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Learn how to support a disability-inclusive COVID-19 response.
COVID-19 disproportionately threatens the physical, financial, and emotional health of people with disabilities. Individuals with pre-existing health issues are at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus, many in the disability community still lack access to healthcare, and -- according to the National Trends in Disability report from the Kessler Foundation and University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability -- nearly one million working-age people with disabilities lost their jobs.
In this webinar, we’ll hear from Elaine E. Katz, MS, CCC/SLP, Senior Vice President Grants and Communication at the Kessler Foundation and Audrey Winkler, Executive Director of JESPY House.
Speakers will explore:
· Unique challenges facing people with disabilities during COVID-19.
· How philanthropy can support workforce opportunities for people with disabilities.
· Efforts to address ableism and create more inclusive policies and practices, on a national and local level.
For a truly equitable recovery that centers the experience of people facing multiple forms of systemic discrimination, we must address the ableism embedded in our systems, institutions, and culture. Join us for this important conversation on how your organization can address ableism in your fight for social justice, and support a more disability-inclusive response to COVID-19.
Cost: Free for CNJG Grantmakers. $50 for Non Member Grantmakers
Webinar Video
Community foundations are beginning to deepen and shift how they work, adopting an anchor mission that seeks to fully deploy all resources to build community wealth. Moving into territory relatively uncharted for community foundations, they are taking up impact investing and economic development — some in advanced ways, others with small steps. This report offers an overview of how 30 representative community foundations — including The Seattle Foundation, the Vermont Community Foundation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation — are working toward adopting this new anchor mission.
This Democracy Collaborative report was written by Marjorie Kelly, Senior Fellow and Director of Special Projects and Violeta Duncan, Community Development Associate.
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the CNJG’s 2025 Conference for the Social Sector — Stronger Together: Philanthropy & Civic Engagement on June 18! If you haven’t registered yet, please take a moment and register today for this important event. I also encourage you to invite your trustees, nonprofit partners, and colleagues to register.
Our spring Signature Convening brings together New Jersey’s philanthropic and nonprofit leaders for a day of shared learning, exchange, and community building. We’re deeply proud of the topics we’ve showcased over the years, and this year is no exception. We tackled the 2020 Census in 2019, and why it counts for the people of our state and the well-being of our communities. We uplifted the future of work and the role of philanthropy in 2021, with visionary conversations about equitable labor practices and new ways of working. The 2023 conference widely introduced Doing Good Better — a systems change initiative in partnership with the New Jersey Center for Nonprofits to reimagine how philanthropy and nonprofit partners work together.
We’ll open the day with our Spark: Civic Pulse session featuring a range of dynamic New Jersey leaders driving civic engagement across our state. The morning breakout sessions will accentuate the future of civic engagement: innovation, inclusion, and collective action; while the afternoon sessions are aimed at mobilization with civic tools, voices, and pathways to change. Our keynote speaker, Dale Anglin, Director of Press Forward, will explore and reinforce how civic engagement and democracy starts at the local level, and builds thriving, informed, and engaged communities.
This year, we’re absolutely thrilled to highlight the important issue of civic engagement and what it looks like in practice throughout our communities and across multiple disciplines. We stand in extraordinary times, and these discussions are more crucial than ever. CNJG is well positioned to elevate and amplify these conversations for, and on behalf of, New Jersey’s social sector.
I hope you’re intrigued and excited by the topic as well, and I invite you to join us as a sponsor for this very special convening of sector leaders. We have four categories of sponsorship available:
- Champion Sponsor - $8,000 – 2 available
- Collaborator Sponsor - $6,000 – 3 Available
- Connector Sponsor - $5,000 - 3 Available
- Colleague Sponsor - $3,000 – 2 available
Click here for the full sponsorship package.
Please feel free to reach out to me or my colleague, Development Associate Fortunata Cuomo via e-mail if you have questions or want to learn more about how you can support this exceptional gathering. We can also customize a sponsorship package for you, and if you’re not able to sponsor, we hope you can underwrite the event with a contribution.
Thank you to our sponsors to date: PSEG, Sixers Youth Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kearny Bank, the Stone Foundation for New Jersey, PKF O’Connor Davies, and The Palace at Somerset Park. Thank you also to NJM Insurance Group for a donation in support of the event.
Your support makes all the difference.
Warmly,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
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.
CNJG’s Newark Philanthropic Liaison, Kevin Callaghan, organized a series of webinars for our Newark Funders Affinity Group and other funders to know the specific challenges of New Jersey’s largest city responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Guest speakers included, Mayor Ras Baraka, Newark Public Schools Superintendent Roger Leon, consulting firm McKinsey & Co., and Catherine Wilson, CEO of United Way of Greater Newark.
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.
United Philanthropy Forum is committed to advancing racial equity in philanthropy. We provide space for our members to connect, learn and share together on how to effectively address racial equity in their work as philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs), and works to share our members’ learnings with the broader philanthropy field. As part of these efforts, we are pleased to share case stories from our members about their racial equity work.
Case Story
Funders Together to End Homelessness: A Racial Equity Learning Journey
Funders Together to End Homelessness began its racial equity journey in 2016. Its case story explains how the PSO named racial equity in its strategic plan and embarked on a learning journey together with its board, staff, and members to normalize the conversation about structural and historic racism and how it contributes to disparities in the homelessness system. The story also describes how Funders Together created a two-year community of practice, called Foundations for Racial Equity (FRE), that has been a critical part of its journey, and how its codified its racial equity work through the creation of its Commitment to Racial Equity.
Read Funders Together’s Case Story
Listen to Funders Together’s CEO Amanda Misiko Andere talk about her organization’s racial equity journey on an episode of the ForumNation podcast.
Case Story
Southeastern Council of Foundations: An Experiential Racial Equity Journey
In early 2018, the Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF) along with its board undertook a racial equity learning journey in order to develop an Equity Framework that would describe and define SECF’s character, what it stood for, and what its leaders were willing to fight for. The decision to develop the Equity Framework was the culmination of years of work. SECF’s case story explains how the organization used data to inform the development of its Equity Framework, created an Equity Task Force to lead the effort of developing a Framework, and engaged board, staff and Task Force members in a racial equity learning journey.
Listen to SECF’s President & CEO Janine talk about her organization’s racial equity journey on an episode of the ForumNation podcast.
During 2023, CNJG gathered benefits information from our members to generate our 2023 New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Summary Report. Members tell us that this report is one of the most important and effective benchmarking tools for our field. A statistically significant number of members completed our Benefits Report. We are grateful to those that completed the survey, which is a major investment of time, to help us gather this useful data.
The report consists of two sections:
CNJG Benefits Survey
CNJG and our members want specific data about the benefits offered to their employees, board, and more. Therefore, CNJG created our triennial Benefits Survey that gathered this comprehensive data specific to New Jersey’s grantmaking community.
For the second time in this survey’s history, we asked for board and staff demographic data. As more attention is focused on racial equity in our work, it is helpful to benchmark this data in graphical form. We hope it sparks conversation at your organization.
Council on Foundations (CoF) Salary Survey
The salary survey was administered by our partners, the Council on Foundations. This annual nationwide effort by CoF (with the assistance of other Philanthropy-Serving Organizations across the country) benchmarks the salaries of employees at foundations, corporate giving programs, and other philanthropic organizations. CNJG encourages any and all members to complete this survey each year.
Salary information from CoF presents national, mid-Atlantic, and New Jersey data for over 40 staff positions. Salary ranges are only given for positions with five or more reporting organizations. To report on more New Jersey salary data, we hope more members will complete this annual survey.
CNJG reminds our members and other foundations across New Jersey to complete both surveys when they are available – CoF’s is EVERY YEAR, and CNJG’s is every three years. The more data we and CoF can gather, the better and more accurate the results will be for the philanthropic community both in the state and nationally.
Download the 2023 New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Survey Summary Report here. You must be a member of CNJG and logged in to access the report.
CNJG's past Summary Reports may be found on our website:
2020 New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Survey Summary Report, released in January 2021
2017 New Jersey Foundation Benefits & Salary Summary Report, released in September 2017
2014 New Jersey Foundation Benefits & Salary Summary Report, released in February 2015
2011 Mid-Atlantic Foundation Benefits & Salary Summary Report, released in June 2012
This includes insights and tips related to board governance, legal compliance, grantee communications, fiscal responsibility, public disclosure, and many other key areas of foundation governance and operations. It is intended to serve as a practical resource to assist foundations in their grantmaking.
I can’t believe October began last weekend. I honestly don’t know where the time goes. Before you know it, the new year will be here.
Before that, I’m looking forward to our annual gathering of members – the CNJG 2023 Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering.
On Thursday, December 14, over 150 Council members and special guests will gather at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Edison to celebrate the holiday season, welcome new CNJG members, convene a brief business meeting to elect new trustees, feature a dynamic discussion related to the vital work of philanthropy, and provide an excellent opportunity to connect with your colleagues and friends – both old and new.
This year’s overall theme is Philanthropic Collaboratives: Driving Impact and Opportunity.
Together we’ll explore the collaborative process, surface opportunities and challenges, and uncover how to create sustainable partnerships for lasting impact. We’re thrilled to have FSG lead the morning workshop, Tools for Funder Collaboration. The morning workshop will share real life examples of how funders have actively engaged in collaborative efforts, used data for continuous learning, and ensured momentum and buy-in among partners.
Thank you to the Signature Programs Committee, led by co-chairs Christine Healey, President of the Healey Education Foundation, and Atiya Weiss, Executive Director of the Burke Foundation, for their commitment to bring this important topic to CNJG members. The 2023 - 2025 Strategic Plan uplifts collaborations as a way to create more value for member-organizations and the social sector, and catalyze other partnerships in support of all our communities.
The Annual Meeting is the one time per year when many CNJG members come together in one place, at one time, to convene, connect, and celebrate together. And as the “annual meeting of members,” I invite you to consider sponsorship of the event. Even if you’ve never sponsored this gathering before, this is an excellent opportunity to support our work, while also increasing visibility for your own organization and philanthropic efforts. We have a number of outstanding sponsorship opportunities for this event - all outlined here.
We hope you’ll consider supporting the Annual Meeting this year with a sponsorship.
Please call me at (609) 414-7110 extension 805, or email me if you need more information or require an online application to secure your sponsorship. We can also customize a sponsorship package for you.
Thank you to our sponsors to date – we could not do this without you: Signature Sponsor – Prudential, and Contributing Sponsors - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Devils Youth Foundation.
We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the CNJG Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering. In the meantime, happy fall.
With all good wishes,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
The CNJG board is comprised of 20 leaders who come from CNJG member organizations and are elected by the CNJG membership. Each board member provides guidance and leadership to CNJG by serving up to two 3-year terms.
Photo taken after CNJG Annual Meeting on December 11, 2024.
Back Row: Andy Fraizer, Christine Healey, Lucy Vandenberg, Patricia Hartpence, Aaron Turner, Craig Drinkard, Catherine Wilson, Margarethe Laurenzi, Tammy Rice Herman, and Paul DiLorenzo
Front Row: Priti Mehta, Melissa Litwin, Justin Kiczek, Kate Barrett, Theresa Jacks (CNJG), Marcy Felsenfeld, Jasmyne Beckford, and Jeremy Grunin
Not Pictured: Kortney Swanson Davis, Maisha Simmons, and Maria Spina.
CNJG Board Members
Craig Drinkard, Chair, Victoria Foundation
Justin Kiczek, 1st Vice Chair, F. M. Kirby Foundation
Christine Healey, 2nd Vice Chair, The Healey Education Foundation, Inc.
Catherine Wilson, Treasurer, United Way of Greater Newark
Kortney Swanson Davis, Secretary, Forman S. Acton Educational Foundation
Kate Barrett, The Campbell’s Foundation
Jasmyne Beckford, The Prudential Foundation
Paul DiLorenzo, Salem Health and Wellness Foundation
Marcy Felsenfeld, The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey
Andy Fraizer, Community Foundation of South Jersey
Jeremy Grunin, Grunin Foundation
Patricia Hartpence, NJM Insurance Group
Tammy Rice Herman, New Jersey State Council on the Arts
Margarethe Laurenzi, Maher Charitable Foundation
Melissa Litwin, The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation
Priti Mehta, Investors Foundation
Maisha Simmons, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Maria Spina, PSEG Foundation
Aaron Turner, Community Foundation of New Jersey
Lucy Vandenberg, Schumann Fund for New Jersey
Theresa Jacks, President & CEO, Council of New Jersey Grantmakers – ex officio
The Board of Trustees are supported by the work of 8 different committees.
Foundations Facilitate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Partnering with Community and Nonprofits, a new report by the OMG Center for Collaborative Learning, confirms that foundations can, in fact, facilitate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) through their grantmaking processes and their partnerships with nonprofits—and identifies eight specific practices for foundations to emulate.
The report takes a deep dive into the work of nine foundations that represent a diverse cross-section of types and sizes, and offers useful lessons about how foundations can better partner with nonprofits to be more effective in their work.