Mississippi Center for Public Policy

What Mississippi Center for Public Policy does

Mississippi Center for Public Policy (MCPP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank founded in 1993 and headquartered at 520 George Street, Jackson, Mississippi, that pursues free-market and constitutional policy reform in Mississippi through education, advocacy, research, and litigation. Its operational scope spans four constituencies: state legislators and policy professionals (who consume research, model legislation, and the Freedom Index legislative scoring system), Mississippi families and the general public (who use free consumer-facing webtools and subscribe to the Saturday newsletter), donors and supporters who fund the work through tax-deductible contributions, and young Mississippians who progress through the Mississippi Leadership Academy. As a donor-supported 501(c)(3), MCPP generates revenue exclusively through donations, stock gifts, and planned giving, with suggested contribution tiers ranging from $50 to $1,000 plus custom amounts, one-time gifts, and recurring monthly subscriptions; the organization holds GuideStar's Platinum transparency rating.

The organization's product and program stack centers on a portfolio of seven free, in-house digital webtools — CompareMySchool, TaxToolMS, Your Energy Bill, MississippiWins, Mississippi DOGE, SGOs & Federal Scholarships, and Crime in Your County — alongside the Mississippi Wire newsroom, the Freedom Index research database, and the Mississippi Leadership Academy two-part program. Litigation capability operates through the Mississippi Justice Institute (founded 2016 as a wholly-owned subsidiary), which represents Mississippians in constitutional rights cases at no cost. Distribution and engagement run through the 100,000+ subscriber Saturday newsletter, the Speaker Series events, publications (nine research papers in the past year), earned-media op-eds in outlets ranging from the Wall Street Journal to local Mississippi press, and recurring commentary on CNN, Fox News, PBS, and NPR. The organization operates with a reported 1–10 person staff.

MCPP is an independent, donor-supported entity with no parent company and no private-equity ownership. It is governed by a board chaired by Cal Wells (Partner, Phelps Dunbar) and led by President & CEO Douglas Carswell, the former UK Member of Parliament and Vote Leave co-founder; the senior bench also includes Vance Ginn (former White House OMB Associate Director for Economic Policy) and Ilya Shapiro (Cato Institute). The organization is affiliated with the State Policy Network and has been recognized twice with SPN Bob Williams Awards — in 2022 (Biggest Win for Freedom, flat-tax reform) and 2025 (Biggest State Win, income-tax abolition) — and currently counts five major free-market reforms between 2021 and 2026: labor-market deregulation, flat-tax reform, school-funding reform, income-tax abolition, and Certificate-of-Need reform.

Name

Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Legal name

Mississippi Center for Public Policy

Website

https://mspolicy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit think tank driving free-market policy reform in Mississippi through research, advocacy, and litigation, serving legislators, families, donors, and students via digital webtools, a newsroom, and a leadership academy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Policy Advocacy and Research

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Legal Services (8111), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Civil Liberties & Constitutional Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Policy, Research & Advocacy Organizations (Nonprofit) (BPAGADAN), Legal Literacy & Public Legal Education (Know Your Rights) (EDAAAFAI)

Keywords

• Public policy research
• Free market advocacy
• Constitutional litigation
• Think tank research
• Legislative scorecards

Headquarters

HQ city

Jackson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, MCPP relies primarily on donations from supporters. Suggested giving levels include $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 and other amounts. Both one-time gifts and recurring monthly donations are accepted.
2. Stock Gifts: Transfer of stock through broker or certificate delivery. Gifts of stock are deductible at their current market value.
3. Planned Giving: Legacy giving through estate planning, including MCPP in long-term estate plans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Mississippi Center for Public Policy educates, advocates, and litigates on behalf of free-market and constitutional principles through independent policy research, free public-interest digital webtools (e.g., CompareMySchool, TaxToolMS), a leadership academy for young Mississippians, and a public-interest litigation arm. It produces original research, convenes supporters through events and newsletters, and engages directly with Mississippi state and federal lawmakers to advance liberty-oriented policy reforms.

Product overview

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy is a 501(c)(3) think tank that operates as a policy advocacy organization rather than a traditional software product company. Its offerings consist of research publications, advocacy programs, and a suite of free digital webtools for Mississippi citizens. The digital product portfolio includes CompareMySchool (school comparison), TaxToolMS (public spending transparency), Your Energy Bill (energy bill analysis), MississippiWins (economic data), Mississippi DOGE (government efficiency tracking), SGOs & Federal Scholarships (education savings), Crime in Your County (crime data), and The Mississippi Wire (newsroom platform). Supporting programs include the Mississippi Leadership Academy, Mississippi Justice Institute litigation arm, Speaker Series, and Freedom Index research tool. The organization also publishes the Saturday email newsletter with over 80,000 subscribers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Mississippi Wire: Public newsroom and free tools - the engaging front door to everything MCPP does.
• Mississippi Leadership Academy
• CompareMySchool
• TaxToolMS
• Mississippi Justice Institute

Products and services

• CompareMySchool A free, publicly accessible webtool that lets Mississippi families compare K-12 schools using publicly available performance and demographic data, designed to advance transparency and school choice.
• TaxToolMS A free webtool that helps Mississippi residents and policymakers visualize and analyze state and local tax and spending data, supporting taxpayer transparency and fiscal-policy education.
• Your Energy Bill A free webtool that helps Mississippi households understand their energy bills and the policy drivers behind energy costs, supporting informed consumer and policy decisions.
• Mississippi DOGE A free webtool that tracks Mississippi state government spending, efficiency, and agency performance, modeled on the federal Department of Government Efficiency concept, supporting fiscal accountability.
• Crime in Your County A free webtool that provides county-level crime data and visualizations for Mississippi, helping residents and policymakers evaluate public-safety trends and policy responses.
• SGOs & Federal Scholarships A free webtool that helps Mississippi families navigate Student Granting Organization (SGO) tax-credit scholarships and federal scholarship options to support K-12 education savings and choice.
• MississippiWins A free website that aggregates and presents economic data and pro-growth policy outcomes for Mississippi, supporting the organization's free-market advocacy with accessible metrics.
• Mississippi Justice Institute The public-interest litigation arm of Mississippi Center for Public Policy, which files lawsuits and amicus briefs in Mississippi and federal courts to defend constitutional rights and free-market principles.
• Freedom Index A research and scorecard service that rates Mississippi House and Senate members on key votes according to free-market and constitutional principles, informing voters, donors, and lawmakers.
• Mississippi Leadership Academy An educational program that develops young Mississippians into future policy and civic leaders through training, mentorship, and programming, building the organization's long-term grassroots pipeline.
• The Mississippi Wire An online newsroom and commentary platform that publishes original reporting and analysis on Mississippi public policy from a free-market and constitutional perspective.

Quantifiable outcome

• Mississippi became the first state since 1980 to eliminate its income tax (2025)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• State Policy NetworkcoreOthersMCPP is affiliated with State Policy Network, a network of free-market think tanks. MCPP has been recognized twice with SPN's Bob Williams Award (2022 and 2025). SPN connects state-level policy organizations across the country.
• Mississippi Justice InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMJI is the litigation arm of MCPP, founded in 2016 to defend constitutional rights in court. It represents Mississippians whose rights are threatened by government action, including cases involving occupational licensing, free speech, religious liberty, and Second Amendment rights.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Independence Institute: Colorado free-market state think tank. Comparable as a SPN affiliate focused on education choice, tax limitation, and constitutional-rights advocacy, with a similar research-plus-advocacy operating model.
• Pacific Research Institute: Free-market state and national policy think tank based in California. Comparable as a SPN-affiliated organization producing research, op-eds, and policy reform advocacy across tax, education, and healthcare.
• Pelican Institute for Public Policy: Louisiana free-market think tank. Directly comparable as a SPN state-policy affiliate driving tax, education, and regulatory reform; MCPP Fellow Vance Ginn previously served as Pelican's Chief Economist.
• Goldwater Institute: Free-market state-level public-policy and litigation organization based in Arizona. Directly comparable to MCPP's combined research-plus-litigation model (MJI); both pursue constitutional-rights litigation and education choice reform.
• Beacon Center of Tennessee: Tennessee free-market state think tank and SPN affiliate. Highly comparable to MCPP in scope — research, model legislation, education choice, and tax reform — and is the most direct SPN sibling to MCPP in the Southeast region.
• Mackinac Center for Public Policy: Michigan-based free-market state think tank and SPN affiliate. Directly comparable to MCPP as a long-standing state-level policy organization producing research, litigation, and model legislation across tax, education, and labor reforms.
• Foundation for Government Accountability: Florida-based free-market welfare and entitlement reform organization. Comparable to MCPP's model-legislation and state-level reform strategy; both operate as SPN-style state-policy organizations driving measurable policy outcomes.
• Texas Public Policy Foundation: Large state-level free-market think tank in Austin, Texas. Highly comparable as a SPN-affiliated state policy organization producing research, model legislation, and litigation-adjacent advocacy; MCPP Fellow Vance Ginn served as TPPF's Chief Economist.
• Americans for Tax Reform: National tax-reform advocacy organization led by Grover Norquist. Directly comparable to MCPP as a free-market policy organization that drives state-level tax reform and operates a model-legislation strategy; MCPP Fellow Vance Ginn previously served as staff economist at ATR.

Broad incumbents

• Cato Institute: National libertarian think tank in Washington, DC. Comparable through MCPP Senior Fellow Ilya Shapiro's role directing Cato's Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, and through shared free-market and constitutional-rights advocacy positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mspolicy
• Facebookfacebook.com/MSPOLICY
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mississippi-center-for-public-policy

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Mississippi Center for Public Policy