Tom and Frances Leach Foundation

What Tom and Frances Leach Foundation does

The Tom and Frances Leach Foundation, Inc. is a private 501(c)(3) charitable foundation established in 1955 in Bismarck, North Dakota, by oil geologist Thomas Witt Leach (the 'Father of North Dakota oil') and Frances Van Valkenburgh (Land) Leach. The foundation's endowment was seeded through oil investments and royalties in the Williston Basin, originally held via North American Royalties, Inc., and grant-making is funded by investment returns on that endowment rather than by annual fundraising. It awards single and multi-year grants — including direct program funding, general operating support, endowments, scholarships, and capital campaign funding — exclusively to IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofits operating in the Bismarck-Mandan area and Western North Dakota across four focus verticals: Education, Health & Science, Human Services, and Arts & Humanities. Grant applications are submitted online via the Submittable platform, screened by the Grants Coordinator, and approved by the Board of Directors at the annual November meeting, with awards issued by December 31.

The foundation operates with 1-10 employees under a board led by President David L. Goodin, Vice President Ann M. Reich, and Secretary Treasurer Kate Black. Its technology footprint is non-proprietary and modest: a website built and maintained by 701 Studios, Google Analytics for traffic analysis, Google reCAPTCHA for spam protection, and Facebook/YouTube channels for community engagement. The organization maintains a network of more than 75 documented grantees (including Northern Plains Dance, Morton County Council on Aging, AID Inc., Bismarck Cancer Center, International Peace Garden, and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library). Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed, and the foundation's mission is purely philanthropic — it sells no products or services.

Name

Tom and Frances Leach Foundation

Legal name

The Tom and Frances Leach Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://leachfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1955

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation / Philanthropic Grant-making

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB), Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), Behavioral Health & Substance Use Program Funding (Public Health) (HLAJALAI)

Keywords

• Charitable foundation grants
• Nonprofit grantmaking
• Regional philanthropy
• Endowment funding
• 501c3 grant programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Bismarck

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Endowment: The foundation operates as a private charitable foundation funded by an endowment established by founders Thomas Witt Leach and Frances Van Valkenburgh (Land) Leach. The foundation's wealth originated from oil investments and royalties in the Williston Basin, North Dakota. Revenue is generated from investment returns on the endowment, which is then distributed as grants to qualifying nonprofit organizations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Tom and Frances Leach Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) charitable foundation that awards grants to IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in four focus areas: Education, Health & Science, Human Services, and Arts & Humanities. Grants are issued annually (typically by December 31) following board review and may be single or multi-year, covering direct program funding, general operating support, endowments, scholarships, and capital campaigns. The foundation accepts grant applications through the Submittable online platform and concentrates its giving in the Bismarck-Mandan and Western North Dakota regions.

Product overview

The Tom and Frances Leach Foundation operates as a philanthropic grant-making organization rather than a traditional product company. Its core offerings consist of grant programs supporting nonprofit organizations across four focus areas: Education, Health & Science, Human Services, and Arts & Humanities. The foundation provides single and multi-year grants through direct program funding, general operating grants, endowments, scholarships, and capital campaigns. The foundation also manages an online grant application system via Submittable for application processing. A significant portion of grant-making is geographically focused in the Bismarck-Mandan area and Western North Dakota.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Education Grants

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 75 nonprofit organizations supported through grants
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• 701 StudioscoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 March 2025701 Studios, a web development firm based in North Dakota, partnered with the foundation to build a modern, updated website. The new site features an intuitive layout, clear navigation, and in-depth information about the foundation's history, grant-making efforts, and community impact. The partnership ensures the foundation's digital presence effectively communicates its mission to nonprofit organizations, community leaders, and individuals seeking grant information.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Dakota Medical Foundation: North Dakota-based charitable foundation focused on health and human services grantmaking in the region; comparable regional focus and sector overlap with the Leach Foundation's Health & Science grants.
• North Dakota Community Foundation: Statewide community foundation serving North Dakota with grantmaking across multiple sectors; directly comparable in mission, geographic scope, and grantmaking model to the Leach Foundation's regional focus.
• Impact Foundation: Community-focused grantmaking organization supporting regional nonprofits; comparable in operating model of distributing funds through structured application and review cycles to local 501(c)(3) organizations.
• Otto Bremer Trust: Mid-sized regional philanthropic trust operating in the Upper Midwest with grantmaking across human services, education, and community development; closely comparable to the Leach Foundation in structure and multi-sector regional grantmaking.
• Fargo-Moorhead Area Foundation: Community foundation serving the Fargo-Moorhead region with grantmaking across multiple focus areas; closely comparable in scale, community-foundation structure, and North Dakota/Minnesota regional orientation.

Others

• Council on Foundations: Industry association serving philanthropic organizations including community foundations; not a direct grantmaker but a peer in the ecosystem and a resource the Leach Foundation links to from its own Resources page.
• North Dakota Association of Nonprofit Organizations: State-level membership association supporting North Dakota nonprofits; cited as a resource by the Leach Foundation and represents the broader regional nonprofit ecosystem the foundation supports.

Broad incumbents

• Bush Foundation: Large Minnesota-based regional foundation investing in community and economic opportunity across the Upper Midwest; broader in scale and geography but operates a similar community-foundation model with multi-sector grantmaking.
• The Helmsley Charitable Trust: Large private charitable foundation supporting health, education, conservation, and community initiatives with significant regional presence in the Upper Midwest; comparable in multi-sector grantmaking but operates at substantially greater scale.
• M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust: Pacific Northwest regional foundation providing grants across education, health, human services, and arts; comparable in multi-sector grantmaking approach though larger and more established.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Tom and Frances Leach Foundation