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Shifting Narratives to Change Systems

Wednesday, December 14, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Luncheon & Keynote Presentation
Location: The Sheraton, Edison, 125 Raritan Center Parkway, Edison, NJ 08837

Friday, December 16, 11:00 – 12:15 pm
Virtual Workshop via Zoom

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers thanks everyone who attended our 2022 Annual Meeting & Holiday Luncheon and the Virtual Workshop! We were delighted to see so many familiar faces, and meet many new staff and trustees of our members.

At the business meeting, members elected the new class of trustees, and heard reports about the state of the organization. After lunch and time to reconnect with each other, we heard from our keynote, Bridgit Antoinette Evans, who explained the narrative ocean in which philanthropy swims, and gave examples of how Pop Culture Collaborative is funding organizations to reframe their narratives in which they operate.

During the virtual workshop, members learned about the changemaker experience, how it affects the relationships between funders and their nonprofit partners and even grantseekers. Attendees were led through an exercise to create a journey map, and think through strategies how to examine the experiences that nonprofits have with their organizations.

CNJG members can view recordings and additional resources from the event on the resources tab, when logged in.

Join us at the second NJ Corporate Philanthropy Network meeting of the year which will focus on what specific information you should zero in on when searching for any red flags in non-profit 990’s and financial statements. Seasoned Accountants, Sherise D, Ritter and Lovepreet Buttar, from The Mercadien Group will guide us. We’ll also touch on vetting sponsorship requests and hold our traditional round robin where meeting participants can share their burning questions/issues and lessons learned.

Lovepreet Buttar, Managing Director with Mercadien’s Nonprofit and Human Services Group, has extensive experience performing and overseeing audit engagements for various nonprofit organizations, including associations, schools, private foundations, and health and human services organizations. She is passionate about helping these organizations support their constituents and achieve their mission. She is also head of the firm’s Audit and Assurance practice and is responsible for both firm-wide and engagement-specific quality control matters and overseeing training for various for-profit, not-forprofit and government/public entities. In this role, she helps ensure the firm is using best practices that are compliant with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Sherise (Sherry) Ritter is Managing Director and Co-Chair of the The Mercadien Group’s Nonprofit and Human Services Group, as well as the Advisory Services Group. Serving as a trusted advisor, she meets with all of her clients at least once a year to advise them on topics such as tax planning and preparation, identifying risk areas and formulating solutions, strategy to meet growth goals, and multi-state and unrelated business income taxation and filing exposures. Additionally, she helps her clients with strategic planning, process efficiency and improvement studies, and mergers and acquisitions. She also specializes in the areas of cash flow management, accounting systems design, and board governance training.

Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.

Webinar Video

Resources
Blank 990 Form
990 Forms and their Schedules
The Overhead Myth: Crash Course to Fundraising Transparency
Charity Navigator's Assessment of Finances

One year from now the 2020 Census will be in full swing. This nationwide, constitutionally-mandated count, conducted once every ten years, is our opportunity to ensure that New Jersey residents are accurately counted to secure the resources needed to support our communities. Nationally, more than $800 billion in federal funding as well as fair, proportional voting representation are at stake. In New Jersey, allocations from 16 federal programs including Medicaid, education grants, and even highway planning and construction are allotted based on the census count. This totaled over $17 billion in 2015.
 
But the 2020 Census is facing unprecedented challenges, including years of underfunding, a climate of fear, the challenges of the first “high tech” census, and the potential addition of an untested citizenship question. That means we will all have to work together to overcome these challenges and help achieve a fair and accurate census to ensure that the hardest-to-count communities—like people of color, low-income folks, LGBTQ people, immigrant communities, rural communities, and young children—aren’t missed. Based on the latest census estimates, approximately 22% of New Jersey’s population lives in hard-to-count areas. 
 
CNJG joins the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation’s Funders Census Initiative, United Philanthropy Forum and philanthropy-serving organizations around the country in asking our members to commit to supporting and encouraging a fair and accurate census.

The Census is one of our nation’s most important and consequential civic obligations. Getting it right and counting everyone ensures people and communities can thrive.  

Please feel free to reach out to me or Deputy Director Theresa Jacks for information about the Council’s work on behalf of a full, fair and accurate 2020 Census.
 
Sincerely,

Maria Vizcarrondo, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers

What are the biggest needs and challenges New Jersey communities face as result of the pandemic?

• It starts with the basics: food and shelter, medical equipment such as masks for long-term care facilities, and digital access for remote education and medical screenings. For many immigrants and the undocumented community, this challenge is even greater.
• Parents of school-age children need support in navigating remote education and childcare challenges -- and balancing them with employment needs.
• People who’ve lost their jobs need to know how to find the right support services, and those services need to be accessible -- no technology or language barriers.
• Schools are having to re-imagine how they can open in the fall – if they can – with appropriate social distancing that requires changes to infrastructure and schedules.
• Organizations need support to retrofit their public spaces so they can serve the public safely.

How is CNJG leading efforts to prepare the philanthropic sector for an effective response?

• CNJG helped create the Disaster Philanthropy Playbook after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and uses many of the lessons learned then to inform response and recovery plans for COVID.
• Almost immediately, CNJG began providing funder briefings, webinars, and other forms of information to the philanthropic community.
• With our members, CNJG created the COVID-19 Funder Learning Community for the numerous response funds that are serving New Jersey was established to:
  • Get timely updates on the latest pandemic developments
  • Share information about what services and help are needed most -- and where
  • Explore potential strategies for effective grantmaking that matches resources to needs and avoids duplication
  • Learn best practices from each other

How is the pandemic affecting New Jersey nonprofits?

• The COVID-19 crisis is having a significant and alarming financial and programmatic impact on the nonprofits relied on to care for those in need. According to the Center for Non-Profits Rapid Response Survey:
  • 83% cancelled programs or events and correspondingly lost revenue
  • 77% have budgetary implications related to strains on the economy
  • 52% have increased demands for services
  • 40% experienced a disruption in supplies or services provided by partners
  • 37% have an increase in or sustained absences of staff and volunteers
  • 31% have had layoffs or furloughs
• Many nonprofits lack the digital infrastructure needed to employees’ and volunteers’ sudden switch to remote work and many volunteers who do important work are no longer available.

How is New Jersey’s philanthropic sector responding to the needs of nonprofits and the people they serve?

• Many funders have streamlined the grantmaking process so nonprofits can either refocus grants or receive new funding expeditiously to provide immediate relief for those facing the most pressing situations.
• Many funders are reducing what they ask of nonprofit partners – for instance postponing reporting requirements, deferring site visits, and eliminating other demands on their time so they can focus efforts during this challenging time.
• Some are providing low- or no-interest loans or outright grants to small businesses and nonprofits to retrofit their facilities to keep essential workers and the people they serve safe.
• Several community foundations and other nonprofits have established NJ COVID-19 relief funds that make it safe and convenient for donors to give, and that direct resources to where they are needed most.
• The sector is committed to grounding its work in the Center for Disaster Philanthropy's key principles of grantmaking:
  • Resilience, to improve communities holistically and make them stronger than before a disaster.
  • Equity, to take historical injustices into account and inform investments.
  • Sustainability, to take into account a long-term view and factor in uncertainty.
  • Civic participation that equips and empowers those often left out to influence what happens in their communities.

How is CNJG responding to longstanding equity issues that the pandemic exposes and makes worse?

• Together with the Center for Non-profits in New Jersey, we put out a statement on behalf of the state’s philanthropic and nonprofit sectors, urging everyone to speak out against racism and discrimination in all forms.
• CNJG established a Racial Equity Task Force to eliminate any structural racism in New Jersey’s philanthropic community.
• Most of the larger COVID funds engaged community-based practitioners to assist in decision-making on grant awards, and CNJG is creating a local advisory group for the Learning Community.

What steps are being taken to make sure grants aren’t duplicative and that money is going where it’s needed most?

• CNJG encourages the philanthropic sector to use a shared mapping tool that shows how much money is being awarded and where. This tool helps grantmakers make informed decisions and helps to eliminate gaps in historically under-funded communities.
• The COVID-19 Funder Learning Community is a vehicle for building relationships and sharing information about what each funds is doing to support relief and recovery across the state.

What’s the best way for people to donate money for relief and recovery?

You can find a list of these New Jersey Relief and Recovery funds and their contact info here.

This resource guide includes various virtual volunteer opportunities, additional resources, and best practices for corporate volunteer programs during the coronavirus pandemic. 

This resource will be updated, as CNJG and corporate members collect new information and opportunities to share with colleagues.