Two Bear Air Rescue Foundation

Two Bear Air Rescue Foundation is a fundamentally different animal than most foundations in a grant seeker's portfolio. It is, at its core, an operating foundation — a vehicle through which Whitefish, Montana philanthropist Michael Goguen personally finances a fleet of rescue helicopters serving Montana, Idaho, eastern Washington, and eastern Oregon at zero cost to taxpayers or rescue recipients. The foundation was established in 2013, formalized as a 501(c)(3) in 2017, and has never operated a public grants program.

The sole documented external grantee across all available IRS filings is Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center, which received $3,000 in both FY2022 and FY2023. That relationship is instructive: this is an organization whose work directly reduces wilderness fatalities in the same terrain Two Bear Air patrols. Avalanche victims are prime candidates for helicopter rescue in the Flathead Valley. The connection is operational, not philanthropic in the traditional sense.

There is no published grants program, no application portal, no deadline cycle, and no formal solicitation process. The foundation's own website makes no mention of external grantmaking. Regulatory filings mark it as `preselected_only`, and application instructions are listed as none. First-time inquiries should not arrive in the form of a grant proposal — they should arrive as a conversation about shared mission.

The path to this funder runs through relationship, not process. Michael Goguen (President) is the primary funding source and ultimate decision-maker. The most accessible board members for community contact are James Pierce (Secretary/Director) and Karen Valladao (Treasurer/Director). Engagement should target regional contexts: Flathead County outdoor safety events, Montana Wilderness Association gatherings, county sheriff SAR coordination meetings, and NASAR-affiliated conferences where Two Bear Air leadership has visibility.

Organizations best positioned to succeed — if any external grants re-emerge — are those: (1) based in or directly serving MT, ID, eastern WA, or eastern OR; (2) engaged in activities that complement helicopter SAR operations, such as avalanche safety education, wilderness medicine training, SAR volunteer development, or GPS beacon distribution programs; and (3) capable of articulating specifically how their work reduces incident frequency or improves rescue outcomes in the backcountry terrain Two Bear Air serves. Pitch to the mission of saving lives in the Mountain West wilderness, not to general human services or community development.

Two Bear Air Rescue Foundation's financials reveal the trajectory of a rapidly-scaled operating nonprofit rather than a grantmaking institution. Total assets grew from $3.1M in FY2019 to $28.8M in FY2022 — a 9x increase in three years driven by $23.3M in contributions from Michael Goguen in FY2022 alone, plus $20.4M in net investment income that same year. By FY2024, assets had declined to $22.0M as operational spending outpaced investment returns, with no new large capital contributions recorded.

External grantmaking is negligible by any measure: - FY2022: $3,000 to Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center (general operating support) - FY2023: $3,000 to Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center (general support) - FY2024: $0 documented external grants - FY2021, FY2020, FY2019: $0 documented external grants - Total external grants across all documented years: $9,000 to a single recipient

The "total giving" figures in IRS 990-PF filings ($2.25M in 2020, $3.29M in 2021, $8.25M in 2022, $4.48M in 2023) represent qualifying distributions that primarily fund the foundation's own helicopter rescue program operations — pilot salaries, aircraft maintenance, fuel, insurance, and capital equipment — not grants to outside organizations.

Revenue composition has shifted dramatically. In FY2022, Goguen contributions of $23.3M dominated income. By FY2023, contributions dropped to $0, replaced by $576K in net investment income. In FY2024, investment dividends of $927K were the sole meaningful revenue source against $3.8M in total expenses — a burn rate that implies continued asset drawdown of roughly $2.9M per year absent new contributions.

Grant size range: $3,000–$3,000 (no variation). Median grant: $3,000. Geography: 100% Montana. Program area: 100% avalanche/wilderness safety (single grantee). By every measure, this is a near-zero external grantmaking foundation operating under heavy concentration in a single partner.

The peer foundations surfaced in regulatory databases are matched to Two Bear Air Rescue Foundation by asset size and NTEE category (Human Services), but they bear almost no programmatic resemblance. This distinction matters for grant seekers calibrating portfolio strategy.

Two Bear Air Rescue stands apart in nearly every programmatic dimension. Its peers are classified under the broad "Human Services" NTEE umbrella, encompassing social services, emergency assistance, and community support — categories with no overlap with helicopter search and rescue aviation. Two Bear Air is better understood alongside foundations focused on public safety, outdoor recreation safety, or wilderness emergency response: the National Forest Foundation, Montana Community Foundation's disaster relief programs, or private SAR-focused funders like the Flathead County Community Foundation.

For grant seekers working in wilderness safety, emergency preparedness, or outdoor recreation risk reduction in the Mountain West, Two Bear Air is a logical relationship to cultivate — but not through a traditional application. For human services organizations, the asset-size similarity is coincidental; there is no meaningful programmatic alignment to leverage.

Two Bear Air Rescue Foundation's recent public activity centers almost entirely on its operational mission rather than grantmaking announcements.

In December 2025, Plane and Pilot magazine ran a feature profile of the organization reprinted on its blog, spotlighting the crew's technical capabilities and the human stories behind mountain rescues. The article noted the planned transition to an Airbus H145 D3 equipped with a hoist system, supplementing the existing Bell 429 helicopter — a significant capital investment signaling operational expansion rather than philanthropic expansion.

In March 2025, the foundation posted a "Salute to Service" update honoring affiliated personnel, consistent with its community-identity orientation.

In July 2024, Two Bear Air received an industry spotlight from the Vertical Aviation International (VAI) member publication, describing it as a "nonprofit operator funded by a local philanthropist" providing rescue and law enforcement aviation support across the Northwest.

Also in July 2024, NBC Montana covered a successful rescue of a couple and their dog from the Bob Marshall Wilderness — part of the foundation's near-1,000 lifetime rescue missions documented through early 2024.

No new grantmaking announcements, leadership changes, or new program launches were identified in public sources for 2025 or 2026. The FY2024 IRS filing (submitted November 2025) shows no external grants paid and continued operational focus. Michael Goguen remains President; no board transitions have been announced. The absence of external communications about grantmaking is itself informative — this is an organization communicating its rescue operations, not its philanthropy.

Given the near-absence of a formal external grants program, the most valuable advice for any organization pursuing Two Bear Air Rescue Foundation is to reframe the goal: the objective is relationship, not application.

1. Do not submit an unsolicited proposal. There is no grants portal, no published deadlines, and no application form. Cold proposals will not be processed. Any outreach that begins with a grant request will likely end there.

2. Anchor your pitch to the mission of saving lives in the Mountain West. The foundation's only documented external grantee — Friends of the Flathead Avalanche Center — succeeded because its work directly reduces the wilderness fatalities that trigger Two Bear Air's helicopter deployments. Language that resonates: "reducing SAR incident frequency," "improving survivor outcomes in backcountry emergencies," "complementing aerial rescue with ground-level prevention." Language to avoid: general human services, community development, social equity, poverty reduction — these have no evident traction here.

3. Geographic alignment is non-negotiable. Two Bear Air serves MT, ID, eastern WA, and eastern OR. Organizations outside this operational footprint have no pathway. Within this footprint, the Flathead Valley (Kalispell, Whitefish, Glacier National Park corridor) is the highest-priority geography.

4. Build presence in shared spaces before making any ask. Relevant venues include: Flathead County Sheriff's office SAR coordination, Montana Wilderness Association events, NASAR (National Association for Search and Rescue) conferences, and outdoor emergency medicine training programs in the region. Board members James Pierce and Karen Valladao are more accessible than Michael Goguen for initial contact.

5. If an inquiry is appropriate, use the phone. The foundation's contact number is (406) 755-4297. A brief, mission-aligned call to introduce your organization — not to pitch a grant — is more appropriate than an email proposal.

6. Target $3,000 as the realistic ask. The entire documented external grantmaking history of this foundation is $3,000/year to one recipient. Do not arrive expecting five- or six-figure funding without a much deeper relationship than currently exists between this foundation and any outside organization.

7. Monitor for change. If Goguen makes a new large capital contribution, the foundation's posture could shift. Watch IRS 990-PF filings annually (typically filed in November for the prior fiscal year) via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.