OVERVIEW: The Pinebelt Foundation supports education, human services, arts and culture, religious organizations, animal welfare, and disaster relief in the pine belt region of Mississippi.
IP TAKE: This community funder does not make itself particularly accessible to nonprofit grant seekers. The foundation website is primarily directed towards donors seeking to open a fund under the foundation’s management. It does not provide significant guidelines or application forms online for nonprofit grants, although upcoming deadlines do appear on its open grants page.
It should be noted that while Pinebelt tends to appear as a mainstream funder, previous 990s show that is has given small grants to conservative think tanks like The Heritage Foundation in recent years, so progressive outfits might not find success here.
PROFILE: Established in 1997, the Pinebelt Foundation is a community foundation based in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, which has since grown to manage over 180 funds. Pinebelt aims to help “the pine belt of Mississippi continue to become a more equitable and prosperous community for all of its residents.” It funds local education, human services, arts and culture, religion, animals, and disaster relief efforts.
The Pinebelt Foundation manages various types of funds, including donor-advised funds, designated funds, field-of-interest funds, scholarship funds, agency funds, and fiscal scholarship funds. It also administers a couple dozen scholarship funds to benefit local students.
Grants for Human Services
A significant portion of Pinebelt’s giving goes to organizations located in Southeast Mississippi’s involved with elderly care, care for the disabled, housing, and rehabilitation.
- Pinebelt’s Ann Morris Memorial Fund, one of their field of interest funds, supports organizations of the Pine Belt dedicated to “enriching the quality of life of persons of advanced age, who have been diagnosed as intellectually disabled.” Recipient organizations must be located in the following counties: Smith, Jasper, Lawrence, Jefferson Davis, Covington, Jones, Wayne, Pike, Walthall, Marion, Lamar, Forrest and Perry.
- Recent recipients of other grants related to human services include the YMCA of Hattiesburg, Christian Services Inc. of America, Wilson Research Foundation and Edwards Street Fellowship Center.
Grants for Religion
Pinebelt gives to a large swath of Christian denominational churches and organizations in Mississippi, representing a major grantmaking area for the foundation. Recent grantees include Main Street United Methodist Church, Behold Israel, and The Center for Encouraging Pastors.
Grants for Education
Pinebelt’s grants for education consistently focus on investing in Mississippi-based universities, as well as on K-12 Education.
- Recent higher education grants include the University of Southern Mississippi and Carey University, both main stays on 990s.
- This funder also gives to K-12 schools and educational organizations, for instance, Hattiesburg Public School District Foundation, Sacred Heart Catholic School, and United Way of Southeast Mississippi.The foundation also runs a few dozen scholarship funds for a variety of local school systems and community colleges in the pine belt. See the foundation’s scholarship page for more information on open applications and deadlines.
Grants for Public Health
Pinebelt’s health grants tend to focus on breast cancer over other health interests. In this light, this organization conducts related grants through the Faith for a Cure Fund, which provides aid for those “who are in need of help with the financial burden of a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment course.” Recipients must be located in the following counties: Jones, Covington, Forrest, Jasper Smith, Wayne and Perry.
Grants for the Environment
Pinebelt’s environmental grants appear broad in focus with a minor emphasis on animal rescue.
- Though this focus area is small in light of others, this foundation consistently invests in animal welfare, including shelters like Southern Cross Animal Rescue and Southern Pines Animal Shelter
- However, more recent grants invest in more traditional environmental outfits, such as Piney Woods Conservation Group, which focus on environmental conservation throughout the area, rather than a subgroup of conservation work.
Important Grant Details:
Most of Pinebelt’s grants range between about $5,000 and $50,000, and occasionally surpass $100,000.
- Grantmaking focuses on the city of Hattiesburg and the pine belt region of Mississippi that surrounds the city.
- Other local communities receiving grants include Jackson, Drew, Laurel, and more. This foundation does not appear to accept unsolicited grant applications from nonprofits, but its grant application system, GOApply, instructs applicants of open grants.
Direct general inquiries to the staff at pinebeltcf@pinebeltfoundation.org or (601) 583-6180.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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