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The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers invites members – and prospective members – from across the state to gather for an evening of connection and community. Rooted in CNJG’s mission of fostering shared learning, collaborative and trusting relationships, and network building, this event invites philanthropic peers to connect, converse, and cultivate meaningful connections in a welcoming and convivial setting.
The afternoon will include a brief welcome from CNJG leadership and our hosts followed by open time to mingle, share stories, and strengthen the trusted relationships that form the heart of our community. A tour of the arboretum grounds will be available for those interested.
Whether you are looking to reconnect with long-time colleagues, meet new peers from across the state, or cultivate new ideas that may spark future collaborations, this social offers the chance to deepen relationships that sustain and strengthen New Jersey’s philanthropic sector.
About the Arboretum: Once a country estate, Reeves-Reed Arboretum is now a 13.5 acre public garden listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Its estate and gardens represent design trends by prominent late 19th and early 20th century landscape architects, including Calvert Vaux, a partner of Frederick Law Olmsted. More information can be found here.
There is no cost to attend this event.
Light refreshments will be provided.
CNJG thanks Investors Foundation and the Maher Charitable Foundation for underwriting the costs of the social
Novartis benchmarked Employee Crisis Programs, and asked fellow corporate funders via the corporate funders listserve to answer the questions below.
- If you have an Employee Crisis Program, what is the name
- 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.
- Do you only support disasters or other hardships as well?
- What is the average percentage of your employees that apply for aid?
- What is your minimum and maximum funding?
- What is the average amount of aid?
- Do you provide aid directly to the employee and/or vendors?
- 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?
- Where does the program reside (CSR, Foundation, HR)?
- Please share guidelines and applications, if possible.
- Please share any other insights.
Amalgamated Bank is America’s socially responsible bank that specializes in supporting social change organizations, companies, and people working to make the world more just and sustainable. Nearly 100 years ago, immigrant women union members founded Amalgamated to provide banking service to their own community and to send money back to their mother countries. Since our founding, Amalgamated has been explicitly committed to environmental justice, economic inclusion, and the rights of working people. Today, Amalgamated is a full service financial institution supporting clients in 50 states across their banking, investment, and donor advised fund needs. At Amalgamated, we believe that you do not need to sacrifice services and rates to have a partner aligned with your values.
Banking and Investing With Your Values
Amalgamated Bank and its clients believe that where you bank matters. When you deposit your money at Amalgamated Bank, you know that it is being used in ways that align with your values and not invested in strategies that would further degrade our planet. Amalgamated believe that banks can be a force for good to curb climate change, advocate for gun safety, fight hate, and stand up for racial justice.
Here are some of the ways you can use your organization’s assets to build a more just and sustainable planet.
Bank with Your Values: Everyone’s bank deposits are lent out and invested in strategies that fuel our future economy. Simply, where you bank matters, because banks use your deposits to invest in other people’s ideas. It’s time to make sure that those ideas align with your values. At Amalgamated, we only invest in mission aligned companies and strategies that further a more just and sustainable planet. We lend hundreds of millions of dollars a year to clean energy, affordable housing, , sustainable agriculture, businesses owned by women, immigrants, and people of color, and more.
Invest with Your Values: Amalgamated believes that endowment and reserve account dollars should be used to achieve both a social and financial return. Our investment team specializes in risk adjusted options that screen out extractive industries and channel those resources to mission aligned strategies.
Give with Your Values: Amalgamated’s donor advised fund and pooled fund strategies help you move money to the causes you care about. Donors are able to move grants with ease using our innovative technology and financial acumen. Institutional funders are able to rely on our expert back office to manage their pooled and collaborative funds.
How Amalgamated Helps PSOs and Foundations
Amalgamated Bank is collaborating with United Philanthropy Forum and its members (including CNJG and its members) to offer preferred banking services. Every banking relationship is different, but Amalgamated and the Forum are committed to reducing costs, increasing returns, and improving financial operations. Specifically, CNJG members can expect:
- Discounted banking, depending on the organization’s specific needs
- Preferred private banker who understands the specific needs of PSOs and foundations and mission aligned investing strategies
- Full fee and rate analysis before you move to understand the financial gains of switching to Amalgamated Bank
- Consultation on credit needs including working capital, corporate credit cards, and more
- Bespoke portfolio development for ESG investment products
Learn More
To learn more about partnering with Amalgamated Bank, please visit their website or contact Caitlin Duffy, First Vice President of Philanthropy Banking, at [email protected] or (202) 721-0775.
CNJG's 2018 Annual Meeting & Holiday Luncheon pre-meeting workshop with Michelle Greanias from PEAK Grantmaking focused on how foundation CEO’s, program officers, staff, and trustees could engage internally to put values-based grantmaking into practice.
Walk the Talk Video
Philanthropic organizations of all shapes and sizes are well positioned to support Communities for a Lifetime (CfaL). This issue brief explores four roles for philanthropy in advancing CfaL work.
CNJG’s community foundation services (through the United Philanthropy Forum) breakdown into three categories:
1. a national listserv for CEOs
2. two in-person boot camp trainings
3. discount on the On-Line CF Express Training
National Listserv for Community Foundation CEOs
CNJG’s listserve for Community Foundation CEOs connects to a national listserv for the CEOs of community foundations. This active listserve allows community foundation CEOs to communicate easily via email with community foundation CEOs from across the country, to pose questions, engage in conversations and more. The service is being made available to our community foundations members as a benefit of your membership with CNJG and is operated by the Untied Philanthropy Forum, which is CNJG’s national network.
If you are interested in participating in this national community foundation listserve, please contact Craig Weinrich.
Community Foundation Boot Camps
The United Philanthropy Forum offers two or more Community Foundation Boot Camps a year that are made available to CNJG members at the member rate as a benefit of CNJG membership. The two-day Community Foundation Boot Camp program offers a comprehensive overview of the structure and operations of a community foundation. The program is an ideal in-depth introduction to community foundations for new community foundation staff, community foundation board members, or more experienced community foundation staff looking for a good refresher.
On-Line CF Express Training
The Forum is partnering with Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) to offer a $400 discount on KACF’s On-Line CF Express Training. The online training and certificate program focuses on core essentials over a 15-module series that covers nearly every aspect of community foundation work: from asset development and quality grants programs design to fiduciary and policy matters. Plus, enjoy 24-hour-access to the easy-to-navigate short (5-15 min) modules in any order from the comfort of a home or an office, in private, or as a group training.
Watch the CF Express Training Promo Video and view a sample module (password: mod15) to learn more. To take advantage of the discount, sign-up at https://cfexpresstraining.com and enter discount code: Forum2018. You can also reference the following attachments for more details.
Family Philanthropy Online
In partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy, CNJG members have complimentary access to Family Philanthropy Online — a web-based knowledge center that provides practical advice and knowledge on a variety of relevant topics. Continually updated, the site provides members with access to the latest resources to inform their philanthropic efforts. Logged in CNJG members may access Family Philanthropy Online directly from our website through our members-only portal.
*The use of FP Online is only available to CNJG staff and family foundations. Community foundations, philanthropic consultants, and professional advisors must subscribe themselves.
Family Philanthropy Webinars
Every second Thursday of the month, CNJG members have the opportunity to participate in interactive webinars featuring presentations and Q&A sessions with nationally recognized experts in areas of family philanthropy, also presented in partnership with the National Center for Family Philanthropy. These webinars are free for CNJG members. You can access the registration page for these webinars from the CNJG website. Please note, registration for these webinars is separate from CNJG’s website. Directions on how to register are available on CNJG’s website page for each webinar. Our online tutorial has directions on how to register for a NCFP webinar.
Please note: only webinars that are indicated for “members of one of our Family Philanthropy Online Partner Communities” are free for CNJG family foundation members. NCFP offers many different webinars for various audiences. If you don’t see that phrase in their price description, you may not be able to attend that webinar. If you have any questions, please contact Craig Weinrich.
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