Missoula Community Foundation Scholarship Program
2023-2024 APPLICATION GUIDELINES
DEADLINE: Monday, March 25, 2024 - 11:59 PM


The Missoula Community Foundation Scholarship Program is designed to provide assistance to students from Missoula-area high schools who will attend post-secondary schools. Students who are applying for these scholarships must attend a higher-education institution in Montana OR a WUE (Western Undergraduate Exchange) school. List of WUE schools.

General Scholarship
A total of five, $1,000 scholarships will be awarded. One student from each of the following schools will be awarded a scholarship:

• Big Sky
• Frenchtown
• Hellgate
• Seeley-Swan
• Sentinel High Schools
• Willard students are also encouraged to apply.

Diversity Scholarship
This year we are launching our " Diversity Scholarship". This scholarship of $1,000 will benefit one student that identifies with an underrepresented ethnic group and attends a Missoula-area high school (listed above).

• Applicants who are not chosen for the Diversity Scholarship will automatically be entered into the General Scholarship pool based on their high school.

What to Expect in the Application
This application is designed to help our review committee get to know each applicant. The goal of the application is to provide support to students who demonstrate the following:

• Financial Need
• Determination
• Perseverance
• Commitment

The application contains 3 major sections:

• Personal Information
• School Demographics
• Essay Questions

For the essay portion of the application, you can choose to submit your answers in written, audio, or video format.

Scholarship funds will be disbursed directly to the post-secondary institution, in two installments of $500 -- one per semester. Students will be required to submit proof of enrollment and registration before scholarships are paid out.

Please contact your school counselor with any questions.
You may also contact the Missoula Community Foundation at: info@missoulacommunityfoundation.org or (406) 926-2846.

Lorilee Evans-Lynn Memorial Scholarship

Missoula Community Foundation Scholarship Program
2023-2024 APPLICATION GUIDELINES
DEADLINE: Monday, March 25, 2024 - 11:59 PM

The Lorilee Evans-Lynn Memorial Scholarship is an annual scholarship, administered through the Missoula Community Foundation, to support graduating seniors at Big Sky High School who have a passion for the creative arts and are pursuing secondary education in that field. 

The fund was established to honor Lorilee Evans-Lynn, the long-time advisor of Aerie Big Sky and the founder/advisor of Aerie International.  Aerie International includes an award winning literary magazine that is published by the students at Big Sky High School in Missoula, Montana. In addition, Aerie international showcases art from students around the world and Aerie Big Sky features work from local students.

Preference will be given to students who have participated in the Aerie Program and whose passion is writing/poetry.  This is not a needs-based scholarship.

Scholarship Amount
One $1,500 scholarship will be awarded to an applicant from Big Sky High School. 

Additional Criteria

The applicant must be meet the following criteria in order to be considered.

• Planning to be enrolled as a full-time student in any college or university located in the United States
• Graduating from Big Sky High School 
• Majoring in literary arts (writing, drama, poetry), performing arts (dance, music, theater) or visual arts (film, painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography)
• Preference will be given to Aerie students 

What to Expect in the Application
This application is designed to help our review committee get to know each applicant. The goal of the application is to provide support to a student who demonstrate the following:

• Passionate about the Arts
• Values Community and Collaboration

The application contains 4 major sections:

• Personal Information
• School Demographics
• Essay Questions
• Upload link to submit digital media (PDF/JPEG/Video, etc...) showcasing your art

For the essay portion of the application, you can choose to submit your answers in written, audio, or video format.

Scholarship funds will be disbursed directly to the post-secondary institution, in one installment which will be split between first year semesters. Students will be required to submit proof of enrollment and registration before the scholarship is paid out.
Please contact your school counselor with any questions.
You may also contact the Missoula Community Foundation at: info@missoulacommunityfoundation.org or (406) 926-2846.

Thank you for your interest in being a part of the Women's Giving Circle of Missoula County Steering Committee. The Women’s Giving Circle of Missoula County empowers women and non-binary individuals to be leaders in philanthropy and inspires collaborative giving to create positive change in our community. Every member, whether they give $10 per month or $1,000, has the opportunity to learn about community needs, hear how nonprofit organizations address those needs, and make decisions on how to give collective funds for maximum community impact. Our voices, too often muted in traditional philanthropy, are amplified by working together, so we can invest collective dollars for change. 

A program of the Missoula Community Foundation, we collectively pool the resources of our members to leverage their modest gifts into $10,000 grants for worthy local nonprofit organizations. The Circle is an evolving organization with ongoing recruitment events and efforts. 

Steering Committee members express their interests in whichever ways are most effective for them.  This can be by designing processes and policies, working to expand membership, contributing to our social media and online presence, and generally acting as a leader for the Circle. Committee members guide the work of the Circle through the annual grant cycles and choose the best applications to present to the Circle members.  In these challenging times, the Circle is working hard to address serious needs of our community.  We hope you'll join us!

Please complete this application form in order to be considered for the steering committee.

Steering Committee Description

1. Application: Members at all giving levels are eligible to serve on the Steering Committee.
2. Size: 11 - 13 Giving Circle members plus ex-officio representatives from Missoula Community Foundation (Executive Director or designee and MCF Program Manager). MCF Executive Director and Program Manager cannot vote in committee meetings but may vote as part of grant cycles as long as their membership is in good standing.
3. Quorum: Defined as half of the committee members plus one for the majority.  Quorum is based on committee membership for any given year.
4. Terms of Service: The term year is January 15 – December 31. Members serve three-year terms depending on openings to ensure that the Committee which ensures continuity on the committee. Members are expected to contribute to the work of the Committee, attend meetings, and conform to standard codes of conduct including courtesy, responsibility, and respect. Committee members can serve 2 terms consecutively, without reapplying. After a second term is complete, committee members must take one year off before re-applying to the committee.
5. Sub-committees: Each member of the Steering Committee is expected to serve on one of the sub-committees (Policies & Procedures, Events, Marketing, and Membership). These committees are where most of our work is done.
6. Contributions: Steering Committee members are encouraged to contribute financially to the WGC at the highest level acceptable for their household.

Steering Committee Roles and Responsibilities

Responsibilities include (but may not be limited to) active participation in:

1. Grants application process.
2. Determination of grant focus and the timeline for the grant cycle.
3. Evaluation of grant applications and determination of applications to be presented to the membership at large. (Depending on the number of applications, generally, the time commitment is approximately 10-15 hours for the year).
4. Events for grant cycle, membership recruitment.
5. Active ambassadorship for the WGC.
6. Strategic planning activities.
7. Steering Committee recruitment, nominations, and selection.
8. Oversight of Conflict of Interest Policy compliance.

Thank you again for your interest in serving on the Women's Giving Circle of Missoula County Steering Committee. Please be assured that we are working to ensure this committee is non-partisan, diverse, and inclusive. All are welcome.