MCFN's 2025 Year in Review
Since announcing our new Executive Director in March, MCFN published seven original investigations and contributed to 27 other media stories this year!
And Michigan got one of our biggest transparency wins this decade when a new earmark disclosure law passed that requires the sponsor, recipient, and public benefit for each grant to be published on a public access website at least 45 days before a final vote. This bill was signed into law in November, just weeks after MCFN completed our three-part earmarks investigation:
How $132,150 in Donations Led to a $20 Million No-Bid Grant
We Need More Oversight of Michigan's Earmarks
Are Billions of Dollars in Michigan Earmarks Actually Unconstitutional?
We also worked on our own transparency, completing all of Charity Navigator's ratings assessments and earning a 100/100 for Leadership and 98/100 for Measurement. We also earned a Platinum Transparency seal for MCFN on Candid by completing all their assessments and uploading 990s. And we now have 10 straight years of our own finances published on our site.
MCFN's focus for 2026 remains the same — follow dark money in Michigan politics. Investigative journalism is still our #1 tool for transparency, both with original stories on MCFN.org and by partnering with top Michigan state and local media.
We're also excited to bring back two of our all-time favorite features, MCFN's alerts and rankings, next year. Stay tuned!
Please donate to MCFN if you're able! This 501(c)3 nonprofit runs entirely on donations! Your support helps us continue this important public work!
And if you have any tips, questions, or feedback for us, please let us know at [email protected]!
