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FirstEnergy Corp. announced today that the FirstEnergy Foundation has distributed more than $2 million in the first two quarters of 2025 to support local nonprofits. Organizations were selected based on their ongoing efforts to meet the critical needs of our customers in communities served by the company's electric companies and in areas where the company conducts business.
The FirstEnergy Foundation granted nearly $1.1 million to support a range of community needs, including hunger relief, youth education and disaster relief efforts. Additionally, the employee-driven United Way Campaign generated more than $1 million with strong support from company leadership. More than 800 organizations received direct donations, and 104 United Way agencies benefited from the company's matching contributions.
Beyond providing grants to local nonprofits, the FirstEnergy Foundation encourages employees to give back to their local communities and provides support in helping employees make a larger impact. FirstEnergy provides each of its employees with 16 hours of volunteer time off (VTO) annually, allowing team members to donate their time and talents to 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations. So far this year, FirstEnergy employees have donated nearly 5,000 volunteer hours to brighten communities across the company's footprint.
The Montclair Foundation is proud to announce the awarding of $90,000 in grants to 17 local nonprofit organizations through its Spring 2025 grant cycle. These grants will support critical initiatives in the areas of Education, Community Service and Cultural Arts — continuing the Foundation’s long-standing commitment to nurturing and strengthening the greater Montclair community.
Thanks to the success of the Foundation’s recent capital campaign, this grant cycle includes several larger awards and a multi-year grant, reflecting an exciting new chapter of expanded community investment.
“We are incredibly grateful to our donors and supporters whose generosity through our capital campaign has allowed us to increase both the scope and impact of our grantmaking,” said Peggy Deehan, chair of the grants committee. “Montclair is home to so many extraordinary organizations making a meaningful difference every day. It’s a privilege to partner with them in creating a more vibrant, inclusive, and compassionate community.”
At its annual awards meeting, the Big Give, on June 11, 2025, Impact100 Garden State announced four recipients of $100,000 grants and three recipients of $10,000 Merit Awards at its annual Big Give at the Birchwood Manor in Whippany. The grants were awarded based on a vote by Impact100 Garden State members.
The all-women, all-volunteer Impact100 Garden State organization pools member contributions to make high-impact grants. The group has donated more than $4 million to area nonprofits since it began grant-giving in 2013. This year a record membership of 426 women allowed Impact100 Garden State to give four $100,000 grants for the second year in a row.
“We celebrate each of the seven finalists who received grants this year,” says Impact100 Garden State President Celeste Campos of Warren.
The New Jersey Civic Information Consortium (NJCIC) is pleased to announce over $1 million granted to 12 news and information organizations across the state. This announcement comes on the heels of a major victory for local news: New Jersey lawmakers and Governor Phil Murphy recently approved a $2.5 million investment for the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium in the FY26 State budget — ensuring our support for trusted, community-rooted journalism continues into the next fiscal year.
These renewal grants support important work in newsrooms and civic media outlets already making a difference — from amplifying underrepresented voices to training the next generation of media professionals. Together, these projects serve a diverse range of communities, addressing information gaps and creating lasting infrastructure for local reporting, media training, and civic leadership.
“By supporting these grantees for another year, we’re investing in long-term impact,” said Chris Dagget, Board Chair and Interim Executive Director of the Consortium. “The organizations in this group are already embedded in the communities they serve. With this support, they’ll be able to deepen that work.”
The NextGen Giving Circle of the Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded $27,500 in grants to three local nonprofits for a children’s school day breakfast initiative, a workforce program for high school boys, and job training for teens and adults.
At Every Child Valued’s breakfast program, the grant will be used in part to help offset the cost of groceries. At the Father Center, the grant will help pay for field trips and test fees for boys enrolled in an employment and credentialing program. At RISE, the grant will help fund workforce training for its thrift store staff.
“I founded NextGen with the goal of inspiring and developing the next generation of philanthropic leaders in our community,” said Jeremy Perlman, who created the fund in 2017. “The giving circle brings together like-minded young professionals to learn how nonprofits are addressing key issues facing individuals and families in the greater Trenton area, and to make a bigger impact than any one of us could on our own.”
The Summit Foundation is proud to announce the awarding of over $185,000 in scholarships to more than 60 students in the Summit, NJ area this year, empowering them to pursue higher education.
Every year, the Foundation partners with generous donors to provide financial support that helps students cover not only tuition but the many other costs of college life, such as books, dorm supplies, and living expenses. This support allows students to attend schools of their choice, to live on campus, and to take on fewer student loans.
“Before I even applied to colleges, I remember how afraid I was of not being able to afford an education after high school,” shared April Sanchez, a rising senior at Gettysburg College and recipient of the Elevating Summit Students Scholarship. “Never did I imagine how many resources there were for people like me. With pride, I say today that because of foundations like these, I have traded my fears for hope and gratitude... Not only am I a better friend, daughter, student, employee, and overall person, but I am also an even more hopeful and driven person than I was before.”
A coalition of six major journalism funders have announced commitments totaling $36.5 million in emergency grants to public media stations at risk of closure following federal funding cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The grantmakers include Pivotal Ventures, as well as the John S. and James L. Knight, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur, Robert Wood Johnson, Schmidt Family, and Ford foundations. The commitment includes $26.5 million in support for the Public Media Bridge Fund, a philanthropic effort managed by Public Media Company and developed with seed funding from the Schmidt Family Foundation.
In addition to supporting the fund, the MacArthur Foundation is committing $10 million in direct support to public media stations, programs, and organizations. The collaboration is accompanied by an open call to other funders to support local public media; if stations close or scale back, millions of Americans will lose access to free, reliable local news, educational content, cultural programming, and emergency alerts.
From the Commonfund, these white papers on investment policy statements, spending policy, board governance and risk tolerance, together with their most recent studies of investments at private and community foundations, operating charities and nonprofit healthcare organizations are made available though CNJG's Investment Forum for Foundations and Endowments.
The 4th goal of CNJG’s strategic plan calls for CNJG to expand partnerships and collaborations to create more value for our members. One of our long-standing partnerships is with the Council on Foundations to collect salary data, which we will include in our upcoming triennial 2023 New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Summary report.
We are now partnering with YOU to collect your data on the benefits that your organization provides to your staff and/or trustees. The CNJG benefits survey is open for you to complete.
The New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Summary report is often cited as one of the most valuable benefits of membership, and the more data we collect from a variety of philanthropic organizations, the more valuable the report becomes! As we did in 2020, we’re also pleased to ask demographic information about your board and staff within this survey. Even if you do not have any paid staff, you will be able to add your board demographic information to the survey.
We aim to publish the 2023 New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Summary report in late 2023. The report is the premiere benchmarking tool for our members and the philanthropy sector in New Jersey.
The survey closes on August 4, 2023. We encourage every CNJG member organization to complete the survey. While the survey is long – taking about 45 minutes to complete – it allows us to create a truly comprehensive report to inform your decision making. We encourage you to review the questions in advance to gather the information you will need to make it easier for you to complete the survey in one sitting. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Director of Member Services, Craig Weinrich. I hope that one person from your organization will complete the survey before August 4.
A couple more summer notes – we will not publish CNJG News in August, but will resume in September. And, to recognize and show appreciation for our hard-working staff, the CNJG office will be closed on Fridays throughout the summer. This is one benefit that we offer our staff. It will be fascinating to see how many others offer this same benefit, so please complete our survey before the end of the July!
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
It’s always a mad dash to the end of the year, and this year is no exception.
But before we close out the year, CNJG members and special guests will gather next Thursday, December 14, at the 2023 Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering, to learn together at the pre-meeting workshop, welcome new members, attend the annual business meeting of members to elect trustees and recap our year, enjoy conversation and networking over lunch, and hear a dynamic discussion related to an important topic for New Jersey’s philanthropic sector. The Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering is always a great opportunity to see longtime friends, meet new colleagues, and network with other funders!
Our theme this year couldn’t be more timely - collaboration. The fireside chat, Sustainable, Effective, and Equitable Collaboration – A Conversation that Centers Community, will feature Nidhi Sahni, Partner and Head of US Advisory Group, Bridgespan, and Lucy Vandenberg, Executive Director, Schumann Fund for New Jersey. And the learning doesn’t stop - we’ve also curated several resources to help inform your collaborative efforts.
Thank you to our Annual Meeting sponsors, Signature Sponsor – Prudential; Collaborating Sponsor - Victoria Foundation; Connecting Sponsors - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Devils Youth Foundation; and Supporting Sponsors – Grunin Foundation, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Princeton Area Community Foundation, and WSFS Bank. CNJG thanks the NJM Insurance Group for a donation in support of the Annual Meeting. Sponsorship underwrites our Signature events. It is only through the generosity of our sponsors that we can provide our Signature events. We are grateful for your support.
Thank you for your membership and support in 2023. CNJG supports and elevates New Jersey’s philanthropic community through shared learning, collaborative and trusting relationships, network building, and leadership. We greatly value your membership in the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, and your ongoing support of our work to strengthen philanthropy in the state.
We can’t wait to see you next week! This event is often the place where the first seeds of collaboration and partnership are sown.
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
Responding to the urgency of this moment in time, Asset Funder Network’s new brief is reimagining and building on past recommendations to map more just paths to economic resilience moving forward.
To bring the framework and recommendations to life, they included eight case stories from local and national funders that are applying an equity lens with a range of strategies to support Relief through Resilience. Four of the funders have employed a two-pronged approach of investing in systems change and programs. Three others are focused on on-the-ground interventions, and another is predominantly investing at the systems level. To support their strategies, they have made changes inward, outward, around, and onward.
Traditionally, funders have asked grantees to report on compliance with grant requirements. But these reports don't show the difference a grantee is making with a funder's money.
This report looks at how leading grantmakers are tackling the transition from compliance reporting to performance management. Representatives from the Blue Sky Funders Forum, James Irvine Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Tipping Point Community:
- identify barriers to data-driven funding;
- describe how their organizations are using technology to overcome these obstacles;
- and suggest how other funders can follow their lead.
In the second quarter of 2021, the Westfield Foundation distributed $68,544.00 in grants to 10 different agencies: CancerCare Inc., CASA of Union County, Caring Contact, Family Promise, Greater Somerset County YMCA, More Than Bootstraps, Our House Foundation, Patriots’ Path Council – Boy Scouts, Presbyterian Church - Agape Community Kitchen and the Westfield Service League.
These funds will be used for such items as face masks for summer day campers, supplemental groceries for families in need, replacement of inoperable windows, training for family advocates re substance abuse and a healthy food initiative to address food insufficiency.
The Montclair Foundation (TMF) has awarded $54,000 in grants to eight nonprofits as part of its Spring 2021 grant cycle. Grants were awarded to support programs in human services, arts, youth education and senior services.
The Montclair Foundation’s grant program is intended to support a broad range of activities and organizations that contribute to the quality of life in Montclair and its environs. These organizations are essential to our quality of life not only because of the valuable programs they provide local citizens, but also because of the positive economic impact within our local communities.
The Bunbury Fund of the Princeton Area Community Foundation awarded more than $1.4 million in grants in 2021 to local nonprofits to help build their internal capacity.
“The Bunbury Fund’s mission is to strengthen the ability of nonprofit organizations to do their best work,” said Jamie Kyte Sapoch, a Community Foundation Trustee and Advisor to the Bunbury Fund. “We also believe it’s important to develop meaningful relationships with the nonprofit partners that we support. There are so many organizations in our region doing incredible work. With these grants, we hope to help some of them achieve their next level of organizational maturity and capability.”
The New Jersey State Council on the Arts awarded more than $28 million in grants to support over 700 arts organizations, projects, and artists throughout the state. The grants were approved earlier today at the Arts Council's 56th Annual Meeting.
“It has been an honor to witness the ongoing dedication and boundless creativity of our state’s arts sector,” said Secretary of State Tahesha Way. “I am proud to work closely with the State Arts Council as they grow and innovate, finding new ways to best serve the artists, arts workers, and organizations that continue to engage and inspire communities throughout the state.
In 2016, the Dodge Foundation began its equity journey in earnest, culminating in a strategic plan centered on a vision for an equitable New Jersey. In 2020, as mobilizations for racial justice swept the country and the pandemic abruptly exposed the devastating impacts of structural racism and inequity on people’s lives, the Foundation answered the call of these crises to imagine a new way. Now, building on the lessons learned over the past few years, the Foundation is fully immersed in this work with new program priorities centered on racial justice.
While the Foundation has increasingly deployed its support to organizations focused on addressing the root causes and repair of structural racism and inequity, in early 2023, they launched new program priorities and grantmaking processes to further align their work and grantmaking to that vision. These priorities, centered on racial justice, are the focus of the Dodge Foundation going forward.
During this webinar, Dodge Foundation President and CEO, Tanuja M. Dehne, will share learnings from the work, update other funders and foundations on the new program priorities and processes, and begin to identify opportunities for collaboration.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers.
Several CNJG members have modified their funding priorities over the past several years in response to both the pandemic and racial equity movements. CNJG is pleased to partner with our members to offer an opportunity for our members and other funders to hear the process and decisions that the foundation made to determine their new funding priorities. At the end of 2021, the Victoria Foundation presented on their new strategic framework, which offers members another model for how foundations have transformed their work.
Webinar Video
The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey (HFNJ) is pleased to announce that it has awarded $1,559,659 to thirteen New Jersey nonprofit organizations in its fourth quarter grant cycle of 2023.
The total includes renewal funding for six projects that had previously been awarded grants from HFNJ, and first-time funding for seven new projects. In the fourth quarter there was a particular focus on strengthening youth mental health services. This brings the total commitment across HFNJ’s four quarterly grant cycles of 2023 to address mental health in the greater Newark community to $3,079,270.
The Montclair Foundation has awarded $62,000 in grant funding to nineteen diverse nonprofits dedicated to making a positive difference in the Montclair community and its environs.
“There is no greater honor than partnering with these exemplary nonprofits as they continue to nurture growth in our community,” said Peggy Deehan, Trustee and Grants Committee Chair. “This Spring, we once again had the most applications that we have ever received; this made the grant review process particularly difficult, and we supported as many organizations as we could.”
The Westfield Foundation is proud to announce the allocation of $52,000 in Q3 grants, raising its total year-to-date funding to $278,000. This quarter’s grants reflect the Foundation’s ongoing dedication to improving community well-being, focusing on inclusivity, accessibility, mental health support and elder care.
“Our goal is to support all segments of our Community," said Katie Curran Darcy, Executive Director of the Westfield Foundation. "These investments in critical areas, provide children with inclusive play spaces, offer essential care for our seniors, and mental health support for our youth. We believe these projects will have a lasting impact.”