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This weekly conference call series welcomed New Jersey-based grantmakers along with national funders and provided an opportunity for grantmakers to hear from a wide range of experts in the field of disaster philanthropy. This series started on September 9, 2013 and concluded on November 4, 2013. The written summaries of each recording are listed below.

This publication from Grantmakers for Effective Organizations offers a framework for thinking about how to measure progress and results in place-based and community change initiatives. 

Nonprofit Finance Fund's Annual Survey chronicles the challenges facing the nonprofit sector and calls out some of the targeted investments we can start to agree on as a society to salvage the investment we have collectively made in our social infrastructure. We believe that a coordinated intervention now will not only better prepare us for inevitable future economic crises; it can lead to a happier, healthier community for us all.

As a follow-up to our Giving in Indiana study (released earlier this year), Indiana Philanthropy Alliance is pleased to share this snapshot of promising practices for advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in Indiana philanthropy. Throughout our state, foundations are incorporating the values of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into their organizational cultures; engaging diverse populations as staff, board members, donors, and grantees; and working to make their communities more welcoming places. This report is an effort to capture a sampling of these endeavors.

Date: Wednesday, June 18
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Location
The Palace at Somerset Park
 333 Davidson Ave, Somerset, NJ

CNJG’s 2025 Conference for the Social Sector—Stronger Together: Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, features recognized thought leaders, national and regional experts, and community leaders for a full day of connection, shared exploration, thoughtful discussion, and side-by-side learning with philanthropic and nonprofit colleagues.

This year's conference will examine how funders and nonprofits can work together to address and increase civic engagement, focusing on several key areas, including advocacy, local media, participatory budgeting, guaranteed income, public-private partnerships, the arts, and youth education through the lens of civic participation.

Civic engagement is about more than voting or elections. As our colleagues at Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) define it:
“Civic engagement is the process of helping people be active participants in building and strengthening their communities, whether defined as a place or a shared identity or interest. It’s a spectrum of ways people can participate in self-governance, from interactions with government to voluntary associations, and everything in between.”

The opportunity for local communities to convene, learn together, and form partnerships can lead to meaningful action and increased public participation. Let’s explore how philanthropy can impact the social sector by buttressing these connections.

CNJG represents over 130 of NJ’s leading philanthropic organizations – foundations, corporations, and donors. Each year, we present a large-format meeting to include nonprofit partners to discuss big picture topics fostering learning and dialogue between funders and nonprofits.

Conference Photos

Despite a field replete with research, analysis, recommended policies and practices — not to mention an abundance of educational programs and frameworks for grantmaking to diverse communities — philanthropic leaders have been slow to advance these values in their foundations. Philanthropy Northwest (PNW) wondered: what is getting in the way? Why are good intentions, buttressed with theory and practical advice, not achieving better results on measures of diversity, equity and inclusion?

With the support of the D5 Coalition, PNW began a year-long study to explore these questions. The study was divided into two parts. They began with personal interviews of 23 philanthropic leaders in the Pacific Northwest. In order to better understand how these organizations incorporated diversity, equity, and inclusion into their work and workplaces, they collected baseline information about their staff composition, leadership styles, and organizational practices/policies.

This report details their findings. It includes an in-depth look at the peer cohort model, in which ten foundation leaders met regularly to discuss these issues and support each other in advancing their own leadership. It also includes practical lessons about shifting organizational cultures towards greater diversity, equity and inclusion — lessons drawn directly from the experiences of peer cohort leaders.

PNW presented this work in a webinar hosted by the D5 Coalition. The webinar recording and slides are below.

Foundation leaders have a unique opportunity to serve as powerful champions of their missions. Partnering with your grantees can amplify your impact. The following guide is designed to help you start having an honest conversation in the boardroom; a conversation about your foundation’s goals, approach, and, most importantly, vision for the future.