The Maddox Foundation has renewed its support for Mississippi Today’s year-end fundraising efforts and has increased its annual matching grant to $30,000 for the 2025 campaign, the nonprofit news organization announced Tuesday.

The gift continues a long partnership between the foundation and Mississippi Today, one that has helped the newsroom unlock significant community support for independent journalism in Mississippi.

The renewed challenge grant will match all reader contributions made through Dec. 31, helping Mississippi Today galvanize donor participation and secure additional funds from national programs such as NewsMatch. The increased amount reflects the foundation’s ongoing belief in the newsroom’s mission to provide reporting that strengthens civic engagement across Mississippi.

“Mississippi Today continues to serve our state with courage and clarity,” said Robin Hurdle of the Maddox Foundation. “Pope Leo wrote, ‘Whenever a journalist is silenced, the democratic soul of a nation is weakened.’ Mississippi Today is an invaluable resource for letting people know what is really happening in our state. We are honored to play a small role in supporting that work, and we are thrilled that the newsroom has been able to take our challenge grant and turn it into something bigger.”

Mississippi Today CEO Mary Margaret White expressed gratitude to the foundation for its trust, generosity and commitment to a stronger, more informed Mississippi through support of local news. 

“This match makes an enormous difference in our ability to grow reader support and expand our public service journalism into 2026, when we will celebrate our 10-year anniversary,” White said. “The Maddox Foundation has been a key supporter of so many high-impact organizations in our state, and we are proud to be counted among that number.”

About the Maddox Foundation

Maddox Foundation was founded by Dan Maddox in 1968. He and his wife, Margaret Maddox, had a commitment to young people, a love of nature and a vision for making their corner of the world a better place. They chose Robin Hurdle to continue their legacy, which lives on through the current work of the Foundation. Maddox Foundation, located in Hernando, Mississippi, has made many signature investment grants. These investments include establishing and funding the new Dan Maddox YMCA in Hernando, Mississippi, collaborating with the Emmett Till Interpretive Center to create awareness for the story of Emmett Till and Mamie Till Mobley, establishing the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, funding the education director position and various exhibits at the Grammy Museum Mississippi, renovating and supporting the Margaret Maddox Family YMCA, putting an internet-connected computer in every public classroom in Mississippi and creating innovative places for children to learn and play.

About Mississippi Today

Founded in 2016 as a statehouse watchdog, Mississippi Today began with a focus on Capitol coverage and has since expanded into one of the most comprehensive newsrooms in the state. Today, our reporting spans politics, education, public health, justice, the environment, equity, sports and culture, with every story grounded in the belief that free, nonpartisan journalism is the antidote to apathy and the cornerstone of accountability.

Backed by a team of the state’s leading journalists, business minds and innovators, Mississippi Today has earned national recognition from the Institute for Nonprofit News, the American Journalism Project, the Knight Foundation and the Online News Association as a model of newsroom innovation and public service journalism.

Now the largest newsroom in Mississippi, Mississippi Today is the state’s flagship nonprofit news source — informing communities, holding power to account and meeting the information needs of Mississippians across the state.

How to support this work

Through Dec. 31, every contribution to Mississippi Today will be matched up to $30,000, thanks to the generous support of the Maddox Foundation. Gifts can be made here.