Site Search
- resource provided by the Forum Network Knowledgebase.
Search Tip: Search with " " to find exact matches.
Impact Investing Bootcamp: Fundamentals for Driving Sustainable Philanthropy in New Jersey is a 3-part series introducing CNJG members to impact investing. The series will take place from March to May 2024.
The Council on Foundation defines impact investing as “any investment activity that intends to generate positive social and financial returns. Whether called impact investing, mission investing, social investing, social-impact investing, mission-related investing, program-related investing, or sustainable and responsible investing, the practice focuses on activating new financial resources to solve social and environmental problems.”
Impact investing as a tool can generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. By attending this series you will:
- Learn the fundamentals of how to create a more sustainable model of philanthropy through impact investing tools.
- Hear from experienced practitioners.
- Learn how to successfully integrate grantmaking and investment resources.
- Participate in interactive discussions with local peers.
- Hear examples of investments made in New Jersey and nationally.
- Attend a site visit to see impact investing in action.
- Receive a copy of the book “Impact Investing: The Practical Guide” by John Duong.
Session 2: This session will feature a site visit to Hinchliffe Stadium to highlight the project and explore local case studies of NJ foundations implementing impact investment strategies. Grantmakers will have the opportunity to tour the project site, hear from nonprofit partners and participants, ask questions, and learn directly from those involved.
COST: Free for CNJG Members
Registrants must attend all three sessions of the series.
Space Limited. No more than two people per organization can register.
Additional Session Information:
Tuesday, March 12, 2024, 9:00 am – 4:30 pm - Session 1: In this full day workshop John Duong, founder and CEO of Kind Capital, will lead a dynamic and intensely focused full day of learning, knowledge-building, and exchange. The curriculum will include baseline information, the fundamentals of impact investment, methods and models, and opportunities for peer to peer and small group discussion and dialogue. A light breakfast and lunch is included.
Thursday, May 16, Time TBD - Session 3: This virtual session will focus on setting the groundwork for New Jersey philanthropy to explore additional shared learning and co-investment opportunities. The discussion will be led by John Duong, Kind Capital.
Speaker:
Mr. Duong has been an investment banker at JP Morgan Chase, was founding Managing Director of Lumina Impact Ventures with Luminia, and was Program and Portfolio Officer with the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. John holds an executive MBA with a concentration in management and entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School of Management.
This CNJG program is sponsored by: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Victoria Foundation and presented by Kind Capital.
Resources
The Impact Principles website
Planet Tracker website - Reports for climate focused investors
Catalyzing Finance for Racial Equity
RPA Impact Investing Handbook
Impact Investing: A Primer for Family Foundaitons
What Can Foundations Do to Foster Community Investment?
The Role of Impact Capital in Advancing Racial Equity
Impact Capital for Racial Equity: Investing with Intention and Measuring Impact
Emerging Sources of Community Investment Capital and Strategies to Direct it at Scale
Mapping the Journey to Impact Investing
Roadmap for the Future of Impact Investing: Reshaping Financial Markets
Community Foundation Field Guide to Impact Investing
Essentials of Impact Investing
Endowments & Investing
Place-Based Impact Investing: Three Briefs for Practitioners
Nonprofits can and should play an active role during elections, particularly by educating and activating voters. However, with important local, state and federal elections coming up this fall, nonprofits should take the time to remind their staff about appropriate activity during a political campaign or at any other time. This overview developed by Donors Forum provides important tips and examples of activities that are permissible for nonprofits during an election cycle.
Government-Nonprofit Contracting Reform
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Guidance is the biggest change in government grant guidelines in over 30 years. The rules require that federal grants and contracts—including those that pass through state and local governments—include a “reasonable amount” for indirect costs. A “reasonable amount”, according to the guidance, is at least 10 percent of direct costs and, in some cases, nonprofits can negotiate a higher amount.
With the nonprofit sector earning nearly 33 percent of its revenue from government grants and contracts, this new requirement is a game changer. Nina Stack wrote a piece discussing these changes for the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation blog:
Excerpt from A Social Sector Game Changer:
“Nonprofits that are hired by the government to perform a service and paid through federal dollars are to use at least 10 percent of the direct costs of their grant or contract to pay indirect costs. BOOM! Just as John Madden would say. A mandate for funding that can be used for core operations. Never before has there been such a clear directive and recognition from the federal government.”
To see this change however, industry-wide advocacy is essential to ensure that all nonprofits are aware of this monumental shift and that governments follow the new requirement. Without advocacy, it is very possible that, despite the requirement to add an additional 10 percent or more to pay for indirect costs, legislative bodies at the federal, state and city levels may further reduce project budgets to keep them flat. And this could mean that in order to maintain the same level of services, nonprofits will seek additional resources from the philanthropic sector to make up the difference. Therefore it is imperative that philanthropy remains active in the conversation between nonprofits and government to continue to maintain a balance in the critical services provided by all.
What this means for nonprofits:
- Government contracts are now required to reimburse nonprofits for reasonable indirect costs (administrative, “overhead”) as part of their service-delivery agreement.
- The OMB Uniform Guidance is only a promise of better treatment—nonprofits should know the rules and protect themselves.
What this means for foundations:
- Advocacy is needed! To ensure government partners do not underfund nonprofits due to the new rules, foundations need to help spread awareness and enforce the regulations.
In New Jersey, the New Jersey Center for Nonprofits has been teeing up advocacy, information sessions, and other assistance to help non-profits take advantage of the new rules. For questions and information about the new guidelines, please visit the resources below.
Resources
Federal Register: OMB Uniform Guidance
- Frequent moves are the most significant barrier to academic success, as they disrupt both students and teachers. Students on the move need extra time and attention to get caught up, requiring teachers to spend more time with those students.
- Students who are unable to find stable shelter have difficulty meeting state or district mandates regarding the number of days they must attend school to stay enrolled.
- Often, the slow transfer of student records, along with differing course requirements from school to school, complicates the accrual of sufficient credits for homeless students to be promoted and receive a high school diploma.
Funders want to be the best versions of themselves. A critical step on that journey is getting feedback from grantees. However, not every foundation has the time or capacity to collect grantee feedback.
Exponent Philanthropy helps lean funders collect feedback from their communities through the Grantee and Applicant Perception Survey. Over the past 2 years, they’ve worked with six foundations to survey more than 400 nonprofits to learn what lean funders do well and where they can improve..
In this publication, they’ve compiled feedback from those surveys to try and help lean funders understand what nonprofits want them to learn. We’ve organized that feedback into two main sections:.
1. How nonprofits think funders should increase their impact
2. How nonprofits think funders should improve their processes.
Throughout this publication, you’ll find data from our surveys and direct quotes from nonprofit leaders. We provide additional context and data from the 2023 Foundation Operations and Management Report (FOMR) and links to additional resources to learn more about these topics.
Under-resourced communities are going without because nonprofits can't meet demand. Americans —particularly those in low-income communities—are still struggling to secure jobs, affordable housing, and healthcare. Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2015 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey focuses on the underlying causes of these dynamics by exploring the programmatic, financial, and operational issues facing nonprofits across the U.S.
NFF launched the Survey in 2008, when economic crisis threatened the viability of many organizations. Seven years later, results from 5,451 respondents show some indications of recovery, stabilization, and growth. Nonprofits are adding jobs, engaging in strategic conversations such as leadership succession planning, and looking to retain their workforce. Yet as they raise their sights from the focus on short-term crisis, many are confronting the troubling reality that current practices cannot sustain organizations in the long-term or meet the needs of the communities they serve now. Many organizations have stumbled out of crisis looking to make the necessary investments to secure their long-term future. And it is a hard road ahead.
CNJG is partnering with the Center for Non-Profits to have non-profits complete a rapid-response survey to scan the needs from the non-profit sector during this pandemic. Linda Czipo, President of the Center for Nonprofits, will then join us on a video call for CNJG members on Friday, March 20 to share the results of the survey.
After her presentation, we offer the time and space for funders to share what you are doing differently, and strategies to address the community's needs.
For more resources and articles on COVID-19, visit our Coronavirus Response page.
Cost: Free for Member and NonMember Grantmakers
Please note, this webinar is for funders only.
Thank you to the Center for Non-Profits for their continued partnership in this effort.
Webinar Video
Join Deborah Cornavaca, Deputy Chief of Staff of Outreach to Governor Murphy for a general information session on the vaccine rollout in New Jersey, and to provide you with comprehensive updates and answer questions. The rollout is in constant motion, but Ms. Cornavaca and her team will provide the most up-to-date information, as well as hear your suggestions and thoughts.
The timely knowledge and resources shared during this briefing will be essential as foundations support nonprofit, community, and government partners in making sure all New Jerseyans are informed about the vaccine, how and where to get vaccinated, and where to go for questions or concerns. For additional information visit the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub.
Register today to learn about the state’s plan to get vaccines to New Jersey communities, and what role philanthropy can play in ongoing efforts.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers
The PSEG Foundation has announced $1 million in grant funding to three historically Black colleges and universities: Hampton University, Howard University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. This funding will provide qualifying students an opportunity to attend prestigious universities and pursue their studies in STEM education.
Through these grants, the PSEG Foundation hopes to help diversify the STEM workforce by providing underrepresented students access to STEM education and generating a pipeline of competitive and capable talent for the future workforce, as well as the next generation of scientific and policy leaders in environmental science, sustainability and social justice.
“HBCUs have a long history of offering an exceptional educational experience while enriching the lives of Black students and families and providing the resources that empower students to succeed in various STEM careers,” said Calvin Ledford Jr., president of the PSEG Foundation. “At PSEG, we have dozens of employees and their families that have attended HBCUs, including many alumni of Hampton University and Howard University. This support is exemplary of our vision to build equitable and prosperous communities, amplifying the direction we have been heading by providing support to organizations including the United Negro College Fund and Thurgood Marshall College Fund, just to name a few.”
Wells Fargo is making good on its promise to help underserved communities.
On Monday, the bank announced it is giving a grant of $1 million to the Trenton Regional Business Assistance Corp. and a grant of $500,000 to the Camden-based Cooperative Business Assistance Corp. The grants are part of the Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund, which was created last year.
The organizations will use the grants to provide low-interest loans to small businesses that — for a variety of reasons — lacked the access to such capital.
Tomas Porturas, vice president of social impact and sustainability, said Wells Fargo hopes the funding will help underserved small businesses in Trenton and South Jersey stay open and preserve jobs through short- and long-term COVID-19 resiliency efforts. It also will expand microlending activities and programming for diverse business owners.
“Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund is another avenue of support and enlists the expertise of our CDFI partners to urgently help diverse South Jersey entrepreneurs recover and preserve the jobs they provide in their communities,” he said. “The funding will provide much-needed access to capital with increased equity in resources and technical assistance for local businesses, which are the backbone of our local economies and neighborhoods.”
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) plans to award grants totaling $17.5 million to 30 nonprofit organizations through Phase 3 of its successful Sustain & Serve NJ program. Sustain & Serve NJ provides eligible entities with grants to support the purchase of meals from New Jersey restaurants that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 and the distribution of those meals at no cost to recipients. The additional $17.5 million in awards announced today brings total program funding to $52.5 million.
“Sustain & Serve NJ has become a national model for addressing food insecurity, supporting small businesses that are the heartbeat of our downtowns, and providing funding to the nonprofit entities that deliver vital services,” said Acting Governor Sheila Y. Oliver. “Combatting hunger remains a top priority and it is more critical than ever that nonprofits have the resources they need to feed the people within their communities.”
NJM Insurance Group said it recently made a $100,000 donation to benefit hunger relief efforts across the mid-Atlantic region.
The monies are part of the West Trenton-based firm’s yearlong commitment to supporting communities, which now totals more than $2 million in donations in 2022.
NJM’s support of communities is rooted in a culture of purpose-driven service. The company directs charitable contributions toward organizations that support arts and culture, health, community assistance, safety and financial literacy. Other areas of focus include education and enrichment and revitalization programs such as those offered by social service organizations and food banks.
“NJM is a service organization working on behalf of our policyholders and the communities in which they live and work,” Mitch Livingston, NJM CEO and president, stated. “We partner with nonprofits and organizations dedicated to delivering needed resources that can positively impact lives, and we are privileged to support these causes throughout the region.”
A year after kicking off an initiative to improve nutrition at schools in its hometown of Camden, Campbell Soup Co. is getting high marks. And over the next five years, the soup and snack giant plans to invest $5 million in Full Futures, a sweeping effort to make sure students are well nourished and ready to thrive — both in the classroom and outside of it.
Armed with research linking school meals and healthy diets to academic success, Campbell executives saw an opportunity to effect change by leveraging the expertise and resources of numerous partners to advance developments in nutrition programming and cafeteria infrastructure across a school district that serves 11,000 students.
Working in partnership with the Camden City School District, as well as several nonprofit and corporate entities, Campbell set out to improve how kids eat at school through cafeteria equipment upgrades, expanded meal programs, nutrition education, reformulated menus and equitable sourcing of local, fresh produce.
Campbell recently reported on its progress with Full Futures, as well as next steps planned to keep the momentum going during the next four years of the campaign.