in campaign. In 2017, Greg Gianforte was elected to represent Montana in Congress and has been serving as Governor of Montana since January 2021. (Just MT Facts will pick up this question in future blogs.)

What is clear is the Gianforte Family Foundation’s number of organizations and annual giving has grown as has the sophistication of the organization. The Foundation in its 15th year the foundation grew to $9.14 million in giving awarding 217 grants. And in addition to the Executive Director, hired a program director and communications manager “to better serve our grantee partners.”

Source: Annual Giving 2019

Over time, in addition to general grants, the Foundation added Special Initiatives in 2017 with PiLab Equipment, funding for K-12 Private or rural public schools in Montana and Love Inc., funding for Love In the Name of Christ (or Love INC), a new Montana affiliate development. Church Outreach was added in 2021 to help increase the capacity of local Christian churches to reach out beyond the “pews.” In 2023 only two special projects are highlighted on the website: Love INC New Montana Affiliate Development and Church Outreach Grant Packages. Currently, the Foundation has a staff of four: Executive Director, Program Director, Native Initiatives Director, and Communications.

What began as a small family foundation with annual giving of $150,084 in 2005 to just 8 organizations has grown considerably to grants totaling $9,456,333 in 2021. It is now considered one of the top giving foundations in Montana with assets over $200 Million.

Since 2004, the Gianforte Family Foundation has given more than $97 million to initiatives that align with its mission, vision, and focus.