OVERVIEW: The Mississippi Common Fund Trust makes grants for education and journalism in Mississippi.
IP TAKE: Despite this foundation’s low-key web presence, Mississippi Common Fund Trust is one of the top grantmakers in the state, steadily giving million-dollar grants to local organizations. MCFT is a grantmaker that typically awards large grants to a small group of pre-selected, established journalistic organizations with which it is familiar, offering support across multiple years. Grantseekers seeking grassroots funding may not find much success with this funder. This funder does not accept unsolicited applications, so grant seekers’ best bet is to contact the foundation; however, keep in mind that new grantees rarely appear on its 990s.
PROFILE: Established in 1996, the Mississippi Common Fund Trust (MCFT) is an independent foundation based in Oxford, Mississippi. The University of Mississippi Foundation is a trustee of MCTF, along with the other officers of the UM Foundation: Wendell Weakly as president/CEO, Sandra Guest as vice president/secretary and Maggie Abernathy as treasurer. MCFT funds local efforts for education and journalism.
The Mississippi Common Trust Fund does not have a website to guide grantseekers. In the past, the foundation may have supported healthcare research, university athletics, and select human services organizations, but recent giving has steered away from said areas.
Grants for Education
In the past few years, MCFT’s education grantmaking has involved the same handful of local recipients, focusing on large institutions affiliated with higher education or private K-12 groups. The University of Mississippi Foundation receives annual multi-million dollar gifts to support various programs and scholarships, while St. Andrew’s Episcopal Day School, a K-12 private institution, has also received support in recent years.
Grants for Journalism
MCFT’s journalism grants focus on specific, multi-year grantees that do big work. Rather than invest in a wide range of grantees in this space, MCFT is a dedicated funder of Deep South Today (formerly Mississippi New and Information Corp), an awardee of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting, with annual grants of $250,000 to $500,000.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range between about $200,000 and upwards of $7 million.
- Grantmaking focuses on Mississippi. Grantees are based in the cities of Ridgeland, University and Jackson.
- This foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits and only funds pre-selected organizations.
- Direct general questions to the staff at (662) 915-1581.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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