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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 report from the TCC Group finds that the flexibility, nimbleness, and willingness to collaborate demonstrated by the philanthropic sector over the past year in response to a rapidly changing policy environment could serve as a model for the sector going forward.
Based on interviews with nearly thirty leaders of philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs), this report found that in the first year of the Trump administration, PSOs and funder collaboratives were called on to keep funders well informed of policy changes. To that end, PSOs have played a critical role in enabling funder learning, dialogue, and action, and have helped accelerate important funder conversations in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion; the need to think beyond issue silos; and the foundational benefits of creating space for dialogue across political and ideological divides through nonpartisan civic engagement.
The report also notes that while some funders have remained cautious, taking a "wait and see" approach to how national political changes might affect their grantmaking priorities, a greater number have been moved by rapidly changing policies to consider aligning their "institutional voice" with other grantmakers to maximize their impact.
Join Deborah Cornavaca, Deputy Chief of Staff of Outreach to Governor Murphy for a general information session on the vaccine rollout in New Jersey, and to provide you with comprehensive updates and answer questions. The rollout is in constant motion, but Ms. Cornavaca and her team will provide the most up-to-date information, as well as hear your suggestions and thoughts.
The timely knowledge and resources shared during this briefing will be essential as foundations support nonprofit, community, and government partners in making sure all New Jerseyans are informed about the vaccine, how and where to get vaccinated, and where to go for questions or concerns. For additional information visit the New Jersey COVID-19 Information Hub.
Register today to learn about the state’s plan to get vaccines to New Jersey communities, and what role philanthropy can play in ongoing efforts.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers
Beginning in October 2023, a group of funders got together and commissioned the Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF) to facilitate a series of dialogues with Newark’s nonprofit community to learn how foundations can be supportive of their capacity strengthening needs. The meetings made separate space for the funding community and nonprofit leaders to meet amongst themselves for learning, sharing, and action, and then brought all of us together in May for an honest discussion about the path forward.
We are utilizing our fall Newark Funder Affinity Group meetings to discuss a collective funder response to the needs of Newark’s nonprofit sector. Please join us for our second meeting on this critical topic in follow-up to the Newark Funder Affinity Group Meeting on September 19th. All are welcome to join us, whether you were able to make our September meeting or not. We will ensure that all attendees are updated so that we are all beginning from the same place.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $50 for Non Member Grantmakers
Lunch will be served.
Impact100 South Jersey awarded $211,000 in grants to three South Jersey nonprofits at our Annual Meeting on June 21, 2023 at Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ.
A $100,000 core mission grant was awarded to the Heart of Camden. The grant will be used to expand programming and services provided by their Bridge Builders Project at the Michael J. Doyle Fieldhouse. The goal is to build on ten years of success at the MJD Fieldhouse by maximizing capacity to improve the lives of women, children, and families living in low-to-moderate income households in the Waterfront South neighborhood, South Camden, and the City of Camden as a whole.
The Bridge Builders Project is a unique initiative that aim to connect critical services to residents, young people, women, women with children and families. The project will serve as a bridge to connect outside volunteers and supporters, educating them about the city and building stronger connections with the community.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Cumberland & Salem Counties and Habitat for Humanity of Camden County each received a $55,500k general operating grant.
Since launching in 2017, Impact100 South Jersey has awarded $1,035,365 to 15 South Jersey nonprofits. It is one of more than sixty-five chapters in four countries that, combined, have awarded over $123 million in grants to nonprofits in their local communities since 2008.
“The Impact100 model is simple — each member contributes $1,000 toward large, transformative grants for nonprofits in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, and Cumberland Counites. When our chapter started in 2017 with a few women around a kitchen table, we never imagined the moment we could say we had awarded over $1 million. We owe our success to each of our members — past and present,” said Kyle Ruffin, President of the Impact100 South Jersey Chapter.
oday New Jersey Community Capital, a leading national community development financial institution, committed $50,000 to nonprofits chosen by mayors and a county leader who are deeply committed to furthering formative economic impact efforts in their respective communities. Each leader will have $10,000 to award to a local nonprofit doing groundbreaking work. NJCC awards the grants at the close of Black History Month annually to mark the commemoration's focus on creating economic equity for divested populations.
This year, NJCC's grants will go to nonprofits chosen by the mayors of Dallas, Texas, New York City, New York and Newark and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and the economic opportunity director of Los Angeles County. Supporting nonprofits in urban communities throughout the nation is in keeping with NJCC's goal to foster sustainable economic development and wealth creation in overlooked communities from coast to coast.
"These grants achieve several of our objectives," NJCC President and CEO Bernel Hall said. "First, it champions the principles behind Black History Month and underscores NJCC's dedication to creating social and economic parity. By contributing to initiatives important to the leaders of these municipalities, we are supporting their efforts to create thriving, equitable communities.
"Our second objective is to support projects that can benefit from our unique, expansive initiatives. We've been extremely effective because our programs are both entrepreneurial and augmentative," explained Hall. This is especially relevant today given our nation's dire need for more affordable housing, small business expansion and high-quality school systems."
Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) presents an opportunity for funders to gain insights into their early thinking on potential movement strategies and needs post national elections.
Elections are an essential expression of our democracy, and movement organizations play a crucial role in that democratic exercise by mobilizing their communities to have their voices heard at the ballot box. For funders, the All by April campaign was a clear call to action, highlighting the necessity of early and flexible support to allow these frontline organizations to kick their operations into high gear. However, the work for philanthropy is not over. In addition to resourcing civic engagement efforts in the run-up to elections, fudners must also stand ready to strategically deploy resources in response to what comes once the elections are over.
From the risk of increasingly harsh enforcement policies at the federal level to openings to push for more inclusive policies at the state and local levels, immigrant justice groups have been carefully considering the threats and opportunities associated with a variety of congressional and presidential election outcome scenarios. In this webinar, funders will gain insights into their early thinking on potential movement strategies and needs.
This session represents one of several spaces GCIR and our allies will be holding for philanthropy to prepare and respond to the upcoming elections, with additional opportunities and post-election strategy sessions.
SPEAKERS
· Jeremy Robbins, Executive Director, American Immigration Council
· Tessa Petit, Executive Director, Florida Immigrant Coalition
· Raha Wala, VP of Strategic Partnerships and Advocacy, National Immigration Law Center
· Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition
MODERATOR
· Ivy O. Suriyopas, Vice President of Programs, Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees
· Veronika Geronimo, Director of Immigrant Justice, Four Freedoms Fund, NEO Philanthropy
Cost: Free for Funders