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This advocacy and civic engagement toolkit is designed for community and public foundations that want to educate and encourage their grantees about getting involved in civic and policy activities to increase organizational capacity and impact. While its primary focus is on the grantmaking activity of these foundations, the toolkit also addresses rules and guidance for policy involvement by foundation officials acting on behalf of their foundations.
Facing Our Future was a landmark initiative looking at the systemic, long term fiscal challenges facing all levels of government in New Jersey. It grew out of a 2010 briefing CNJG held for members that outlined how a Governor’s budget is annually crafted. CNJG leadership worked with members to convene a group of enthusiastic former government leaders. Their collective experience crossed party lines, and many of them had served multiple New Jersey governors. This Leadership Group included 4 former Attorney Generals, 3, former Commissioners, 2 former State Treasurers, a former Director of the State Senate and a former Chief Justice of the NJ Supreme Court, in addition to leading New Jersey researchers.
Facing Our Future became an independent, bipartisan effort under the auspices of CNJG. It has produced 3 different reports that centered on the same theme.
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
How the government can partner with impact investors to unleash new capital, talent and energy for maximum impact.
We are pleased to share the Newark Philanthropic Liaison's latest Report to the Field. In 2023, we were proud of the multiple opportunities we had to spotlight the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers' leadership in starting and continuing this innovative model. Partners from across the country, from Philanthropy Serving Organizations (PSOs) to state and local governments, are considering the creation of a role similar to the Newark Liaison. Now more than ever, it is through partnerships that we will achieve our biggest collective goals in our sector.
This guide was designed to help the state’s philanthropic community understand their ethical, legal, and fiduciary requirements and obligations.
CNJG hosts regular briefings where funders hear from government officials, disaster recovery and health experts, nonprofit leaders, funders, and other stakeholders dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. The briefings provide an opportunity to share how colleagues are changing grantmaking practices for rapid response, learn about new policies and government actions, and connect with local leaders who work with people whose financial, physical, and mental health suffers due to COVID-19. Series I topics included food insecurity, mapping response funding, racial health disparities, federal and state policy, and updates from New Jersey response funds and Rapid Response Surveys, completed in partnership with the Center for Non-Profits in March, April, and July 2020.
- 6 Practices of Trust-Based Philanthropy
- Trust-Based Philanthropy Resources
- Grantmakers for Effective Organizations: Systems Grantmaking Resource Guide
- Solving the World’s Biggest Problems: Better Philanthropy Through Systems Change
- Trust-Based Philanthropy News
- The Holy Grail of Funding: Why and how foundations give unrestricted funding
- The Casey Foundation’s Journey to Equitable Grant-making
- Community-Centric Fundraising
- Vu Le, Nonprofitaf.com
- To Support Shifts in Philanthropic Practices, Foundations Must Reimagine Their Internal Structures and Processes
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.
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.
Private and public foundations can play an important role in advocacy by engaging in advocacy themselves and funding their grantees to advocate on their issues. After this workshop with Bolder Advocacy, your foundation will have a clear understanding of the kinds of advocacy activities you can safely engage in and best practices for grantmaking to give your grantees the most flexibility under the law for their advocacy efforts. Not sure how to make the case for funding advocacy? Uncertain whether you can fund grantees that lobby? Wondering whether your public or private foundation can speak out on a particular issue? This training answers these questions and more! The workshop is designed for foundation staff and trustees.
Participants will learn:
- Why public and private foundation should support advocacy;
- An overview of activities that constitute advocacy and public policy work;
- Various advocacy roles for foundations;
- The tax code’s definitions of lobbying;
- Activities that are exceptions to the definitions of lobbying, including those which private foundations can engage in;
- Rules for private and public foundation grants to nonprofits that lobby, including general support, specific project, and multi-year grants; and
- Grant agreement language that permits support for policy work.
This will be a virtual session; connection details will be provided upon registration.
This program is for members of the following philanthropy-serving organizations: Maryland Philanthropy Network, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers, Florida Philanthropic Network, Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania, Philanthropy Wisconsin, NY Funders Alliance, and North Carolina Grantmakers.
With support from the Campbell Soup Company, Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation, and the William Penn Foundation, CNJG is pursuing a long-expressed request from several members to create a forum focused on the City of Camden - providing convenings, as well as information and resources for the many grantmakers working in the city. As a precursor to this forum, in April 2009, CNJG convened a group of Camden funders for a briefing with representatives from the Governor’s Office and the Camden Redevelopment Authority at the Campbell Soup Company. After the briefing, CNJG members expressed an interest in continuing the dialogue, sharing information about the philanthropic activity in the city and exploring opportunities for the future.
CNJG launched the Camden Funders Affinity Group in February 2010, inventoried current philanthropic investments in Camden, established an interactive map of funders’ investments, provided a Camden Funders Listserve and disseminated the “Camden Weekly News Round Up” for Camden grantmakers from 2010 to December 2011.
Building on these efforts, CNJG released the 2012 Camden Funders Survey. The survey updates and expands upon the 2006 Camden Funders Survey commissioned by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. We thank the Annie E. Casey Foundation for their support of this initiative.
With support from the Ford Foundation, William Penn Foundation and other local donors, CNJG was also instrumental in assisting the planning and development of the Community Foundation of South Jersey. Today CFSJ focuses its giving on the eight counties in Southern New Jersey, including Camden County.
For additional information, contact Theresa Jacks at (609) 414-7110 x805.