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As the year comes to a close, I’ve been thinking about the conversations I have had with many of you over the years, in meetings, at programs, and sometimes in those unplanned moments before a convening. Time, and time again, I hear a version of the same reflection: we can do so much more if we work together.
That idea has stayed with me as we prepare for our Annual Meeting & Holiday Gathering on December 10. If you haven’t registered, please register today as online registration closes today at 5 PM. Once online registration closes, you can still register by calling or emailing Office Manager Dana Schwartz at (609) 414-7110, extension 801.
Our Annual Meeting is a time not only to celebrate, but to take stock of what we’ve learned, to reconnect with colleagues who understand the nuances of this work, and to imagine what the impact could look like when we sharpen our focus on the collaborative possibilities ahead.
Our theme this year, Catalyzing New Jersey Communities: Building Local Coalitions, is about how funders can move beyond traditional grantmaking to become impactful coalition builders. Across the state, funders, government agencies, nonprofits, and community organizers continue to find new ways to align efforts, share responsibility, and strengthen local ecosystems. These efforts don’t just expand reach, they deepen trust, and lead to more durable change.
We’ll explore this in depth during our luncheon panel with Commissioner Christine Norbut Beyer, New Jersey Department of Children and Families; Atiya Weiss, Executive Director of The Burke Foundation; Edwin “Chino” Ortiz, co-founder of Returning Citizens Support Group; Alma García, Director of Equity Ahora New Jersey, and moderated by Craig Drinkard, CNJG Board Chair and Executive Officer, Victoria Foundation.
Before the Annual Meeting begins, I encourage you to join our hands-on workshop featuring the New Jersey Philanthropy Hub, a partnership initiative of CNJG and the New Jersey Center for Nonprofits, powered by Impala. This powerful data platform brings together a clear, comprehensive view of giving across our state. It’s designed to help funders identify nonprofit partners, understand who else funds in your areas of interest, and conduct due diligence with confidence. It also helps grantees see where funding is flowing and find useful information about funders and other nonprofits. It’s simple, helpful, and designed to support your coalition-building efforts well beyond this convening.
My personal hope is that every attendee leaves with at least one new, meaningful partnership and one concrete strategy for breaking down silos in their funding and grantmaking approach.
Congratulations are in order as several of our members has been tapped to serve on Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill’s transition actions teams and interdisciplinary advisor task force members; this clearly reinforces the immediate significance of the Annual Meeting’s theme. It also ensures that New Jersey’s philanthropic sector will have a meaningful voice in shaping policy priorities and community strategies at the highest levels of the incoming administration.
This representation underscores something important - philanthropy plays a critical role not only in funding solutions, but in lifting and aligning community issues, advancing collaborative approaches that government alone cannot achieve, and advocating for the deep and varied expertise that the social sector brings to the table.
To ensure our sector’s perspective is fully represented in the new administration, I encourage all members to take a moment to complete Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill's Public Input Survey. Please share the survey with your grantees to ensure their perspectives are represented and voiced as well.
Reminder that online registration for the Annual Meeting closes today at 5 PM. Register now to be part of the conversation.
I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to our generous sponsors, whose partnership makes this gathering possible: Signature Sponsor – Prudential; Collaborating Sponsor – Devils Youth Foundation; Contributing Sponsors – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Pincus Family Foundation, and The Campbell's Company; Supporting Sponsors – Grunin Foundation and WSFS CARES Foundation. Also, thank you to NJM Insurance Group for their donation.
I look forward to seeing you on December 10.
Theresa Jacks, President and CEO
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
Directors & Officers liability insurance provides financial protection for a foundation and its directors, officers, employees, and volunteers in the event of a lawsuit. CNJG offers its members the D&O liability insurance program provided through Aon Association Services, underwritten by The Hartford and endorsed by the United Philanthropy Forum. A discount is available to foundations with current membership with CNJG.
Fiduciary Liability and other coverage is also available to members at a discounted rate. Coverage is available in all states. Brokers can access the Forum’s D&O program through Aon Association Services.
Learn more using the documents below, on the Aon website or by contacting Jason Tharpe, program administrator at Aon Affinity, at 202-429-8561. To obtain the discount, foundations should let Aon know they are a member of CNJG, a member of the United Philanthropy Forum.
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.
CNJG’s community foundation services (through the United Philanthropy Forum) breakdown into three categories:
1. a national listserv for CEOs
2. two in-person boot camp trainings
3. discount on the On-Line CF Express Training
National Listserv for Community Foundation CEOs
CNJG’s listserve for Community Foundation CEOs connects to a national listserv for the CEOs of community foundations. This active listserve allows community foundation CEOs to communicate easily via email with community foundation CEOs from across the country, to pose questions, engage in conversations and more. The service is being made available to our community foundations members as a benefit of your membership with CNJG and is operated by the Untied Philanthropy Forum, which is CNJG’s national network.
If you are interested in participating in this national community foundation listserve, please contact Craig Weinrich.
Community Foundation Boot Camps
The United Philanthropy Forum offers two or more Community Foundation Boot Camps a year that are made available to CNJG members at the member rate as a benefit of CNJG membership. The two-day Community Foundation Boot Camp program offers a comprehensive overview of the structure and operations of a community foundation. The program is an ideal in-depth introduction to community foundations for new community foundation staff, community foundation board members, or more experienced community foundation staff looking for a good refresher.
On-Line CF Express Training
The Forum is partnering with Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) to offer a $400 discount on KACF’s On-Line CF Express Training. The online training and certificate program focuses on core essentials over a 15-module series that covers nearly every aspect of community foundation work: from asset development and quality grants programs design to fiduciary and policy matters. Plus, enjoy 24-hour-access to the easy-to-navigate short (5-15 min) modules in any order from the comfort of a home or an office, in private, or as a group training.
Watch the CF Express Training Promo Video and view a sample module (password: mod15) to learn more. To take advantage of the discount, sign-up at https://cfexpresstraining.com and enter discount code: Forum2018. You can also reference the following attachments for more details.
Sam Parker, Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Way and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Murphy, will discuss ways to become involved with a state board or commission and the appointment process. You will also have the opportunity to learn about the expectations and responsibilities in serving the State as well as why it is important to be involved as a philanthropic organization. Sam oversees the Appointments Department which is responsible for the numerous appointments to New Jersey’s various Boards, Commissions, Councils, Advisory Committees and Task Forces; as well as the Judicial Bench.
Sam Parker (she/her) is an organizational, development and political professional with extensive experience in strategic planning, leadership management, civic engagement, and collaborative partnership building. Sam is currently the Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Way and Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Murphy. Before joining the administration in March of 2021, Sam served as the Development and Political Affairs for the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide. Sam was also Congressman Frank Pallone’s Deputy Campaign Director (2013) and Deputy Field Director for the New Jersey State Democratic Committee’s Victory Campaign (2012). Previous to her return to her home state in 2012, Sam worked for organizations such as The National LGBTQ Task Force, Human Rights Campaign, EqualityMaine and Equality North Carolina on LGBT+ issue campaigns all over the country. Sam has a BA of English/Creative Writing from the University of Southern Maine and a master's degree in Public Policy and Management and a certificate of Social Justice and Economics from The Muskie School at the University of Southern Maine.
Cost: Free for CNJG Members; $75 for Non Member Grantmakers
This program is only open to staff and trustees from grantmaking organizations.
Webinar Video
Resource
Governor's Boards, Commissions, and Authorities Directory
The Ford Institute for Community Building, a program of The Ford Family Foundation, works to help community leaders learn how to implement local solutions based on principles of effective community building. This paper describes the development and work of the The Ford Institute for Community Building.