As we embrace the promise of spring, we are thrilled to bring you a host of exciting updates, opportunities, and inspiring stories that highlight the incredible impact of our collective efforts.

Spring Grant Application is Opening Soon!

We're excited to share that our 2024 Spring Grant Application will be opening in the next few days! Check our social media for any updates!

The Community Foundation provides four competitive grant programs that center around Early Childhood Education, the Future of Northwest Mississippi, Place-Based Education & Civic Engagement, and Technology in Education. These competitive grant programs are available twice a year.

Nonprofit organizations operating within the Community Foundation's service region, which includes Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, and Tunica counties, are eligible to apply.

Endowment for the Future of Northwest Mississippi

The Endowment for the Future of Northwest Mississippi focuses on four key areas: promoting health through sustainable food systems; encouraging active living with support for bike lanes, walking trails, and parks; ensuring oral health for children; and enhancing education by supporting cultural and historical initiatives, public libraries, youth leadership programs, arts education, and after-school mentoring/tutoring programs. Through these targeted efforts, the endowment aims to positively impact the well-being and growth of the community.

Endowment for Placed-Based Education & Civic Entrepreneurship

The Endowment for Place-Based Education & Civic Entrepreneurship supports a teaching and learning process that utilizes the local environment and community as the context for education. Emphasizing the use of local resources as teaching tools, this approach involves students in problem-solving and meaningful tasks, allowing them to construct their learning and create realistic, student-generated products. The learning takes place within the local community and environment, connecting students to real work that addresses community needs and is driven by student initiative. The program is designed to foster lifelong learning and empower students, educators, local citizens, and policymakers to be agents of positive change, using both local places and the broader world as their classroom.

Endowment for Technology in Education

The Endowment for Technology in Education offers various programs to advance learning through technology. This includes summer technology camps and workshops for teachers, providing innovative and hands-on training. Students benefit from engaging technology workshops outside their regular classrooms, fostering creativity and skill development. Entrepreneurship support is facilitated using EverFi, encouraging students to explore and apply their technological skills in real-world scenarios. Additionally, the endowment focuses on leveraging technology to enhance early childhood learning, recognizing its potential as a valuable educational tool.

Endowment for Early Childhood Education

The Endowment for Early Childhood Education offers crucial support to various childhood education programs, including Parents for Teachers, Baby University, and other promising initiatives. Notable examples of support include the Entergy Charitable Foundation's contribution to the First Regional Library Early Childhood Resource and Referral Center’s Words on Wheels Bus. Additionally, the endowment supports Excel by 5, aiding programs like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and assisting other Excel by 5 initiatives in obtaining certification to advance early childhood education in the community. Through these efforts, the endowment plays a vital role in promoting effective and innovative early childhood education programs.

Your generosity has made an impact on our community

The ENDOW Mississippi state income tax credit applies only to gifts made to new or existing endowment funds at the Community Foundation.

Minimum gift is $1,000 ($250 tax credit) Maximum gift is $500,000 ($125,000 tax credit) Deadline to submit application is September 30, 2024.



The allocation is limited per year on a first come-first service basis. Additional allocations may be available after October 1, 2024 but are not guaranteed.

Out In The Community

A group of our staff attended The Baddour Center's Dancing For Our Stars fundraiser, where they had the opportunity to support one of our board members, Will Brown from DeSoto County, who participated as a dancer and won "Peoples Choice" for the best dance.

Mr. William Dulaney of Tunica, a dedicated longtime donor, was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America for his extensive service to scouting and his significant contributions to the Tunica community.

As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance your experience, we are in the process of updating the cfnm.org website. While you may observe some changes, our goal is to create a more seamless and functional space for your convenience. So, stay tuned!

Follow the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi on TikTok @CFNM2002 for more video content.