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CNJG is pleased to offer this program to family foundation members as part of NCFP's Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy 2024 webinar series, providing guidance on the core tenets of effective family philanthropy.
Join us for our upcoming Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy webinar series, where we will explore the vital role family philanthropy plays in addressing pressing societal challenges and driving meaningful change. Through expert insights, inspiring case studies, and interactive discussions, we will delve into the principles, strategies, and best practices that empower families’ philanthropic endeavors to make a lasting impact, understanding how disparities in systems influence societal outcomes, while prioritizing equity and effectiveness in family philanthropy.
Cost: This event is free for CNJG Members who are family foundations.
Other types of foundations are ineligible to join this webinar.
This program is a CNJG membership benefit for family foundation members, including staff and trustees, in partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy.
CNJG is pleased to offer this program to family foundation members as part of NCFP's Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy 2024 webinar series, providing guidance on the core tenets of effective family philanthropy.
Join us for our upcoming Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy webinar series, where we will explore the vital role family philanthropy plays in addressing pressing societal challenges and driving meaningful change. Through expert insights, inspiring case studies, and interactive discussions, we will delve into the principles, strategies, and best practices that empower families’ philanthropic endeavors to make a lasting impact, understanding how disparities in systems influence societal outcomes, while prioritizing equity and effectiveness in family philanthropy.
Cost: This event is free for CNJG Members who are family foundations.
Other types of foundations are ineligible to join this webinar.
This program is a CNJG membership benefit for family foundation members, including staff and trustees, in partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy.
CNJG is pleased to offer this program to family foundation members as part of NCFP's Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy 2024 webinar series, providing guidance on the core tenets of effective family philanthropy.
Join us for our upcoming Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy webinar series, where we will explore the vital role family philanthropy plays in addressing pressing societal challenges and driving meaningful change. Through expert insights, inspiring case studies, and interactive discussions, we will delve into the principles, strategies, and best practices that empower families’ philanthropic endeavors to make a lasting impact, understanding how disparities in systems influence societal outcomes, while prioritizing equity and effectiveness in family philanthropy.
Cost: This event is free for CNJG Members who are family foundations.
Other types of foundations are ineligible to join this webinar.
This program is a CNJG membership benefit for family foundation members, including staff and trustees, in partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy.
The FirstEnergy Foundation is supporting local communities as part of its Hunger Action Month initiative – awarding $600,000 in grants to 21 New Jersey food banks and pantries. In total, the initiative is granting $2.5 million to 104 hunger relief organizations across New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia, marking the Foundation's largest hunger-relief investment to date.
The foundation's grants will provide approximately two million meals to families in communities served by Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L).
Food insecurity is a growing crisis across the U.S., according to Feeding America and the USDA. Over one million people – 11.7% of the population – in New Jersey face food insecurity due to rising prices, climate-related disruptions and supply chain vulnerabilities.
Doug Mokoid, FirstEnergy's President of New Jersey: "The FirstEnergy Foundation is serving up can-do energy – collaborating with vital local organizations to reduce hunger and increase the availability of healthy, nutritious meals during Hunger Action Month. Food means more than just nourishment – it's a source of comfort that brings people together and strengthens bonds with a community. Our JCP&L employees are helping fight hunger year-round by volunteering and hosting food drives, reinforcing the importance of that connection."
In our most recent round of funding, the Dodge Foundation made more than $5 million in grants which served to acknowledge long-standing partners and collaborators, support new partners who are driving racial equity and justice, and respond to the real-time issues and crises facing people across the State of New Jersey. These grants represent our purposeful efforts to support and recognize the impact of years-long partners and institutions, while also strengthening and growing our support to new organizations focused and aligned to our new strategic direction of building a just and equitable New Jersey.
The Dodge Foundation provided multi-year funding to support a number of partner organizations, representing a collaborative strategy of providing the space, time, and opportunity for each organization to strengthen and build their capacity and encourage new voices and funding partners to join the movement. The goal of this support is to achieve long-term sustainability that allows these organizations to continue their impact well into the future. As the Foundation continues our transformation to center racial equity and justice in our work and our funding, we are also thrilled to recognize these long-standing partner organizations and the impact they have had and will continue to have on communities across New Jersey.
In this funding cycle, we provided three organizations each with a three-year grant of $1M general operating support. For all of these initiatives, the Dodge Foundation was a core partner from the earliest days and an integral supporter in achieving years of state-wide impact.
The Health and Environmental Funders Network (HEFN) and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF) invite you to join an informal conversation to learn from funder peers who are practicing participatory grantmaking (PG). We’ll begin with a brief overview of PG, and how this practice can be used to center equity and justice as we shift away from extractive grantmaking practices. We’ll then hear from a few HEFN and SAFSF members who are implementing different models of PG in their grantmaking.
If you’re new to the concept of participatory grantmaking, this webinar is a great opportunity to see examples of it in action. If you’re familiar with participatory grantmaking (or working to implement these practices in your own world), this is a chance to dive deeper into others’ practices for learnings and insight. Time will be reserved in the agenda for discussions in smaller groups and, as you might expect, the call will be participatory!
Speakers:
Amanda Tello, St. Louis Environmental Justice Fund
Shavaun Evans, Food and Farm Communications Fund
Mark Muller, Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
Resources
Zoom Recording
Webinar slides
Deciding Together Shifting Power and Resources Through Participatory Grantmaking
Amanda Tello’s communal agreements
PG Learning Community Summary
CNJG is pleased to offer a new member benefit: ValuesAdvisor. Many foundations now recognize that the investments made from their corpus have the power to support their mission, but don’t know how to take the first step: finding a trusted financial advisor with the right expertise. We now offer you free access to ValuesAdvisor, a nonprofit, online, searchable database of peer-recommended financial advisors who have the expertise you need. You can learn more about the platform by watching this short, 3 minute video. In this webinar with ValuesAdvisor Co-Founder Kate Simpson, you will learn about how the platform can be used to further your mission (climate, DEI, place based, etc.).
This webinar pairs nicely with CNJG’s Impact Investing Bootcamp series.
COST: Free for CNJG Members
Webinar Video
The program supports community-based projects that foster neighborhood stability and growth by providing grants to residents and organizations in Newark.
On May 21, Prudential Financial announced the recipients of the second annual Prudential Community Grants Program during a ceremony at Prudential’s headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.
The program, launched in 2023, was created to support neighborhood-based solutions that foster community vitality through grants to residents and organizations in Newark. Among this year’s recipients are a variety of inspiring projects supporting community health and wellness, arts, education, beautification and development.
“Through the Community Grants program, Prudential is proud to continue our support of the residents and projects that are driving growth and quality of life in our hometown city,” said Lata Reddy, senior vice president of Inclusive Solutions at Prudential Financial and chair of The Prudential Foundation. “Thriving neighborhoods are the heartbeat of a strong city, and we designed this program to directly support residents as they work to solve challenges in their community. We look forward to seeing the positive impact this next group of grantees has across all five wards of Newark.”
With a $300,000 grant to the Community Foundation of New Jersey, Prudential will support neighborhood-based solutions that increase community vitality. The program received 400 applications this year, up from 225 applications in 2023 (a 78% increase), from a combination of individuals, 501(c)(3) organizations, and small business owners. Of the 66 community-based projects chosen, 19 are repeat recipients.
CNJG is pleased to offer this program to family foundation members as part of NCFP's Fundamentals of Family Philanthropy 2024 webinar series, providing guidance on the core tenets of effective family philanthropy.
This session will explore the dynamic ways in which cultural and faith-based values can shape and inform the mission and impact of your family’s philanthropic endeavors. Faith has been imbedded in US philanthropy from its earliest days and many donors continue to lean on those values when driving change. Some donors openly talk about the link between their faith and giving, while others use their faith as quiet motivation. Panelists will share practical strategies, case studies, and best practices for aligning your family’s giving with your cultural and faith-based principles, allowing you to achieve a deeper and more meaningful impact in your grantmaking efforts in ways that also ensure equity and promote open dialogue. Whether you seek to honor your heritage, promote justice, and/or support causes close to your heart, this webinar will provide valuable guidance for harnessing the power of culture and faith in your family’s philanthropy.
Cost: This event is free for CNJG Members who are family foundations.
Other types of foundations are ineligible to join this webinar.
This program is a CNJG membership benefit for family foundation members, including staff and trustees, in partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy.
As we navigate today's challenges and opportunities, it's important that we continue to gather, exchange ideas, and move forward the causes we value. We all know how a single conversation can spark a big idea or inspire a new partnership. 
That's why you won't want to miss our much-anticipated 2024 Spring Colloquium: Empowering the Future: Harnessing AI and Data for Philanthropic Social Impact - a must-attend gathering for every funder working in New Jersey. Join us for valuable insights and opportunities to connect with colleagues and passionate thought leaders who share your commitment to driving social change.
I look forward to seeing you there and engaging in the vibrant discussions and community building opportunities that awaits us.
Thank you to the generosity of our sponsors: Signature Sponsor - PSE&G, Collaborator Sponsor - Wells Fargo, Connector Sponsors - Campbell Soup Company, Sixers Youth Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Exhibitor Sponsor - PKF O'Connor Davies. We couldn't do this without you.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
Welcome to the new year! It was wonderful seeing so many members at the 2023 Annual Meeting & Holiday Luncheon on December 14. Both our luncheon plenary and workshop helped us explore how and why funders can collaborate and increase their impact. You can find resources from the event, including workshop slides, on the resource tab of the Annual Meeting page. You must be logged in to access resources. (Forgot your password – click here.)
As part of the meeting, we elected two new board members for their first 3-year term, as well as re-electing board members for a second term. Welcome and congratulations to new board members Jasmyne Beckford, Prudential Foundation, and Paul DiLorenzo, Salem Health and Wellness Foundation. And we said good-bye to René Deida, Prudential Foundation, and Atiya Weiss, Burke Foundation. We’re grateful for your service. Jeff Vega, Princeton Area Community Foundation, also rotated off the board. Jeff served as board chair during the pandemic, strategic planning, and leadership transitions. Thank you, Jeff, for your wisdom and guidance. We appreciate you!
Following the annual meeting of members, the board elected their officers for 2024: Craig Drinkard, Chair (Victoria Foundation), Christine Healey, 1st Vice Chair, (The Healey Education Foundation), Justin Kiczek, 2nd Vice Chair, (The F. M. Kirby Foundation), Maisha Simmons, Secretary, (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), and Catherine Wilson, Treasurer, (United Way Greater Newark). Congratulations!
Thank you to everyone that expressed interest in serving on a committee by completing the form at the Annual Meeting. January’s organizational tasks include working with the new CNJG board chair to review committee membership and invite participation. Stay tuned. Click here to read a full wrap-up of the 2023 Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering.
Looking towards our programming year, beginning in February, we’re pleased to introduce First Fridays for Philanthropy – a virtual meet up for members to connect and share, network, ask questions, and learn from one another. Please reach out to Director of Member Services, Craig Weinrich, for more information.
We’re also excited to offer the 3-part series Impact Investing Bootcamp: Fundamentals for Driving Sustainable Philanthropy in New Jersey. The series will take place from March to May 2024. Impact investing can generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. There is no cost for CNJG members, however space is limited with no more than 2 attendees per organization, and registrants are strongly encouraged to attend all three sessions. To learn more, please reach out to Manager of Programs and Learning, Chanika Svetvilas. Thank you to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Victoria Foundation for supporting this series.
Foundations on the Hill is just around the corner, and will take place in Washington, D.C. from February 25 - 28. FOTH is an annual opportunity for foundation leaders to meet with their representatives, talk about issues of interest to philanthropy, and strengthen relationships. Space is limited. If are interested in attending or would like to learn more, please contact me.
I want to end with gratitude to and for the CNJG Board of Trustees, our committee chairs and members, affinity group chairs, our partners, and you – our members. You are truly our champions. And thank you to our Annual Meeting sponsors for their generous support, Prudential, Victoria Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Devils Youth Foundation, Grunin Foundation, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Princeton Area Community Foundation, and WSFS Bank.
Happy New Year!
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers