Maddox Foundation

The Maddox Foundation is a relationship-driven, invitation-only funder, not an open competitive grantmaker. Public reporting and grant-database summaries consistently describe it as not accepting unsolicited proposals — its own website (currently under reconstruction) directs inquiries to a phone call or contact form rather than a portal, and the IRS record lists application_instructions as none while still marking the foundation as an active grantmaker. In practice, funding flows through existing relationships built by foundation president Robin Grindstaff Hurdle (listed in IRS filings as Robin Grindstaff Costa) and a small board (Karen Sanders, S. Lanier Hurdle Jr., Carol Wolf Ayers). The grantee list bears this out: nine separate grants to Community Foundation of NW Mississippi over multiple years, eight to Grammy Museum Mississippi, and three each to YMCA of Memphis & the Mid-South and Emmett Till Interpretive Center show the foundation favors deep, repeat partnerships over one-time gifts to new organizations. First-time applicants should not expect a call for proposals; the realistic path in is a warm introduction through a shared partner — the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi or the Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy, both of which Maddox has funded directly for statewide capacity-building. Once a relationship exists, the foundation moves fast and at scale: it can write a single check for $50,000 (its median grant) or commit tens of millions over years, as with the $30 million Dan Maddox YMCA pledge that grew four-fold from an original $7.5 million matching challenge in 2023. Officer compensation running $480,000-$590,000 annually across the last decade signals a hands-on, professionally staffed operation rather than a passive family checkbook, reinforcing that this is a foundation to court through direct contact and sustained visibility in Northwest Mississippi civic and philanthropic circles, not through cold applications.

Sampled 990-PF data shows a typical grant size ranging from $1,000 to $750,000 across 28 tracked awards, with a median of $50,000 and an average of $85,726 — a spread that reflects both small responsive grants and occasional large signature commitments. Looking at the fuller 75-grant, $9,442,497 top-recipient history (average $125,900 per grant relationship), the largest single relationship is YMCA of Memphis & The Mid-South at $3,915,000 across three grants (new Hernando YMCA development, early childcare, and children's meal programs), followed by Community Foundation of NW Mississippi at $3,023,285 across nine grants for nonprofit capacity-building, COVID emergency response, and volunteer programming. Grammy Museum Mississippi has received $681,000 across eight grants for youth music education, and Emmett Till Interpretive Center $425,000 across three grants for historical preservation and traveling exhibits. A distinct mid-2010s/2020 cluster of exactly $80,000 grants went to five different Mississippi community foundations (Create Foundation, Greater Pine Belt, Mississippi Gulf Coast, Community Foundation for MS, Community Foundation of East MS) for identical "capacity & collaboration building for nonprofits" purposes — a clear standing program. Geographically, 60 of 75 tracked grants (80%) went to Mississippi organizations, 6 to Tennessee, and single-digit outliers to Georgia, Virginia, New York, and California (largely national infrastructure groups like Candid/GuideStar and Southeastern Council of Foundations). Financially, the foundation's asset base has declined sharply over time — from $20.9 million in 2012 to $3.7 million in 2023, ticking up to $5.1 million in 2024 — while total giving has ranged from $2.3 million (2014) to $6.0 million (2023), indicating a spend-down posture funded partly by drawing down principal rather than living off investment income alone.

The asset-matched peer set — all filed at roughly $3.73 million — has no public websites or disclosed giving patterns, underscoring how unusually visible and place-based Maddox's giving is by comparison; none of these peers show a documented signature capital project. Maddox is also easily confused with two unrelated, similarly named organizations: the J.F. Maddox Foundation (Lea County, New Mexico, ~$14M in 2025 grants/scholarships) and the Dan & Margaret Maddox Fund (Middle Tennessee, $10,000-$15,000 responsive grants). Grant seekers should verify they are targeting the Hernando, Mississippi entity (EIN 64-0917900) and not one of these separately governed funds before reaching out.

The foundation's dominant recent story is the Dan Maddox YMCA in Hernando: an original $7.5 million matching challenge pledged in 2023 grew to a $30 million commitment by 2025 toward the $40 million, 40,000-square-foot facility at the Delta Landing development, with construction beginning October 2025 and completion targeted for 2027. Developer Sky Lake Construction donated the land, the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi contributed $2 million from its donor-advised fund, and the City of Hernando waived roughly $250,000 in permit fees — positioning this as a coordinated, multi-funder capital campaign rather than a solo Maddox project. Foundation president Robin Hurdle described the ambition explicitly, distinguishing the planned natatorium, competitive pool, and wellness center from a conventional "strip mall" YMCA. Separately, in December 2025 the foundation increased its annual matching grant to Mississippi Today's year-end campaign to $30,000, continuing several years of recurring support for the nonprofit newsroom. No leadership changes were identified in available reporting; Robin Grindstaff Hurdle remains president, with the same board (Karen Sanders, S. Lanier Hurdle Jr., Carol Wolf Ayers) referenced across current sources. The foundation's own website is described as under reconstruction, which limits current public detail on programs and guidelines beyond what a direct call to the Hernando office (662-449-3699) would surface — grant seekers should treat the website as a placeholder rather than an authoritative source of current cycles or forms.

Because the foundation states it does not accept unsolicited proposals, the single most important tip is: do not lead with a written application. Call the Hernando office at (662) 449-3699 or use the website contact form to request an introductory conversation before drafting anything. Build credibility first through a shared connector — organizations that already have a relationship with the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, the Mississippi Alliance of Nonprofits and Philanthropy, or DeSoto County civic networks are best positioned, since Maddox has funded both of those intermediaries directly for statewide capacity work. Frame any pitch around one of the foundation's demonstrated signature themes rather than a generic ask: nonprofit capacity-building and cross-organization collaboration (the repeated $80,000 grants to five different Mississippi community foundations), education access and youth programming (Grammy Museum Mississippi's $681,000 in music education funding, YMCA early childcare), civic engagement and historical memory (Emmett Till Interpretive Center, William Winter Institute's racial-reconciliation grant), or large-scale community infrastructure (the $30 million YMCA commitment). Keep geography tight — Hernando, DeSoto County, and Northwest Mississippi first, broader Mississippi and Middle Tennessee second; requests from outside the MS/TN core are rare exceptions in the grant history. Expect standard grants in the $10,000-$100,000 range (median $50,000) unless your organization is positioned for a multi-year signature investment. A common mistake grant seekers make with invitation-only funders like this is over-investing in a polished cold proposal before any relationship exists — that effort is better spent on introductions and a short, specific letter describing measurable community impact once a contact has been established. Because the foundation explicitly funds capacity-building and sustainability (its mission statement emphasizes helping nonprofits "achieve sustainability"), lead with organizational stability and a track record, not just a single project idea.