Frequently Asked Questions

The mission of HCCF is to engage Hill County residents in the support and enhancement of our community. Through the power of permanently endowed funds, we are able to provide support to local Hill County nonprofits. Our annual grant cycle currently provides funding opportunities in the areas of human needs, community beautification, and arts and culture. As the endowment fund grows, more money will be reinvested into Hill County Communities.

The Hill County Community Foundation is an affiliate of the Montana Community Foundation. The Montana Community Foundation is a nonprofit community foundation that manages and invests charitable funds for individuals, families, businesses and other nonprofit organizations. Their mission is to cultivate a culture of giving so Montana communities can flourish. Founded in 1988, the community foundation has approximately $100 million in assets under management and administers more than 1,000 planned gifts and philanthropic funds that make grants to charitable organizations and causes across the state. They are a center for philanthropy in Montana, working with donors, charitable organizations and communities to provide simple and effective ways to give back to Montana.

Most simply, an endowment is a fund whose contributions are not expendable; only the earnings on those contributions are available to support tax exempt organizations or charitable purposes.

The endowments are actively managed by Montana Community Foundation in compliance with their investment policy, which reflects compliance with Montana law, their view of the financial market place, and their responsibility to protect and grow principal and to provide for annual distributions. In the simplest terms, their investment goals are:

Inflation plus 5.5%

Exceed the policy index on a risk adjusted basis

Perform well against our peer group

The balance of all endowment funds is invested in a pool, which is managed by institutional funds managers selected by MCF in a competitive proposal process. Their oversight of managers is rigorous. They monitor performance against the requirements and goals of the investment policy.