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These news articles show our members responses to philanthropy's role in fighting against racism and injustice.  If there items we've missed, please email us, and we'll add it.

Actions and Announcements

Johnson & Johnson: A Message from Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky About Recent Events in the United States

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Statement from Richard Besser, MD, on Racial Injustice, Violence, and Health In America
Adam Liebling, Director of Grants Management at RWJF, pens this article re-imagining the work of philanthropy

New Jersey Council for the Humanities: Our resolute commitment to equity and justice through the humanities

Overdeck Family Foundation: Standing in Solidarity, and Lifting Up Stories of Impact

Princeton Area Community Foundation: Eleanor Horne and Jeff Vega pen this opinion piece about how they are working towards racial equity and making their community “a better place for all children”

Smith Family Foundation: Protest and Planning Next Step - A Letter to our City and her Allies

TD Bank: A statement on recent events from Bharat Masrani, President & CEO, TD Bank Group

United Way of Ocean and Monmouth Counties: United We Stand

Victoria Foundation: Statement of Condemnation

ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership's landmark study and publication 7 Measures of Success identified the ability to build effective alliances or partnerships that advance the mission as one of the hallmarks of a remarkable association. But getting a partnership right is an involved undertaking. That's what The Power of Partnership, itself the result of a strategic research collaboration of ASAE & The Center and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is all about. The book takes a no-nonsense look at the intricacies of establishing successful partnerships between nonprofit organizations, between nonprofits and for-profit companies, and between nonprofit organizations and governmental entities.

More than a decade ago, the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and Philanthropy New York spearheaded a project to develop common application and report forms to help streamline the grant application process and ease the often time-consuming grant preparation process.

This application is a four-page form, which includes directions for use, a sample cover sheet, and the common grant proposal guidelines.

The separate Common Report Form follows closely the format of the New York/New Jersey Area Common Application Form.

Information for Grantmakers:

One of the core values at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project (with whom CNJG partnered on a trust-based grantmaking learning series in the summer of 2021 – read about Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3) encourages funders to streamline their requirements for paperwork from nonprofits. Accepting the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Report Form is one way. Another is to accept reports from nonprofits that they submitted to a different funder.

Recent articles from Vu Le at NonprofitAF.com (We need to have a serious talk about character limits on grant applications and Trust-based grantmaking: What it is and why it’s critical to our sector), Joan Garry in the Chronicle of Philanthropy (A Plea from Community Nonprofits for Investment Equity and less Bureaucracy), and the research project by the Technology Association of Grantmakers (Grant Applications Share 39% Similarity According to New Research by TAG) in the summer of 2021 have re-focused attention on the concept of a common grant application.

CNJG encourages our members to review the application and report form, and consider accepting these forms (or using these questions on your online application / report form) from your current or potential grantees.

CNJG surveyed our members in August 2021 asking if they accepted the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application and report form. CNJG members can download that report (link forthcoming).

Information for Grantseekers:
Before sending this (or any) application to any funder, be sure to check their specific funding guidelines and application requirements. Some funders require preliminary, additional, or supplementary information. Some funders only accept their own application form. CNJG members are under no obligation to accept either the common grant application or common grant report form.

Additional notes when using the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application Form:

• Please check with each individual funder if they accept only their own form, the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application form, or some other form.
• Funding area guidelines still apply. Research each organization’s funding areas to be sure your proposal fits within their guidelines before submitting your application.
• Any funder that has agreed to accept the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application may request additional information at any stage in their application process.
• Every funder has different deadlines and timetables. Refer to each organization's funding and/or reporting guidelines.
• Do not submit the NY/NJ Area Common Grant Application or report form to the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers. Submit your application directly to the organization from which you are requesting support.
• Questions should be directed to the organization from which you are requesting support.

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

In response to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black individuals, we have seen a call to end systemic racism, police brutality, and injustice. To explore philanthropy's role in fighting against racism and injustice, CNJG is sharing information about upcoming programs that we and our Philanthropy-Serving Organizations are presenting and other resources below. While some programs or resources have been organized in direct response to recent protests and calls for action, all are part of a longer conversation on racism in our country and within our sector. As CNJG weaves equity into all of our work, we look forward to continuing these conversations with you.

We realize this is not a comprehensive list, and we are posting items that CNJG staff sees, which is not nearly enough. We ask that our members, especially those who are black and brown, to help us find articles written by, resources created by, and programs led by people of color. Share those resources by emailing us. This page is just a part of our work in equity. We created this page as one starting point for New Jersey’s philanthropic community to engage in conversations, do background reading, attend programs, learn, and take action.

For those members interested in continuing the conversations, we invite you to join our Racial Equity listserve, by emailing Craig Weinrich. On that listserve, members can share information, resources, and opportunities that are helpful to the funding community.

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Visit these Websites

Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) Resource Directory
This Supporting API Communities Resource Directory was developed to mobilize the philanthropic sector towards meaningful action in the midst of heightened violence and hate targeting Asian American communities.

Participatory Grantmaking
A curated list of resources and articles from Candid on the movement of participatory grantmaking that engages the community in the grantmaking process.

The Power of Asset Framing: A Conversation with Trabian Shorters
This blog post by the Skillman Foundation contains a series of short videos by Trabian Shorters, founder and CEO of BMe Community, who describes shifts in narrative that all philanthropy should consider.

Putting Racism on the Table
This site created by the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers is the inspiration for CNJG’s Race, Racism and the Ramifications for Philanthropy Series.

Race to Lead Series
A site with reports and surveys on the racial leadership gap in the nonprofit sector.

Stanford Social Innovation Review
The Struggle to Overcome Racism, a list of resources to help leaders of social change and activists.

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project
A peer-to-peer learning and advocacy initiative to make philanthropy more based on trust.

Racial Equity Tools is designed to support individuals and groups working to achieve racial equity. This site offers tools, research, tips, curricula and ideas for people who want to increase their own understanding and to help those working toward justice at every level – in systems, organizations, communities and the culture at large.