What Community Foundation for Mississippi does

The Community Foundation for Mississippi (CFM) is a nonprofit public charity founded in 1994 in Jackson, Mississippi. Originally established as the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson with four charitable funds totaling $250,000, the organization rebranded in 2017 to reflect a statewide mandate and now serves 22 counties in central and southwest Mississippi. CFM operates as a community foundation platform, connecting individual donors, families, professional advisors, nonprofits, and communities through a suite of charitable giving vehicles including donor-advised, designated, field-of-interest, scholarship, award, and endowment funds. As of last fiscal year, the foundation administered over $62 million in charitable assets across 247 funds and awarded $3.5 million in grants from restricted funds, with cumulative grants and scholarships exceeding $57 million since inception.

CFM's core service lines include charitable funds management, a competitive grants program (Community Impact Project Grants up to $5,000), scholarship administration (55 recipients selected for 2026), and endowment establishment starting at $25,000. The foundation operates on a cloud-based donor management and fund administration platform (cffms.fcsuite.com) and partners with the Endow Mississippi Tax Credit Program, which provides a 25% Mississippi state income tax credit on qualifying permanent endowment gifts of $1,000-$200,000. Supporting programs include Mississippi Placemaking, the Mississippi Legacy Circle (planned giving), the Giving Forward annual celebration, and the Constructive South journalism initiative. The foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees and accredited through Community Foundation National Standards (reaccredited April 2026) and the Candid Platinum Seal of Transparency.

The foundation's revenue model is primarily managed services: endowment management and investment fees on pooled charitable assets, plus recurring administration fees for donor-advised and designated funds. Distribution is relationship-driven across four core customer segments: individuals and families, nonprofits, professional advisors (attorneys, CPAs, financial planners, brokers, insurance agents), and community-based initiatives. The go-to-market is hybrid, combining direct sales, a professional advisor referral channel, an online donation portal, and competitive grant cycles. CFM is led by President and CEO Jane Alexander with a lean operating team of 1-10 employees, supported by Vice President for Philanthropy Theresa Erickson, Vice President of Operations Cynthia Buchanan, Director of Strategic Impact Melody Moody Thortis, and Director of Communications and Insights Sophie McNeil Wolf.

Name

Community Foundation for Mississippi

Legal name

Community Foundation for Mississippi

Website

https://formississippi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Community Foundation for Mississippi is a nonprofit community foundation that connects donors, nonprofits, professional advisors, and communities across 22 Mississippi counties through charitable funds, grants, scholarships, and endowments totaling over $62 million in assets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Foundation and Philanthropic Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Charitable fund management
• Community foundation services
• Donor advised funds
• Grantmaking administration
• Scholarship administration

Headquarters

HQ city

Jackson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Endowment Management and Investment Fees: The foundation manages charitable endowments and restricted funds, using pooled investment approaches to grow donor funds over time. Revenue is generated through the investment management of over $62 million in charitable assets.
2. Donor-Advised and Designated Fund Administration: The foundation administers various fund types (donor-advised, designated, field of interest, nonprofit endowment, scholarship funds) and earns fees for fund management and administration services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Community Foundation for Mississippi is a publicly supported charitable foundation that manages charitable funds on behalf of donors, administers competitive grant cycles for nonprofits, and runs scholarship programs for students. It pools donor contributions into invested endowments, provides philanthropic advisory services, and redistributes funds through grants and scholarships across 22 counties in central and southwest Mississippi.

Product overview

The Community Foundation for Mississippi operates as a philanthropic services organization offering a unified platform of charitable giving and fund management services. The core offerings include Charitable Funds Management (handling donor advised, designated, field of interest, endowment, scholarship, and award funds), a Grants Program (competitive cycles including Community Impact Project Grants up to $5,000), and Scholarship Awards (managing various named scholarships for students). Supporting services include Endowments (fund establishment and management starting at $25,000), Donor Services (advisory and strategic giving support), the Endow Mississippi Tax Credit Program (providing 25% state tax credits for endowment gifts), and Investment Pools and Returns (pooled investment management for charitable funds). The foundation also operates special programs including Mississippi Placemaking, Mississippi Legacy Circle (planned giving), Giving Forward (annual impact celebration), and Friendsgiving. The organization serves 22 counties in central and southwest Mississippi, having expanded from its 1994 founding as the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson with four funds totaling $250,000 to managing more than $62 million in charitable assets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Charitable Funds Management Management of various charitable fund types including donor-advised funds, designated funds, field of interest funds, nonprofit endowment funds, scholarship funds, and award funds that create long-term sustainability for nonprofits and communities.
• Grants Program Competitive grant cycles awarding funds to nonprofits, with the Community Impact Project Grants providing up to $5,000 in the focus areas of Placemaking, Children and Families, and Community Partnerships.
• Scholarship Awards Various scholarship funds supporting students pursuing higher education, including named scholarships such as the Anthony 'Tony' Gobar Juvenile Justice Scholarship and the Leland R. Speed Scholarship for JROTC Top Cadets.
• Endowments Endowment fund establishment and management services that provide long-term sustainability for nonprofits and charitable causes, with endowed funds starting at $25,000.
• Donor Services Philanthropic advisory services helping individuals, families, and organizations develop charitable giving strategies and connect to causes they care about.
• Investment Pools and Returns Investment management services for charitable funds with pooled investment options and documented returns, supporting long-term growth of more than $62 million in charitable assets.
• Mississippi Legacy Circle Legacy giving program for donors planning long-term charitable contributions and bequests through planned giving vehicles.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $57 million in grants and scholarships awarded since 1994
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 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

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• W.K. Kellogg FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 September 2020Partnership to transform Jackson Public Schools through strategic planning and education initiatives including statewide literacy, grade-level reading, teacher excellence, and strong public schools support. WKKF has allocated funding for three-year initiatives.
• The Harwood Institute for Public InnovationminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2020Partnership for Jackson Ready: A New Civic Covenant initiative, bringing together community thought partners to explore ways for people to move forward together with shared responsibility for Jackson's success.
• Other Mississippi Community FoundationsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Six other community foundations in Mississippi including Community Foundation of East Mississippi, Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, Community Foundation of Washington County, CREATE Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, and Greater Pinebelt Community Foundation.
• Endow MississippicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Statewide program providing 25% state income tax credit to donors who give to permanent endowments at qualified community foundations. $500,000 annual tax credit pool available. The foundation participates as a qualified community foundation.
• Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and PhilanthropyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019State membership organization for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations that builds capacity and fosters collaboration. CFM supports The Alliance and collaborates on COVID-19 response resources.
• Blue Magnolia FilmsminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Film production company that conducted capacity-building storytelling workshops with community leaders, teaching documentary-style storytelling methods to produce narratives that resonate with communities.
• Mississippi Department of Archives and HistoryminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Received $750,000 contribution from John F. and Lucy Shackelford bequest to sponsor the Community Foundation for Mississippi Gallery at the Museum of Mississippi History.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• California Community Foundation: One of the largest U.S. community foundations, with a similar donor-advised fund, endowment, and grantmaking model but at dramatically larger scale. Useful as a large-format analogous business model for understanding how CFM could grow.
• The Chicago Community Trust: Large, established regional community foundation with the same core offering suite (donor-advised funds, endowments, competitive grants, scholarships) as CFM. Models a mature growth trajectory for what CFM could become.

Regional players

• CREATE Foundation: CREATE Foundation is a community foundation serving northeast Mississippi that CFM explicitly partners with as part of the seven-foundation Mississippi ecosystem. Both are Endow Mississippi qualified community foundations with overlapping donor and advisor networks but distinct geographic footprints.
• Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi: Another Mississippi community foundation in the same statewide ecosystem, serving the northwest region. Operates the same Endow Mississippi tax-credit model and offers similar donor-advised funds, endowments, and competitive grant cycles to CFM.
• Community Foundation of East Mississippi: One of the six partner community foundations in the Mississippi network, serving the east-central region. Directly comparable in product mix (fund management, grantmaking, scholarships) and aligned under the Endow Mississippi program.
• Greater Pinebelt Community Foundation: Another Mississippi community foundation in the CFM partner network, serving the Pine Belt region. Identical core offerings of charitable funds, endowments, scholarships, and competitive grant cycles.
• Gulf Coast Community Foundation: Mississippi Gulf Coast community foundation and one of CFM's named partner foundations. Same donor-advised fund, grantmaking, and scholarship business model, focused on a different Mississippi region.
• Community Foundation of Washington County: Peer Mississippi community foundation serving the Delta region. Same accreditation track, Endow Mississippi participation, and full menu of charitable fund and grantmaking services.

Others

• Council on Foundations: National membership association of philanthropic entities that administers the Community Foundation National Standards accreditation program that CFM just earned in April 2026. Not a competitor but a sector-level peer and standards body.

Emerging players

• Endow Mississippi: Statewide programmatic partner that administers the 25% state tax credit program in which CFM participates as a qualified community foundation. Operates adjacent to rather than competing with CFM, but is a critical channel for endowment inflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/formississippi
• Facebookfacebook.com/communityfoundationformississippi
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/formississippi
• Instagraminstagram.com/formississippi

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Community Foundation for Mississippi