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CNJG joined delegates from the across the country for Foundations on the Hill on February 25 - 28. The event included a policy conference followed by meetings on Capitol Hill.
Joining me, the CNJG delegation included Bill Engel, President, The Union Foundation; Sharnita Johnson, Vice President of Strategy, Impact and Communications, Victoria Foundation; Melissa Litwin, Early Childhood Program Director, The Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation; Jessica Nugent, Senior Program Officer, Burke Foundation; Jonathan Pearson, Executive Director, and Renee Woodside, Senior Program Officer, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; Danielle Scott, President and CEO, and Bruce Rubin, Trustee, Pincus Family Foundation; Kortney Swanson Davis, President and CEO, Forman S. Acton Educational Foundation; Catherine Wilson, President and CEO, United Way Greater Newark; Alana Vega, Program Officer, and Hellen Zamora-Bustos, Leonard Lieberman Philanthropy Fellow/Program Associate, Fund for New Jersey; Nelida Valentin, Vice President - Grants & Programs, Princeton Area Community Foundation; and Lucy Vandenberg, Executive Director, Schumann Fund for New Jersey. 
Bill and Lucy serve as co-chairs of the CNJG Policy Committee. For the last few years, we’ve also been joined by Linda Czipo, President and CEO, New Jersey Center for Nonprofits. Linda’s voice elevates our conversations and helps ground them in the work nonprofits do every day.
The 21st Annual Foundations on the Hill, hosted and presented by United Philanthropy Forum in partnership with Independent Sector and the Council on Foundations, is the largest annual public policy and advocacy conference dedicated solely to the philanthropic sector. In addition to meeting with legislators and government officials, FOTH attendees attended pre-conference programming, conference keynotes, expert panel sessions, and several receptions. As part of the conference programming, we learned about the All By April campaign, a nonpartisan effort encouraging philanthropy to make grants to nonprofits conducting election work by the end of April. The authors and researchers of the just released 2024 National Study on Donor-Advised Funds provided an overview of their key findings. We were introduced to the history and priorities of the Black Congressional Caucus Foundation, and their focus on developing thoughtful, creative and informed leaders. And we were reminded about the chilling impact recent Supreme Court rulings could have on the rights of donors to give in ways that align with their values.
We were pleased to meet with all 12 of our NJ Congressional and both Senate offices. We met directly with Congressmen Gottheimer and Kean, along with a quick photo meet-up with Senator Booker.
As part of our meetings, we advocated for the Charitable Act, H.R.3435/S.566 which would provide a non-itemizer deduction of up to 1/3 of the standard deduction; the Nonprofit Stakeholders Engaging and Advancing Together (SEAT) Act, H.R.3245, which would pave the way for stronger policymaking input from the charitable sector and improved data collection about nonprofits; and the Streamlining Federal Grants Act, H.R.5934/S2286, which would simplify the application and reporting requirements for federal grants. These bills strengthen the work of the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors.
In addition to advocating for legislation that supports our work, and educating Congress about the social sector, FOTH not only helps build relationships with our Congressional delegation, but also provides opportunities for CNJG members to get to know one another. Our annual CNJG FOTH dinner is a time to relax and debrief about our meetings. New this year, a few of us took the opportunity to see Washington by moonlight.
This year we were thrilled to welcome several CNJG members new to the FOTH experience!
We’re also thrilled to welcome a new CNJG team member, Shakirat Odunsi, Manager of Communications! With over 20 years of experience in the marketing and communications field, Shakirat will lead and manage our communications strategy, marketing efforts for CNJG events, services and offerings, and our website and social media channels. Shakirat can be reached at [email protected].
It was quite an eventful 3+ days. Thank you to the CNJG FOTH delegation for sharing your time and expertise. I’m proud that we were part of over 300 voices attending FOTH from across the country, sharing philanthropy’s positive impact, advocating for the nonprofit sector, and supporting legislation that strengthens our work.
Another important platform to strengthen and inform both the philanthropic and nonprofit sector in NJ is on June 18. The Spring Colloquium - Empowering the Future: Harnessing AI and Data for Philanthropic Social Impact, will explore how AI can enhance problem-solving without losing human connections, how it affects equity, and how philanthropy has engaged with AI for funding initiatives. Save the date – registration will be available soon!
Sincerely,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
As we navigate today's challenges and opportunities, it's important that we continue to gather, exchange ideas, and move forward the causes we value. We all know how a single conversation can spark a big idea or inspire a new partnership. 
That's why you won't want to miss our much-anticipated 2024 Spring Colloquium: Empowering the Future: Harnessing AI and Data for Philanthropic Social Impact - a must-attend gathering for every funder working in New Jersey. Join us for valuable insights and opportunities to connect with colleagues and passionate thought leaders who share your commitment to driving social change.
I look forward to seeing you there and engaging in the vibrant discussions and community building opportunities that awaits us.
Thank you to the generosity of our sponsors: Signature Sponsor - PSE&G, Collaborator Sponsor - Wells Fargo, Connector Sponsors - Campbell Soup Company, Sixers Youth Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Exhibitor Sponsor - PKF O'Connor Davies. We couldn't do this without you.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
CNJG is pleased to offer a new member benefit: ValuesAdvisor. Many foundations now recognize that the investments made from their corpus have the power to support their mission, but don’t know how to take the first step: finding a trusted financial advisor with the right expertise. We now offer you free access to ValuesAdvisor, a nonprofit, online, searchable database of peer-recommended financial advisors who have the expertise you need. You can learn more about the platform by watching this short, 3 minute video. In this webinar with ValuesAdvisor Co-Founder Kate Simpson, you will learn about how the platform can be used to further your mission (climate, DEI, place based, etc.).
This webinar pairs nicely with CNJG’s Impact Investing Bootcamp series.
COST: Free for CNJG Members
Webinar Video
The Fund for Women and Girls of the Princeton Area Community Foundation has awarded a record $325,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations.
This funding is the largest amount awarded in any cycle of the Fund’s more than 20-year history and includes a first-time award for the Liz Gray Erickson Memorial Grant, a 3-year grant given in memory of the Princeton resident who served as the chair of the Fund from 2012 to 2014.
“Thanks to the generosity and commitment of our Fund for Women and Girls members, we’ve awarded more than $1 million in grants to more than three dozen nonprofits in the last five years,” said Jenifer Morack, Fund Co-Chair.
Fund members pool their donations, then recommend grants to be awarded annually to local nonprofits. Isabel Zisk, Fund Co-Chair, said making a gift to the Fund is incredibly effective. Individual donations create a leveraged pool of funding that greatly benefits nonprofits working to impact the well-being of women, girls and communities in our region.
“We do what no individual donor has the expertise, time or access to do,” she said, explaining that the Fund’s Grants Committee members read dozens of applications and conduct site visits with nonprofits. “Because of some very generous gifts, this year, we have the honor of awarding the Liz Gray Erickson Memorial Grant. With her visionary leadership, Liz planted the seeds of our grantmaking focus.”
A CNJG member queried our listserves with the question "Does anyone have templates that can be used and/or shared related to grant approval letters and terms and conditions related to COVID-19 grants?" CNJG compiled the answers from responding members.
The 2020 New Jersey Philanthropy Benefits & Salary Report provides a valuable benchmarking resource. Developed and compiled for CNJG members exclusively, the report presents comprehensive benefits data specific to New Jersey's grantmaking community, alongside data from the Council on Foundations' annual salary survey. Produced every three years, this benchmarking report is a highly valued benefit of your membership in the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers. Thank you to the CNJG members that completed the benefits survey earlier this year that enabled us to produce this report.
The first section, 2020 Benefits Summary Report, includes benefits data for the 2020 calendar year and covers employment, leave benefits, insurance benefits, and more. We are delighted to also present for the first time in this triennial report, demographic data on the boards and staffs of those that responded. The second section, 2020 Grantmaker Salary Tables: New Jersey, Mid-Atlantic and National Data provides data on compensation across a wide range of positions and grantmaking entities. Thank you to the CNJG members that completed the Council on Foundations’ annual survey on salaries that enabled us to produce this section of the report.
Under-resourced communities are going without because nonprofits can't meet demand. Americans —particularly those in low-income communities—are still struggling to secure jobs, affordable housing, and healthcare. Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2015 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey focuses on the underlying causes of these dynamics by exploring the programmatic, financial, and operational issues facing nonprofits across the U.S.
NFF launched the Survey in 2008, when economic crisis threatened the viability of many organizations. Seven years later, results from 5,451 respondents show some indications of recovery, stabilization, and growth. Nonprofits are adding jobs, engaging in strategic conversations such as leadership succession planning, and looking to retain their workforce. Yet as they raise their sights from the focus on short-term crisis, many are confronting the troubling reality that current practices cannot sustain organizations in the long-term or meet the needs of the communities they serve now. Many organizations have stumbled out of crisis looking to make the necessary investments to secure their long-term future. And it is a hard road ahead.