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In this briefing on housing and homeless, you will hear about the changes of federal policy on housing and their impact in New Jersey, you will hear from a panel who will discuss the potential effects of state policy changes on homelessness and housing, including the administration of housing choice vouchers. Potential funding cuts can lead to staffing reductions on housing and homeless services. The uncertainty faced by agencies regarding their funding and the need for legal support can create fear and confusion among agencies in New Jersey. Panelists will discuss what funding strategies and ways to support grantees. At the state and local levels, there is also a need for funders to support policy advocacy and legal assistance.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $75 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.
Adam Gordon, Executive Director, Fair Share Housing Center, coordinated strategy of organizing, litigation, and policy development to advance racial, economic, and social integration throughout New Jersey and the United States. Since joining the organization in 2006, he has worked to implement New Jersey’s Mount Laurel Doctrine, which has created over 70,000 affordable homes in historically exclusionary communities. He also litigated the largest federal fair housing case in U.S. history and has worked to make federal disaster recovery policy more equitable. Under Gordon’s leadership, FSHC secured passage of the first statewide Fair Chance in Housing Act to limit discriminatory tenant screening policies, a landmark $305 million fund to accelerate affordable housing development, and major legislation to strengthen enforcement of the Mount Laurel Doctrine. Gordon is a co-founder and former Board Chair of Next City.
Elisa Harrigan is the Policy Strategist for the Fund for Housing and Opportunity. She is a disrupter, change agent, and bridge-builder in the philanthropic space. She has an extensive track record centering impacted communities and applying an intersectional equity lens to her work. Elisa brings almost 20 years of experience and expertise to FHO as an influential voice for housing justice in governmental, philanthropic, and nonprofit arenas. The Fund for Housing and Opportunity is a nationwide collaborative working to protect renters and prevent homelessness. FHO brings funders together from across sectors and perspectives to support organizations on the frontlines of housing justice.
Taiisa Kelly, CEO, Monarch Housing Associates, has experience in housing development working with federal, state and local funding sources to secure financing for special needs housing projects. Mrs. Kelly is a dedicated advocate for social justice who has assisted Monarch in expanding services to include strategic planning, grant writing, system oversight, project monitoring, grant administration, innovative program development, and data analysis. Since becoming CEO in 2019, Ms. Kelly has worked to expand and innovate the housing development focus of the agency. Monarch is developing new partnerships to support the creation of housing for marginalized communities with an eye towards innovations in development. Under Ms. Kelly’s leadership Monarch is focused on integrating racial equity into all aspects of homeless planning and housing development with the intent of ending homelessness in New Jersey. Ms. Kelly was inducted into the NJ Housing and Economic Development Hall of Fame in 2023, and was named as one of the 2021 Best 50 Women in Business by NJBIZ Magazine. Mrs. Kelly serves on the Boards of Directors for Nourish.NJ and for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey (HCDNNJ). She is a Member of United Black Agenda Committee and of the Enterprise Community Leadership Council and Enterprise Community Loan Fund Board, as well as a Commissioner on the Newark Commission on Homelessness. She additionally serves on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation JEGNA Council, the New Jersey State of Affordable Housing (NJSOARH) Advisory Committee.
Lucy Vandenberg is the Executive Director of the Schumann Fund for New Jersey. She leads the Fund’s mission to empower low-income children and families of color to thrive. Lucy ensures that Schumann Fund’s investments positively impact opportunities for affordable homes and healthy communities, early childhood and education, and child welfare and youth justice in Essex County and statewide. From 2013 through 2021, Lucy served as Senior Program Officer for The Fund for New Jersey and managed a $3 million grant portfolio that included lead poisoning prevention, public education, public media, racial justice, immigration, and the environment. Previously, Lucy served as Executive Director of the New Jersey State Council on Affordable Housing. She worked with municipalities to provide their fair share of affordable housing resulting from New Jersey’s landmark Mt. Laurel Supreme Court decisions. Earlier in her career, Lucy served as Senior Policy Advisor for Housing and Urban Revitalization in Governor James E. McGreevey’s administration, and as the Associate Director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.
Janel Winter, Assistant Commissioner leads the Division of Housing and Community Affairs, which includes the State’s public housing authority serving more than 40,000 households annually; home energy assistance programs serving more than 200,000 families annually; affordable housing production programs; the Office of Homelessness Prevention; the Office of Eviction Prevention; weatherization and lead remediation and abatement programs; neighborhood revitalization programs; and a variety of other community of other community development initiatives. She has managed the distribution of $2 Billion in federal Covid-related funds to address rental and utility arrears and community revitalization and development throughout the State. Prior to joining DCA, Janel led the Office of Housing at the NJ Department of Human Services and served as Associate Director at the Corporation for Supportive Housing/CSH. Before returning to her home state of NJ, Janel worked at various direct service homelessness and housing agencies in Chicago.
Webinar Video
Programs in this Series:
March 13: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Immigration
March 20: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Health
March 27: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Environment
April 3: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Education
April 10: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Housing
April 17: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Media & Journalism
April 24: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Arts
Grantmaking at the Crossroads is a workbook designed to provide foundations with a new grantmaking methodology that works at the intersection of place, population, and issue. It offers a pathway to greater inclusion of communities that are often excluded or marginalized by foundation funding and enables foundations to maintain their focus and priorities while expanding their reach and effectiveness.
The Grand Rapids Community Foundation and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation volunteered to be laboratories for Grantmaking at the Crossroads and have been critical informants for this workbook. Each of these foundations holds an unwavering commitment to ongoing learning; this publication would not have happened without their support and engagement and the financial support of the Arcus Foundation.
Two different CNJG members queried the CEO listserve on how/when/how to return to the office following the COVID-19 pandemic. CNJG staff compiled the answers from the responding members removing identifying information of the respondents.
What comes after “strategic...?” If you said, “planning,” you’re not alone. And for many leaders of community foundations, especially small ones who don’t have the time or money for a big process, anxiety is the feeling that follows. If that’s the case, this guide is for you.
It invites you to test-drive some activities to bring your current program, operations and community leadership strategies into focus before you decide whether to create a plan or not. It helps you discover ongoing strategic practices and decide whether to keep them or not. If you already have done a strategic plan, and it is languishing on a shelf, this guide will help you refresh it.
PART A: Good Strategy Takes Practice (Not Just Planning)
PART B: Do Your Discovery
PART C: Jumpstart Your Strategy Narrative
PART D: Bring It Together
Looking To What’s Next
FAQs for Benefit Survey
What is the New Jersey Foundation Benefits & Salary Summary Report?
Developed exclusively for CNJG members, the New Jersey Foundation Benefits & Salary Summary Report presents comprehensive benefits data specific to New Jersey's grantmaking community, alongside data from the Council on Foundations' annual salary survey. The last report, produced in 2017, can be found on our website.
Given increased scrutiny in the areas of compensation and benefits, the need to benchmark this information within the field has become even more important. The 2020 New Jersey Foundation Benefits & Salary Summary Report will make available critical information needed to determine fair compensation and benefits in the state across multiple organizational levels.
Who is eligible to participate in this survey?
To be eligible to participate in the survey, your organization must have at least one PAID (full-time or part-time) employee. The beginning of the survey will help respondents determine if they are eligible to participate. Even if you are NOT eligible to participate, please complete the first four questions of the survey. You will then be directed to the last page of the survey where you will be asked to submit your data. You do not need to be a CNJG member to participate. If you do participate, but are not a CNJG member, you will receive a copy of the report.
Where do I complete the survey?
The survey may be completed here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020CNJGBenefitsSurvey.
When does the survey need to be completed?
The deadline for submitting completed surveys is August 10, 2020.
I'm not the right person to complete this survey, can I email it to someone else to complete?
You may forward the email that contains the survey link to someone else in your organization. The recipient will be able to click on the survey link to access the survey.
How long will it take to complete the survey?
It is estimated that entering in the data should take around one hour (not including the time it will take to research your organization’s information). If you offer more benefits, it may take more time; if you offer less, the less time it will take to complete. Logic is built into the online survey, enabling you to skip questions or entire sections depending on what your organization offers. CNJG suggests looking through the questions first (available in PDF form) and compiling your answers to then enter in the data all at once online.
How do I submit our information to the survey?
CNJG developed the survey using SurveyMonkey, so that you may enter all of your data online. The prompts at the bottom of each page guide you as you enter your information.
Can I see all of the questions first?
Yes! The survey in its entirety can be found below. Feel free to use this document to gather your benefits data, and then enter the information all at once online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020CNJGBenefitsSurvey.
For which year/time period should I provide compensation and benefits data?
The Benefits Survey should be based on benefits data for the 2020 calendar year. Please complete the survey questions by indicating the benefits that your organization is currently offering to employees in 2020.
Help! The way that this question is structured is difficult (or impossible) for me to answer.
We understand organizations provide different kinds of benefits and have developed novel benefit packages. And, often, benefit packages differ within an organization. Please complete the survey questions by indicating the benefits that are offered to the majority of employees in your organization, and please use the comment boxes after some of the questions and at the end of the survey to further explain/clarify your responses. Please also note that, while many questions are required (indicated with an asterisk) some questions in the survey are optional and can be skipped.
Once I've started the survey, can I save it and complete it another time?
Yes! You may leave the survey at any time by clicking on "Exit this survey" on the upper right hand corner of the page. Note: if you have just entered a page of data, proceed to the next page before you exit, otherwise the data just entered for the current page will not be saved. To reopen the survey, click on the link in the survey email that was sent to you.
Once I've completed the survey, how do I submit my input?
To submit your input, go to the last page of the survey and click on "Submit Survey." Your input will automatically be submitted.
I clicked on "Submit Survey," but I wasn't finished completing the survey - what should I do?
To make changes in a survey that has already been submitted, please contact Craig Weinrich. It will be possible for you to make changes to your survey input until the survey is officially closed on August 10, 2020.
What topics will be covered?
The following topics will be covered in the survey:
• Survey Eligibility
• Organization Information
• Employment
• Leave Benefits
• Insurance Benefits
• Retirement
• Other Benefits
• Retiree Benefits
• Benefits Cost
Who do I contact if I have questions?
Should you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Craig Weinrich.
CNJG thanks you in advance for your time and assistance with this endeavor. The report that we create becomes an important tool for you to benchmark your salaries and benefits plans for the coming years, so the time and effort will be incredibly valuable to your organization and other CNJG members.
This case study of the Council of Michigan Foundations' Peer Action Learning Network (PALN) is one of six examined in a report from New York University's Wagner Research Center for Leadership in Action, commissioned by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. The PALN case study, along with the other five, explores the power of learning communities to build connections and knowledge to increase organizations’ community impact. It explains ways grantmakers can strategically support these efforts as well as key elements for designing learning communities, executing for success and extending the learning.
On this webinar, funders were briefed on how the CARES Act can help nonprofit organizations during COVID-19, heard an update on testing and public health needs from the city, and were informed on the response and greatest needs in Newark hospitals.
Speakers:
Brandon McKoy, President, New Jersey Policy Perspective
Dr. Shereef Elnahol, President and CEO, University Hospital
Dr. Mark Wade, Director, City of Newark Department of Health and Community Wellness
Webinar Video
The New Jersey Historic Trust, an affiliate of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), today approved a total of $14,038,043 in grant recommendations from the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund to save and promote historic sites throughout the state. Seventy-one preservation planning, municipal, county, and regional planning, heritage tourism, and capital projects are included in this year’s list of recommendations.
“As the state’s leading voice for historic preservation, the Trust has consistently advanced historic guardianship in New Jersey for the benefit of future generations through education, stewardship, and financial investment programs that protect our traditions and strengthen our communities,” said DCA Acting Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “This investment in historic resources will help to preserve New Jersey’s history for generations to come.”
The New Jersey Historic Trust, an affiliate of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), today approved a total of $16,598,738 in grant recommendations from the Preserve New Jersey Historic Preservation Fund to save and promote historic sites throughout the state. Seventy-five preservation planning, municipal, county, and regional planning, heritage tourism, and capital projects are included in this year’s list of recommendations.
“Historic preservation is an integral part of community and economic revitalization and I am excited to see a diverse list of grant recipients this year,” said DCA Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez. “From historic homes, farms, schoolhouses, and churches to train stations, lighthouses, and villages, the work that will be accomplished with the preservation grants will help to secure the future of our most treasured historic places in the Garden State.”
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors has released The Philanthropy Framework, a tool for analysis and planning to guide emerging and established philanthropies to better align resources for maximum impact. Created with input from leaders from more than 50 foundations worldwide, the tool seeks to address fundamental changes in philanthropy and the world such as generational shifts in attitudes, massive wealth creation, diversity of capital, new models for impact, and new operating environments among others.
It lays out three core elements for philanthropists to consider when determining how to maximize their impact:
- Charter, the organization’s scope, form of governance, and decision-making protocol
- Social Compact, its implicit or explicit agreement with society about the value it will create
- Operating Model, the approach to the resources, structures and systems needed to implement strategy.
Funding nonprofit endowments can be a tool to ensure the stability of an organization, as well as to advance equity and shift power to frontline organizations. However, according to new, forthcoming CEP research, endowment giving represents only a small slice of foundation funding.
The webinar will explore the how and why of endowment funding from both funder and nonprofit perspectives, including U.S. foundation practices in endowment giving, how funding endowments can foster nonprofit sustainability and advance equitable social change, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s approach to endowment funding as a tool to advance equity.
The panel includes:
Maisha E. Simmons, Assistant Vice President, Equity and Culture, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (moderator)
Darren Isom, Partner, The Bridgespan Group
Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Vice President of Research, Center for Effective Philanthropy
John Jackson, President and CEO, Schott Foundation for Public Education
COST: Free for CNJG Members and Non Member Grantmakers
All registrants will receive a recording of the webinar after the event.
This program is presented by CEP and The Bridgespan Group and co-hosted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
This project represents the most extensive independent study on DAFs to date.
Thanks to the collective efforts of 111 DAF programs that voluntarily provided anonymized data to the research team, the dataset covers nine years of activity from more than 50,000 accounts, with over 600,000 inbound contributions to DAFS and more than 2.25 million outbound grants from DAFs.
The DAFRC research team hopes this data will be used to improve best practices, inform relevant regulation, or enhance the field’s use of DAFs as a philanthropic tool for donors, DAF sponsoring organizations, and other sector partners.