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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.
At a recent Ocean & Monmouth Funders Roundtable, the group discussed all of the different databases and lists of nonprofits available to philanthropy to be able to research new and different nonprofits.
To answer the basic question of how many active family foundations are planning to spend down or exist in perpetuity (or have not yet made a decision), and to examine foundations’ motivations and decision-making, the Foundation Center, in collaboration with the Council on Foundations and with additional assistance from the Association of Small Foundations, launched a study of family foundations in 2008. This report presents the full range of study findings, which are based on survey responses from 1,074 family foundations.
As we settle into the festive spirit of the holiday season, it's the perfect time to take a step back and reflect on the impact we've made - and the exciting possibilities ahead. I'm reaching out once again to remind you about the CNJG Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering - our key year-end event where we gather to reflect, learn, and most importantly, strengthen the connections that make our work in philanthropy so impactful.
This year's theme, Inspiring Change through Leadership: Maximizing Philanthropic Impact, is about how we can use leadership to drive meaningful and lasting change. I'm excited to share that this year's gathering will offer an inspiring mix of learning, reflection, and connection - an opportunity to think about where we've been and where we want to go next.
Here's what to look forward to:
- Leadership in Action Workshop: We'll be diving into the New Jersey Principles for Philanthropy with a panel of CNJG members who have led the efforts for CNJG to adopt the principles. The panelists will discuss how they are aligning their work with the principles, where some challenges lie ahead, and how we can promote these principles within our organizations to engage in further work. It will be an excellent opportunity to learn, discuss, and brainstorm how you, too, can apply these guiding principles to your own work and further strengthen your organization's impact.
- Keynote Address by Amalia Brindis Delgado: I'm especially excited about our keynote speaker, Amalia Brindis Delgado, Chief Strategy Officer, Panta Rhea Foundation. Amalia will speak on leadership and leadership transitions as well as share insights from her work with Leading Forward and Resilience & Renewal Grantmaking. Her talk will offer valuable lessons on navigating change and building organizational resilience - something that's more important than ever as we look towards the future of philanthropy.
A Special Announcement:
I'm also pleased to share that we have a new face joining the 
CNJG team. Please join me in welcoming Fortunata Cuomo as our new Development Associate. Fortunata brings a wealth of experience in nonprofit fundraising, and we're excited for you to meet her at the Annual Meeting. Her role will focus on improving and expanding our sponsorship and Resource Marketplace programs, managing all aspects of our grant funding, and spearheading efforts to build new revenue streams. This position is a critical investment in CNJG to help us expand our business model and create new opportunities to generate revenue.
With just a few days to go, I encourage you to take a moment to register for the Annual Meeting (if you haven't already) and join us for what promises to be an inspiring, energizing day of conversation and connection. We are truly looking forward to seeing you on December 11 at APA Hotel Woodbridge in Iselin.
A big thank you to our sponsors to date - we couldn't do this without you! Special thanks to Signature Sponsor – Prudential; Contributing Sponsors – Campbell’s, Devils Youth Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Victoria Foundation; Supporting Sponsors – Grunin Foundation, LISC NJ, Pincus Family Foundation, and WSFS Bank; and Colleague Sponsor – Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.
Warmly,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
Sample bylaws for Community Foundations.
A corporate member asked for what other corporations do regarding employee’s goal and objectives. Do they include volunteerism or volunteer activities as part of an employee’s review, or their annual goals?
The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers’ offers listserve services as a benefit of CNJG membership.
CNJG’s listserves facilitate ongoing group e-mail discussions among subscribed members. Members can share information and expertise, ask questions, and gather opinions of colleagues across the network. Listserves also enable members to get the most up-to-date information on related programs being offered throughout the field.
CNJG initially assigns new members to relevant listserves based on your submitted member profile. Contact Craig Weinrich to join any other listserve that interests you. You can unsubscribe from a listserve at any time by using the link found at the bottom of each email sent via the listserve.
In May 2024, our listserve provider updated its email engine, and now the automatic de-duping feature is no longer available, so sending an email to more than one listserve results in multiple emails to the recipient.
If you send an email to a listserve, and it bounces back to you, you are not on that listserve. Please contact Craig to add you to that listserve.
The listserves available are:
Camden Funders - [email protected]
Bergen Funders - [email protected]
Community Foundation CEO’s - [email protected]
CNJG Member CEO's - [email protected]
CNJG Member CFO’s and Finance Managers - [email protected]
CNJG Member Communications Staff - [email protected]
Corporate Funders - [email protected]
COVID-19 Funders - [email protected]
Culture Funders - [email protected]
Disaster Response Funders - [email protected]
Education Funders - [email protected]
Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy - [email protected]
Environmental Funders - [email protected]
Family Funders - [email protected]
Food Funders - [email protected]
Health Funders - [email protected]
Monmouth & Ocean Roundtable of Funders - [email protected]
Newark Funders - [email protected]
New Jersey Census Funders - [email protected]
Paterson Funders - [email protected]
Racial Equity Funders - [email protected]
STEAM Funders - [email protected]
South Jersey Funders - [email protected]
Strong & Thriving Communities - [email protected]
Trenton Area Funders - [email protected]
There are some restrictions for joining listserves:
· only CEOs (or equivalent) can join the CEO listserve;
· only CEOs (or equivalent) of a Community Foundation can join the Community Foundation CEO listserve;
· only CFOs (or equivalent) can join the Financial listserve
· only family foundation staff and trustees can join the Family Funders listserve;
· only corporate giving professionals can join the corporate listserve
Please refer to the Listserves’ Membership Policies below for information on using the listserves.
CNJG's 2018 Annual Meeting & Holiday Luncheon pre-meeting workshop with Michelle Greanias from PEAK Grantmaking focused on how foundation CEO’s, program officers, staff, and trustees could engage internally to put values-based grantmaking into practice.
Walk the Talk Video
Philanthropic organizations of all shapes and sizes are well positioned to support Communities for a Lifetime (CfaL). This issue brief explores four roles for philanthropy in advancing CfaL work.
The Newark Philanthropic Liaison is a unique partnership between the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and the City of Newark, supported by several foundations. Read more about the Liaison’s work In these reports. Due to several transitions, there were no written reports between 2015 and 2022.
The rising cost of housing, a limitation on supply of affordable housing stock, and economic shocks and disruptions have led to an increase in homelessness across the United States. Over this time period, the City of Newark has made strides in fostering collaborative and innovative approaches to housing the unhoused. In December, the City released a strategic plan to end chronic homelessness, the first plan of its kind in some time. Specifically, its vision states that “Newark will strive to end chronic homelessness for all individuals over the next three years through collaboration, prevention, and housing.” The vision goes on to state that when it [homelessness] cannot be prevented, it will be a rare, brief, and nonrecurring experience.”
We hope that you will join us as we hear from leaders of this collaborative effort as they discuss how they are working toward their shared vision.
Panelists:
Luis Ulerio, Newark Homelessness Czar, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Homeless Services
Jim Pelliccio, Chair of the City of Newark Commission on the Homeless and President and CEO of Port Newark
Evan Weiss, President and CEO, Newark Alliance
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers.
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
A CNJG member queried the Health & Aging listserves asking for sample letters of inquiry. This document includes a few responses from fellow members. If you would like to add yours to this list, please email us.
Grantmaking at the Crossroads is a workbook designed to provide foundations with a new grantmaking methodology that works at the intersection of place, population, and issue. It offers a pathway to greater inclusion of communities that are often excluded or marginalized by foundation funding and enables foundations to maintain their focus and priorities while expanding their reach and effectiveness.
The Grand Rapids Community Foundation and the Kalamazoo Community Foundation volunteered to be laboratories for Grantmaking at the Crossroads and have been critical informants for this workbook. Each of these foundations holds an unwavering commitment to ongoing learning; this publication would not have happened without their support and engagement and the financial support of the Arcus Foundation.