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This weekly funder briefing webinar series welcomed New Jersey-based grantmakers along with national funders and provided an opportunity for grantmakers to hear from a wide range of nonprofit experts. This series started on March 13, 2025, less than a month after the first executive order was issued and continued through April 24, 2025. The written summaries of each recording are listed below.
A CNJG member queried our listserves on policies regarding: 1) number of vacation days for new full-time employees; 2) paid time off (PTO); and 3) working remotely. CNJG compiled the answers from responding members.
Tax Exempt Organization Search helps users find information about a tax-exempt organization’s federal tax status and filings. You can find:
- Organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions (Pub 78 data).
- Automatically revoked organizations
- IRS determination letters dated on or after January 1, 2014
- Form 990-series returns
- Organizations that have filed a Form 990-N (e-Postcard)
Steering Committee
Jorge Cruz, Executive Director, LISC Greater Newark
Linda Czipo, President & CEO of the New Jersey Center of Nonprofits
Jackie Edwards, Executive Director, Parents Inc of NJ
Victoria Fernandez, Director of Thriving Communities, Grunin Foundation; and Co-Founder, Nonprofit Professionals of Color Collective
Tyneisha Gibbs, Founder and Principal Consultant of 144th & Vine; and Co-Founder, Nonprofit Professionals of Color Collective
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
Bridget Phifer, Chief Executive Officer, Parkside Business & Community in Partnership
Rosalía Velázquez, Director of Strategic Partnerships, New Jersey Center of Nonprofits
Advisory Group
Keith R. Adams, Executive Director, NJVOAD
Carin Berkowitz, Executive Director, New Jersey Council for the Humanities
Elsa Candelario, Professor of Professional Practice, Latino/a/x Initiatives for Service, Training, and Assessment, Rutgers School of Social Work
Jane Cohen, Executive Director, Governor’s Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy
René O. Deida, Director, Corporate and Community Engagement, Prudential Financial, Inc.
Hans Dekker, President, Community Foundation of New Jersey
Craig Drinkard, Co-Executive Officer, Victoria Foundation
Bill Engel President, The Union Foundation
Andy Fraizer Executive Director, Community Foundation of South Jersey
Laurie Goganzer, President and CEO, YMCA of Greater Monmouth County
Jeremy Grunin, President, Grunin Foundation
Bob Guarasci, Founder & CEO, New Jersey Community Development Corporation
Susan Hoskins, Executive Director, Friends Foundation for the Aging
Sharnita C. Johnson, Vice President of Strategy, Impact and Communication, Victoria Foundation
Elaine E. Katz, Sr. Vice President, Kessler Foundation
Eddie LaPorte, Director, New Jersey Office of Faith Based Initiatives
Taneshia Nash Laird, President and CEO, Newark Symphony Hall
Tammy Rice Herman, Director of Grants & Strategies, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
John Thurber, Partner, Br'Island Group
Keith Timko, Executive Director & CEO, Support Center
Sandra Toussaint, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Mercer County
Allison Tratner, Executive Director, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Mark Valli, CEO, NORWESCAP
Margaret Waldock, Executive Director, Duke Farms
Catherine Wilson, President & CEO, United Way of Greater Newark
Doing Good Better, a partnership of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and the New Jersey Center for Nonprofits, is a community of funders and nonprofits taking action against the power imbalances and racial inequities in philanthropy, nonprofits, and government.
An overview on the self-dealing law, including definitions, common problem areas, exceptions, penalties, and resources.
A sample document detailing the core values of the Betty and Davis Fitzgerald Foundation including restrictions on participation on nonprofit/grantee boards.
This new report from CNJG and partners examines the response of foundations, corporations, and other institutional donors to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. Numbering nearly 600, these funders have so far committed more than $380 million for relief, recovery and building efforts. The hard data and reflective observations in the report contribute to the growing body of knowledge that helps foundations and corporations be strategic and effective with their giving when disaster strikes.
Two years after the historic storm, Philanthropy & Hurricane Sandy: A Report on the Foundation & Corporate Response breaks down the allocation of dollars contributed thus far and offers perspective on the role of private giving in disaster response and lessons to be taken from this one. The report was published by the Foundation Center in partnership with the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and Philanthropy New York, and with support from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
“Throughout the past two years, our exceptional nonprofit and funder community has taken on challenges they never imagined,” said Nina Stack, president of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers. “These organizations continue to develop innovative solutions that other communities will learn from and build upon in future disasters.”
In addition to the report’s numerous funders, CNJG wishes to thank the PSEG Foundation for supporting this project.
The Ford Institute for Community Building, a program of The Ford Family Foundation, works to help community leaders learn how to implement local solutions based on principles of effective community building. This paper describes the development and work of the The Ford Institute for Community Building.
Strategic asset allocation is arguably one of the most important, yet least advanced, aspects of investing. The Investment Strategy Group (ISG) in the Goldman Sachs Investment Management Division has developed a new approach to strategic asset allocation, which leverages the idea that long-term investment returns derive from multiple distinct sources called “return-generating factors.” This multi-factor approach is designed to help investors better understand the key sources of long-term return across asset classes and to increase the precision of long-term risk and return estimates. It also provides investors with a new way to think about portfolio diversification, allowing them to focus not only on diversification across asset classes but also
on diversification across the underlying sources of return.
Alexis Bivens, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and Managing Director of the Supporting Organizing Work Funders Collaborative, Connecticut Council on Philanthropy, presents the process and progress of how an affinity group transformed into a funders collaborative, how it was resourced, and challenges along the way.
In this arts briefing, Nadia Elokdah, Vice President and Program Director for Grantmakers in the Arts, will discuss the unique opportunity for arts grantmakers to support advocacy and influence policy through their funding decisions and why the arts should be included in decision-making processes. She will also cover the importance of arts funding in building narrative power and driving cultural change. Vanessa Ramalho, Director of External Relations of ArtPride New Jersey, will highlight the challenges faced by arts and cultural organizations in New Jersey and their intersections with community issues relating to the ongoing changes in federal policy. She will also share how ArtPride New Jersey is leveraging its statewide reach to develop collaborative advocacy strategies to influence and help shape policies informed by the needs and voices of the arts sector and the communities they serve. Vanessa will explore ways that funders might shift their focus and priorities to better meet the needs of organizations that are navigating increasing financial uncertainty as a result of federal policy changes.
Nadia Elokdah is an urbanist and design strategist with more than a decade working at the intersection of public systems and cultural practice. She currently serves as Vice President & Director of Programs at GIA. Most recently she served as special projects manager with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs coordinating the City’s monuments commission. Prior, she served as coordinator in the development of the City’s first cultural plan, CreateNYC, in which she coordinated and led hundreds of engagements with a broad cross-section of the public, as well collaborating in the writing and production of the plan. She is devoted to civic engagement through culturally responsible, inclusive, and equitable design practice, exemplified in collaborations with the International Design Clinic, in.site collaborative, and Monuments Lab. Nadia is a trained architect and designer, researcher, professor, and published author, including Identity Crisis, a cultural exploration of urban planning through the hammam. She currently serves as steering committee member of the Women of Color in the Arts (WOCA) Non-Black POC Solidarity! into Action Committee, National Coalition for Arts Preparedness & Emergency Response (NCAPER) Programming Working Group, and an advisory board member for Unsettled.
Vanessa Ramalho, Director of External Relations, supports ArtPride’s advocacy and government affairs work, leading efforts to move forward legislative priorities that support the sustainability of the arts in New Jersey. Vanessa also builds relationships with constituents throughout the state — from community members to arts organizations, and local and state representatives — to support the cultivation of a thriving arts ecosystem. With nearly 20 years of experience in the nonprofit arts & cultural sector, Vanessa has led community education, fundraising, and grassroots advocacy projects across a range of organizations, including the Sadie Nash Leadership Project, the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS (APICHA), Project KISS of New York Presbyterian Hospital, The Princeton Ballet School, the Asian Arts Initiative, and the Center for Babaylan Studies.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $75 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.
Programs in this Series:
March 13: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Immigration
March 20: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Health
March 27: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Environment
April 3: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Education
April 10: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Housing
April 17: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Media & Journalism
April 24: Making Sense of Federal Policy: Understanding What it Means for NJ: Arts
Webinar Video