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This self-assessment/reflection tool is intended for foundations and funders committed to or interested in Doing Good Better. Doing Good Better is inspired by, and builds on, years of nonprofit and community advocacy, the principles of “Trust Based Philanthropy,” and numerous other resources. We hope this tool will open up the opportunity for dialogue and reflection with your board, staff and funded agencies. Your response can serve as a baseline for future measurement of your organization’s progress towards Doing Good Better, stronger philanthropic/nonprofit partnerships, and heightened community impact.

This assessment is intended as a self-reflection tool, rather than a recommendation for any specific policy within a particular funding institution. It has four sections, one for each Doing Good Better goal. For most funders, a single individual in grantmaking or senior leadership will be able to complete the full assessment; others may need additional support from other departments to respond. While filling out the assessment, we encourage you to consider how self-reporting bias may show up in your answers. Also, notice where a question challenges you and get curious about why.

To make the most of this tool, we recommend that you first review and consider the Doing Good Better goals before starting this assessment. We also encourage your board and staff to go through the goals as you reflect on your responses.

• Goal 1: Center Equity
• Goal 2: Provide Flexible Funding
• Goal 3: Provide Reliable Funding
• Goal 4: Reduce Paperwork Burden

DOWNLOAD THE SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL

CNJG’s work throughout this year will be driven by the 2023 – 2025 Strategic Plan, and you’ll see that reflected in the monthly president’s letter. 
 
This month, I want to highlight goal 3 of the strategic plan: amplify our collective voice. As part of this goal, we’ll create our first-ever “social sector-wide policy and advocacy agenda designed to provide leadership for sector-critical issues and causes, including those that advance equity.” 
 
As we celebrate Black History Month, and Women’s History in March, it’s important to remember change starts with advocacy, and philanthropy has a critical role to play. Our recent Advocacy Series for Funders outlined the following: basics for funders, how to involve your trustees in advocacy, and how to evaluate your advocacy efforts.
 
The Council’s Leadership and Policy Committee met in January to begin exploring what our policy agenda would look like. Guided by the strategic plan, our priorities will closely align with the New Jersey Center for Nonprofits’ Advocacy Agenda.
 
The Center’s agenda embraces strategies that correlate seamlessly with our own strategic plan: expanding and deepening relationships with policy makers; highlighting the societal importance of the nonprofit community to the well-being of our state; ensuring public policy positions are equitable and anti-racist; as well as working with key partners to advance equity.
 
CNJG’s policy agenda will also be informed and inspired by United Philanthropy Forum’s 6 policy principles: champion racial equity and justice, support fair tax policy and regulation, enhance charitable giving, defend and strengthen democracy, promote civic engagement, and strengthen the nonprofit sector’s impact.
 
Back in person this year, both the Forum and the Center’s agendas will factor into our conversations during Foundations on the Hill. This event, scheduled from February 27 to March 1, is an opportunity for philanthropic leaders and advocates to meet with our representatives in Washington to share key issues and communicate the important roles foundations and philanthropy play in serving the public good.
 
While we’re deep in the planning for FOTH, there’s still time if you would like to join the CNJG delegation. Please contact me as soon as possible. 
 
CNJG envisions a healthy, thriving, and civically engaged NJ where people of all places, racial identities, socio-economic backgrounds, abilities, and identity expressions are valued for their gifts and talents, and we all can reach our full potential and participate generously in the common good. Creating and implementing a policy agenda to guide our work is another way we’ll move forward our vision.

Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers

This year marks the 5th anniversary of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers’ biennial Spring Colloquium – A Conversation for the Social Sector - being held on May 24 at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick. A CNJG signature event since 2006, the Colloquium brings together foundations and non-profits with national thought leaders to explore topics of critical interest to foundations and non-profits whose work impacts our state’s quality of life.

“The Colloquium is a natural outgrowth of our role as a central force in amplifying the voice of philanthropy in New Jersey,” said Nina Stack, President of the Council. “This special event gives foundation and non-profit leaders the benefit of hearing from our country’s leading social sector experts and the opportunity to apply what they learn to the important work they do to improve the lives of those they serve in New Jersey.”

The 2016 Spring Colloquium conversation will focus on how privatization and de-funding of many services once provided by the public sector has led to the expectation that grantmakers and their non-profit partners will increasingly assume responsibility for these services, despite dramatically diminished resources. The social sector is responding to this challenge with innovative funding initiatives. Detroit’s foundations, for example, devised the “Grand Bargain” to help solve that city’s pension crisis. Likewise, the use of social impact bonds is rising as a means of underwriting safety net programs. “This change in the ‘public contract’ necessitates thoughtful planning on the part of foundation and nonprofit leaders who must be prepared to meet this significant paradigm shift,” said Emily Tow Jackson, Executive Director and President of the Tow Foundation, and a 2016 Colloquium panelist.

Other panelists at this year’s Colloquium include moderator Robert S. Collier, the President and CEO of the Council of Michigan Foundations; Elizabeth T. Boris, Founding Director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute; and Michael McAfee, Vice President for Programs at PolicyLink.

Over the years, the Colloquium has considered a diverse range of topics including philanthropy’s role in restoring civility to society; strategies to ensure community and nonprofit sustainability; philanthrocapitalism; and driving change by being fearless. The event has featured such prominent speakers as former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean; Idealist founder Ami Dar; U.S. editor of The Economist Matthew Bishop; and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Board Chairman, Jeremy Nowak, among many others.

In addition to serving New Jersey’s social sector, the Spring Colloquium will be viewed by CNJG regional philanthropy association members across the country via simulcast-hosted gatherings.

“PSE&G strongly believes in the power of the social sector’s collective impact and the leadership that CNJG has exhibited over the years by providing New Jersey’s foundations and non-profits with access to our counterparts from across the country,” said Ellen Lambert, Chief Diversity Officer, Senior Director Corporate Citizenship and President, PSEG Foundation, a sponsor of the 2016 CNJG Spring Colloquium. For more details about the Colloquium please visit www.cnjg.org/investmentforum.

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers works to strengthen and promote effective philanthropy throughout New Jersey. The leading resource for networking and information for New Jersey's philanthropic community, CNJG provides representatives of all types of grantmaking organizations access to valuable services and meaningful activities to advance their work.