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The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers is the center for philanthropy in New Jersey, serving the leading independent, corporate, family and community foundations as well as public grantmakers of our state. We support our members by strengthening their capacity to address New Jersey and society’s most difficult problems. We also access the resources of the philanthropic community – funding, expertise, leverage - to provide leadership on statewide issues.

Guiding Beliefs & Principals

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers believes:

• Philanthropy contributes to a thriving democracy and is a privilege and a responsibility.
• Grantmaking is a partnership with grantees and the public, conducted in the public trust.
• Philanthropy must be undertaken seriously and responsibly, adhering to all laws and principles of fiduciary responsibility.
• Thoughtful grantmaking is informed by different perspectives, opinions and experiences.

In accordance with these beliefs:

1. We deal respectfully and courteously with our applicants, grantees and donors as well as with those seeking information about our programs. We honor the confidentiality of our applicants, grantees, and donors and exercise discretion in our communications.
2. We are clear and accessible about our goals and grantmaking processes and make information about our application requirements, funding priorities and programs available on a timely basis.
3. We adhere to the highest ethical, legal and fiduciary standards in our operations. We recognize and disclose conflicts of interest and work to avoid perceived conflicts of interest. We maintain active oversight of all financial and investment matters.
4. We regularly assess our mission and practices, including periodic review of priorities, policies, board activity, communications and the impact of our grantmaking.
5. We seek to continually educate ourselves and expose ourselves to different perspectives, opinions and experiences, and, where appropriate, to share our learning and experience with our grantees, the public and government officials.

To support New Jersey’s philanthropic community in adhering to these principles, the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers provides opportunities for learning, through on-going programs, the sharing of best practices and lessons learned, and information about federal and state laws and regulations. CNJG is mindful that its members have individual charters and varying levels of staff and Board capacity, and we conduct our ongoing conversation about “best practice” with these differences in mind. Adopted July 2005

The Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) today thanked its 1,160 fundholders for making 7,350 philanthropic gifts to worthy causes and communities in 2022 totaling approximately $153 million. The total dollar amount of grants is a record for the Community Foundation, following annual grantmaking of $103 million in 2021, $87.5 million in 2020, and $57.8 million in 2019.

CFNJ currently stewards over $725 million in charitable assets, making grants to nonprofit organizations in line with the advice of active fundholders or the philanthropic goals of those who leave bequests. Fifty-seven new funds were established in 2022.

Last year marked the final year of grantmaking for the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund, which the Community Foundation was proud to host in partnership with First Lady Tammy Murphy.

The Grunin Foundation, in partnership with CNJG, invites you to join the next Monmouth & Ocean County funder roundtable. The conversation will continue around what we can to do together to move to action and create greater impact in our communities. The roundtable will be held from 10:00am - 12:00pm with an optional lunch following, from 12:00pm - 1:00pm. To help with planning, please indicate during the registration process if you will be staying for the lunch.

Cost: Free for CNJG Members and Non Member Grantmakers
This program is open to grantmakers only and is geared towards those who fund in Monmouth & Ocean Counties.

The F. M. Kirby Foundation Board of Directors announced 255 grants totaling $15,431,175 were approved in 2023 to nonprofit organizations working to increase the strength and vitality of our communities.

Of this total, over 130 grants included general operating support and over 140 grants were made to organizations that have been partners of the Foundation for over 25 years, representing the Foundation’s grantmaking strategy of forming long-term, trusting relationships with grantees. Grantmaking in 2023 included a combined $9.1 million to organizations working in New Jersey and North Carolina, the Foundation’s primary geographic areas of interest. Additional grants, totaling over $6 million, supported organizations in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, regions dear to Kirby family members, as well as national nonprofits largely based in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

The New Jersey Civic Information Consortium has announced its final round of grantmaking for 2024, awarding a total of $878,859 to 11 projects that strengthen the state’s news and information ecosystem. This funding supports nine renewal grants, one bump-up grant, and an additional one-off grant to support the transition of a newsroom from a for-profit profit to a nonprofit business model.

The grantmaking emphasis on renewals reflects the Consortium’s commitment to sustaining impactful programs.

“This grant round reflects the breadth of New Jersey’s information needs and the power of collaboration in building a more informed and engaged state,” said Chris Daggett, Interim Executive Director and Board Chair of the Consortium. “We are proud to continue supporting projects that prioritize local voices and equitable access to civic information.”

It’s been a while since the Trenton/Mercer County Affinity Group has come together. Please join us as we look to revive and rebuild our collaboration in the region. We truly value your voice, and this gathering is all about reconnecting, realigning, and reimagining what’s next for our group.

During our time together, we will set goals, plan actions and next steps based on our vision.

Whether you’ve been involved in the past or are new to the group, your perspective matters. Let’s come together to shape the future of the Trenton/Mercer County region. Light refreshments will be served.

Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $75 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.

More than a decade ago, the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and Philanthropy New York spearheaded a project to develop common application and report forms to help streamline the grant application process and ease the often time-consuming grant preparation process.

This application is a four-page form, which includes directions for use, a sample cover sheet, and the common grant proposal guidelines.

The separate Common Report Form follows closely the format of the New York/New Jersey Area Common Application Form.

Information for Grantmakers:

One of the core values at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project (with whom CNJG partnered on a trust-based grantmaking learning series in the summer of 2021 – read about Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) encourages funders to streamline their requirements for paperwork from nonprofits. Accepting the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Report Form is one way. Another is to accept reports from nonprofits that they submitted to a different funder.

Recent articles from Vu Le at NonprofitAF.com (We need to have a serious talk about character limits on grant applications and Trust-based grantmaking: What it is and why it’s critical to our sector), Joan Garry in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (A Plea from Community Nonprofits for Investment Equity and less Bureaucracy), and the research project by the Technology Association of Grantmakers (Grant Applications Share 39% Similarity According to New Research by TAG) in the summer of 2021 have re-focused attention on the concept of a common grant application.

CNJG encourages our members to review the application and report form, and consider accepting these forms (or using these questions on your online application / report form) from your current or potential grantees.

CNJG surveyed our members in August 2021 asking if they accepted the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application and report form. CNJG members can download that report (link forthcoming).

Information for Grantseekers:
Before sending this (or any) application to any funder, be sure to check their specific funding guidelines and application requirements. Some funders require preliminary, additional, or supplementary information. Some funders only accept their own application form. CNJG members are under no obligation to accept either the common grant application or common grant report form.

Additional notes when using the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application Form:

• Please check with each individual funder if they accept only their own form, the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application form, or some other form.
• Funding area guidelines still apply. Research each organization’s funding areas to be sure your proposal fits within their guidelines before submitting your application.
• Any funder that has agreed to accept the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application may request additional information at any stage in their application process.
• Every funder has different deadlines and timetables. Refer to each organization's funding and/or reporting guidelines.
• Do not submit the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application or report form to the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers. Submit your application directly to the organization from which you are requesting support.
• Questions should be directed to the organization from which you are requesting support.

The COVID-19 global pandemic exacerbated longstanding disparities by race, gender, and socioeconomic status. Individuals, communities, and countries that were already vulnerable were even more at risk. The Choosing Change toolkit can help individual donors and institutional grantmakers at all levels identify proposals and teams whose work addresses the structural inequalities that prevent people from surviving, let alone thriving.

Funders are being asked to show how they are addressing social inequities by specifying what they do and who they are. How does philanthropy begin to embed equity into grantmaking, policies, and culture?

Healthy Communities Foundation has been on a journey to address this question by advancing health equity through a racial equity lens. This report describes that journey and offers practical ways of inspiring action so you can integrate equity into your foundation’s DNA.