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An overview on the self-dealing law, including definitions, common problem areas, exceptions, penalties, and resources.

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.

CNJG’s first-ever Policy Agenda that includes our approach to the policy work, and five policy priorities.

Novartis benchmarked Employee Crisis Programs, and asked fellow corporate funders via the corporate funders listserve to answer the questions below.

1. If you have an Employee Crisis Program, what is the name
2. Do you manage the program internally or thru a 3rd party?  If you use a 3rd party, can you share their name/website and any good/bad experiences.
3. Do you only support disasters or other hardships as well?
4. What is the average percentage of your employees that apply for aid?
5. What is your minimum and maximum funding?
6. What is the average amount of aid?
7. Do you provide aid directly to the employee and/or vendors?
8. Do you allow employees to donate to your fund?  If so, how do you promote awareness and what is the employee donation participation rate?  Do you match these donations?
9. Where does the program reside (CSR, Foundation, HR)?
10. Please share guidelines and applications, if possible.
11. Please share any other insights.

The City of Newark and Newark Philanthropic Liaison are working closely with several consortia of nonprofits to address some of the City’s most critical challenges. Grantmakers with an interest in Newark are connecting with these groups to better understand issues, interact with organizational leaders, and find ways to leverage philanthropy across a range of needs.

The coalitions often have ambitious agendas that focus on reviewing and changing policy on local, statewide and national levels. They offer a platform to share information and create strong cases for increased investment from both public and private sources. Below is an overview of just three of these groups. Through their convenings, they provide a powerful opportunity for Newark-related nonprofits and grantmakers to mobilize to improve the fortunes of the State’s largest City.

Opportunity Reconnect
Mayor Cory Booker has made public safety the leading priority of his administration.  Success will come only through lowered recidivism, better management, and increased job opportunities and support for persons returning from prison. The Opportunity Reconnect (OR) consortia meets weekly at Essex County College, the site of OR’s comprehensive one-stop center that offers ex-prisoners an array of services from dozens of organizations and agencies.

OR’s strength lies in its ability to create partnerships and memorandums of understanding among for-profit government contractors, community-based groups and government agencies. The shared protocols are having a profound effect on the City’s ability to provide efficient and effective services for thousands of returning inmates each month. The agreements are enabling the City to respond to RFPs from both private and federal sources to strengthen the capacity of OR and its effect on public safety.  The City welcomes participation of grantmakers to further leverage the strength of these proposals and maximize OR’s continued growth. 

Interagency Collaboration for Addiction Treatment
This informal collaborative of nonprofits, faith-based groups, government agencies, and funding partners meets regularly at Integrity House, a long-term residential and outpatient treatment program. Integrity House is the lead agency for the United Way’s Bridge to Recovery, a consortium effort of over 200 agencies dedicated to helping those with addiction problems. 

Among ICAT’s goals is the creation of a central Newark facility to handle all intake, referral and screening of individuals in need of detox. The group is also seeking to link and combine databases among agencies for better support of clients, who often include the homeless and ex-prisoners. A number of legislative barriers prevent some persons from receiving aid to cover costs of addiction treatment. These persons often end up in hospital emergency rooms or under the jurisdiction of law enforcement. ICAT is looking at ways to advocate for policy changes that would provide the additional preventive-care funding to remedy these situations. 

Green Future Summit Working Groups
Mayor Booker has called for the City to become a leader in urban sustainability by implementing economic and environmental strategies that will make Newark a safer, wealthier, and healthier place for its children and families. Under the auspices of Apollo Alliance, a national organization, a team of allies is developing an agenda and recruiting participants for the “Green Future Summit” in Newark on September 11-12. Pre-summit planning sessions have involved a coalition of businesses, government leaders, environmental groups, community-based organizations and grantmakers. 

The coalition has divided into working groups focused on three areas: green buildings, green space, and green economic development/jobs. The working groups are now drafting roadmaps and defining concrete, measurable goals and strategies for each issue area (e.g. "retrofit 100 homes"). They are also securing commitments from stakeholders on how they will work to meet these goals.  

The groups communicate through listservs and periodic check-in calls as they shape the Summit agenda, recruit speakers, and build the relationships necessary to carry their work forward to develop a roadmap for the City. Members of the CNJG are playing an active role in the Summit and additional partners are welcome.

CNJG members can gather a wealth of information by tapping into the resources of Newark’s collaborative groups. Additional consortia have been formed to address the foreclosure crisis, homelessness, newly-formed Family Success Centers, and other areas.

As we witness the initial impact of Hurricane Dorian, we are reminded that many of our communities are still targets for further devastation from this storm over the next few days.

While we recognize that many of us have survived recent hurricanes like Sandy and Maria, we also know that the struggle continues, and we need to do our best to help meet the needs of current victims caught in the wake of the storm.

In light of this situation, we are providing our membership with the latest information to help you determine how your organization might engage in response and recovery efforts.

Resources

• The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has created a Hurricane Dorian disaster profile, which provides updates on the storm as well as information on the areas of greatest need


• The Center for Disaster Philanthropy has also launched the CDP 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season Recovery Fund to support communities that will be affected by Hurricane Dorian. This fund focuses on medium- and long-term recovery, with the understanding that individuals and communities will need the support of private philanthropy for months and years to come as they navigate the road to recovery. 


• The Disaster Philanthropy Playbook is a comprehensive handbook outlining best practices and innovative approaches that the philanthropic community can adopt in addressing recovery after natural disasters. CNJG’s lessons learned in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy helped lead the creation of this Playbook.


• Locally in Florida, the Miami Foundation for a Greater Miami created a Hurricane Dorian resource page. 


• The Jessie Ball duPont Fund resource Creating Order from Chaos: Roles for Philanthropy in Disaster Planning and Response provides a framework for steps that can be taken for philanthropy to respond to disasters.


• The New York Times has released an article sharing multiple ways to help Hurricane Dorian survivors in the Bahamas.


• Charity Navigator has created a list of high-rated organizations providing aid and relief for Hurricane Dorian for both short-term and long-term relief.


• Sadly, CNJG’s post Sandy work and the briefings hosted and compiled by CNJG still hold lessons for today. You can review the briefings from Series 1 and Series 2 in either audio or written format. The briefings provide timely, relevant information about how grantmakers can help in the aftermath of a major storm.

Finally, if you think it would be useful, we’ll convene an open-forum conference call for CNJG members to share how your organization might be thinking about your own response efforts. If you’re interested in connecting with your colleagues for this kind of discussion, please contact me, and we will set up a call. 

Yours in solidarity, 

Maria Vizcarrondo, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers