Site Search

The Summit Foundation is proud to announce the awarding of over $185,000 in scholarships to more than 60 students in the Summit, NJ area this year, empowering them to pursue higher education.

Every year, the Foundation partners with generous donors to provide financial support that helps students cover not only tuition but the many other costs of college life, such as books, dorm supplies, and living expenses. This support allows students to attend schools of their choice, to live on campus, and to take on fewer student loans.

“Before I even applied to colleges, I remember how afraid I was of not being able to afford an education after high school,” shared April Sanchez, a rising senior at Gettysburg College and recipient of the Elevating Summit Students Scholarship. “Never did I imagine how many resources there were for people like me. With pride, I say today that because of foundations like these, I have traded my fears for hope and gratitude... Not only am I a better friend, daughter, student, employee, and overall person, but I am also an even more hopeful and driven person than I was before.”

The NPL led a multi-year, cross-sector effort to explore, plan, and execute a guaranteed income pilot in Newark in partnership with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and the Center for Guaranteed Income Research. On June 17, we hosted a community unveiling of the pilot’s results and laid out next steps. The NPL continues to work on the intersection of cash policy and economic stability and resilience.

Newark Philanthropic Liaison, Kevin Callaghan, was featured on an episode of Newark Today on WBGO with Sukhi Samra, Executive Director of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, to discuss the results of the Newark Movement for Economic Equity.

Who We Are

CNJGlogoTr.png

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers is a community of practice for philanthropic professionals who are dedicated to improving New Jersey’s communities. As the center for philanthropy in the state, CNJG supports the philanthropic sector through shared learning, collaborative and trusting relationships within philanthropy and with nonprofit partners, thought leadership, and advocacy efforts. Since 1990 when CNJG became a project under the Community Foundation of New Jersey, then an independent 501(c)3 organization in 1997, CNJG operates on the principle that philanthropy is more effective through connection, collaboration, information exchange, and continuing education.

By joining CNJG as a member, your philanthropy is connected to dozens of other philanthropic organizations across the state, and you support the work that, in turn, benefits you and the entire philanthropic sector.

Access the myriad of benefits that CNJG membership provides.

How to Join

Joining CNJG is simple. Just complete and submit the appropriate application for your organization:

Dismantling Capital Campaigns.jpg

Grantmaking member Join button.png

Govt member Join button.png

CDFI member Join button.png

Philanthropic Advisor application button.png

Soon after you submit the completed application, CNJG will review it, and then email you an invoice from which you can use to submit your membership payment by EFT, check, credit card (CNJG adds a 3% fee for credit card membership payments.

Though subject to the board’s approval, we typically activate membership within 2-3 working days, and you’ll become a member with full access to the unique value CNJG provides. See all of the benefits of CNJG membership under our Member Benefits page.

The membership period begins January 1st and runs through December 31. Organizations joining after July 1 will have their first year dues prorated. Organizations who choose to do so may calculate their membership dues by using an average of their annual grantmaking over the past three years. Some members choose to make all or a portion of their dues in the form of a grant. For tax purposes, all dues in excess of $770 may be reasonably reported as a grant.

CNJG reserves the right to determine an organization’s eligibility for membership.

Membership Criteria

All members must meet the following membership criteria:

“The Council provides a network where I can tap into colleagues who may have valuable experience with an issue, grantee or vendor.  In addition, Council research can prove extremely useful for any number of decisions, large or small.”
-Etta Denk, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility, Bank of America

1. A prospective member’s core interest in joining CNJG is a desire to improve the quality of its own grantmaking and to work with other members to improve the field of grantmaking and support the people, communities and nonprofits of New Jersey.


2. The primary function of a prospective member is making charitable grants. Exceptions to this policy include federated funds, public foundations and Associate members.


3. It is expected that the substantial amount of the organization’s activities should be centered on grantmaking. For corporate giving programs, the term “organization” refers to the corporate giving unit, not the entire corporation. Exceptions to this standard, noted above, include public foundations, private operating foundations, Federated Funds, individual members, and Associate members.


4. The prospective member’s grant distributions are made primarily on a discretionary basis to multiple (two or more) nonprofit organizations that are not subsidiary or otherwise directly related to the prospective member. No more than 60% of the grants given should be directed to one organization (including subsidiaries).


5. Organizations applying for membership must complete and submit the appropriate membership application form (above).


6. Each member adheres to our non-solicitation policy (below).

Membership Policies

1. The annual membership period is from January 1 to December 31. After July, we pro-rate new memberships for the remainder of the year.


2. Grantmaking member dues for 2025 are based on an organization’s total annual grantmaking. Please calculate your dues using either option:
   Your 2024 giving, or
   An average of the past three years of giving (2022, 2023, and 2024)


3. Organizations headquartered or based within New Jersey base their dues on the organization’s total giving. Organizations headquartered outside of New Jersey base their dues on their giving in New Jersey only.


4. Dues for government agencies are based on a percentage (0.2%) of the Agency/Division administrative allocation/budget. If the agency does not have an administrative budget, dues will be based on the level of grants made each year (see dues structure below).


5. For foundations that are sunsetting, dues are based on 5% of the assets, rather than the annual grantmaking. Board minutes confirming the decision to sunset are required when joining.


6. For United Way organizations that give grants, please base dues on your discretionary grantmaking only. Do not include your pass-through dollars.


7. For Community Foundations, please base dues on all your grantmaking, including donor advised funds. Your DAF holders are most welcome to attend our programs as members. Please do not, however, include any nonprofit endowment funds that you might manage.


8. Memberships are considered lapsed if, by July 1 of the membership year, CNJG has not received a pledge to pay.


9. If a non-member grantmaker attends three events/meetings, CNJG expects them to join the organization.


10. CNJG’s Board of Trustees retains final discretion on all matters concerning membership. If you are unsure of your organization’s eligibility, please contact CNJG.

Membership Categories

Grantmaking organizations eligible for CNJG membership include:

• Community Foundations: A community foundation is a tax-exempt, nonprofit, autonomous, publicly supported, philanthropic institution composed primarily of permanent funds established by many separate donors for the long-term diverse, charitable benefit of the residents of a defined geographic area. Community foundations provide an array of services to donors who wish to establish endowed and non-endowed funds without incurring the administrative and legal costs of starting independent foundations. A community foundation’s donor-advised funds are included in the membership, and any and all of the fundholders are invited to participate in CNJG programs and services. Because the community foundation has the established relationship with its fundholders, CNJG relies on the community foundation to invite its fundholders to participate in CNJG programs and services.
• Corporate Foundations: A corporate (company-sponsored) foundation is a private foundation that derives its grantmaking funds primarily from the contributions of a profit-making business. The company-sponsored foundation often maintains close ties with the donor company, but it is a separate, legal organization, sometimes with its own endowment, and is subject to the same rules and regulations as other private foundations.
• Corporate Giving Programs: A corporate giving (direct giving) program is a grantmaking program established and administered within a profit-making company. Gifts or grants go directly to charitable organizations from the corporation. Corporate giving programs do not have a separate endowment; their expense is planned as part of the company's annual budgeting process and usually is funded with pre-tax income. Generally, staff that operate the corporate giving program are the main users of CNJG programs and services.
• Donor Advised Funds: A fund may be classified as donor advised if it has at least three characteristics: (1) a donor or person appointed or designated by the donor has, or reasonably expects to have, advisory privileges with respect to the fund’s distributions or investments, (2) the fund is separately identified by reference to contributions of the donor(s), and (3) the fund is owned and controlled by a sponsoring organization, such as a community foundation. A fund possessing these characteristics may be exempt from the donor advised fund classification if it grants to one single public charity or government unit or if the fund meets certain requirements applicable to scholarship funds. Typically, Donor Advised Funds are held at a community foundation, or a commercial entity, which may have a membership with CNJG already. Should a fund want to receive communications directly from CNJG without the intervention of the community foundation or commercial entity, please contact CNJG. Donor Advised Fund members are reminded that CNJG membership cannot be paid from the DAF, and must come from a different account, according to IRS regulations.
• Family Foundations: A foundation whose funds are derived from members of a single family. At least one family member must continue to serve as an officer or board member of the foundation and they or their relatives play a significant role in governing and/or managing the foundation throughout its life. Most family foundations concentrate their giving locally, in their communities. “Family Foundation,” however, is not a legal term.
• Federated Funds: A centralized campaign, most commonly a United Way organization, whereby an organization raises money for its member agencies. These annual workplace giving campaigns raise millions of dollars for distribution to local, state, and national nonprofit organizations.
• Giving Circles: A collaborative philanthropy in which individual donors pool their money and other resources, and decide together how and where to give them away. In New Jersey, many giving circles are a component fund of a community foundation, which may have a CNJG membership already.
• Government Grantmakers: A government agency that provides grants to 501(c)(3) organizations. Note: dues for Government Grantmakers are calculated differently: dues are based on a percentage (0.2%) of the Agency/Division administrative allocation/budget. If the agency does not have an administrative budget, dues will be based on the level of grants made each year (see standard dues structure on the membership application).
• Independent Foundations: An individual usually founds these private foundations, sometimes by bequest. Sometimes individuals or groups of people, such as family members, form a foundation while the donors are still living. Many large independent foundations are no longer governed by members of the original donor's family, but are run by boards made up of community, business and academic leaders. They are occasionally termed “nonoperating” because they do not run their own programs.
• Private Operating Foundations: Private operating foundations derive their annual budget from an endowment or from a sole donor or some other reliable source of income for which the foundation does not need to fundraise or solicit. If, however, a private operating foundation primary function is to be a fundraising arm for a nonprofit, and does not support two or more unrelated external organizations, similar to supporting foundations, it is not eligible for membership with CNJG.
• Public Foundations: Also known as public grantmaking charities. Public foundations, along with community foundations, are recognized as public charities by the IRS. Although they may provide direct charitable services to the public and receive donations from the public as other nonprofits do, their primary focus is on grantmaking. To qualify for CNJG membership, a public foundation must spend the substantial amount of time and effort on grantmaking and no more than 60% of its grants should be directed to one organization.
• Family Offices with Philanthropic Advisors: Not a formally-created foundation, but an office that should do, at least, half of the following:
  1. Help the principals to develop their grantmaking priorities
  2. Develop strategies for specific grantmaking program areas
  3. Craft or manage grant application procedures
  4. Research and/or forge relationships with prospective grantees
  5. Manage relationships with existing grantees
  6. Coordinate the grant evaluation process, including the creation of proposal dockets for board review
  7. Manage the disbursement of funds to grantees
  8. Develop and coordinate evaluation of grant outcomes
• Philanthropic Individuals committed to sustained, strategic philanthropy and who are giving more than $20,000 annually to a variety of nonprofit organizations.

Non-grantmaking entities that support grantmaking can join as Associate Members of CNJG. The following are eligible for CNJG Associate Membership:

• Philanthropic Advisors: Consultants engaged to advise individuals or companies on their grantmaking, and who are not working on an on-going basis for a specific foundation or family office, can join as a single individual. If a firm is interested in joining, thereby paying for all advisors to join, please contact CNJG to discuss. Philanthropic Advisors must conform to CNJG’s non-solicitation policy.
• Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs): Private financial institutions that are fully dedicated to delivering responsible, affordable lending to help low-income, low-wealth, and other disadvantaged people and communities join the economic mainstream. CDFIs that have any size of grantmaking portfolio should join as a Grantmaker member as a public Grantmaker. CDFIs that do not have a grantmaking portfolio, but are giving low-interest loans or making an impact through such vehicles can join as an Associate member.

Organizations that are typically not eligible for membership are:

• Supporting Foundations: A supporting organization is a section 501(c)(3) organization that qualifies as a public charity (and not a private foundation) because it has a close relationship with another publicly supported section 501(c)(3) organization. Most often, these are hospital or university foundations. A supporting foundation acting as the fundraising arm for the hospital or university, is not eligible for membership because it does not meet the Council’s membership criteria to provide charitable support to two or more unrelated external organizations on an annual basis.
• 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organizations: Nonprofit organizations that are seeking funds are not eligible to join. If however, within their scope of work there is a grantmaking component (most often a regranting organization) without a formal and separate foundation create, please contact CNJG to discuss eligibility.

Non-Solicitation Policy

CNJG strives to create a community of practice characterized by mutual respect and trust for philanthropy of all shapes and sizes to connect with each other thereby improving grantmaking in New Jersey.

In order to foster a safe, brave, and collegial place where members can share best practices and lessons learned, no fundraising is allowed at CNJG events. Collaborative grantmaking, however, is encouraged.

By joining CNJG, members agree to the following non-solicitation policy:

• Soliciting funds, contracts, and consulting clients is strictly prohibited at all CNJG events (with the exception of sponsors and exhibitors for our signature events) and on our digital listservs and platforms.
• For organizations that both raise funds and make grants, your participation in CNJG activities is as a grantmaker only. Staff whose functions are primarily fundraising (e.g., development staff) within institutions that are both grantseeking and grantmaking are not eligible for participation in CNJG activities, with the exception of our Spring Conference/Colloquium for the Social Sector.
• Contact information on CNJG’s Member Directory and other lists is for networking purposes only. Please do not add contact information to your mailing list without an individual’s explicit permission. Please do not use email addresses, phone numbers, or other contact information for soliciting funds, business, or contracts. Please do not forward other members' contact information to grantseekers without their permission.
• CNJG reserves the right to restrict the participation of individuals or organizations whose behavior contravenes the letter or spirit of our non-solicitation policy.

Membership Dues

Membership dues for grantmaking members follow the schedule below. Please refer to the Membership Policies section for additional specific guidelines for dues calculations.

Membership dues for Associate Members:
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI’s) without grantmaking portfolios dues are $1,630 for the organization. A CDFI that has a grantmaking portfolio should base dues on that grantmaking portfolio according to the dues schedule above. As with our grantmaking members that are both grant seekers and grantmakers, please do not include any fundraising staff as part of the membership. For clarifications, please contact CNJG.

Dues for an individual philanthropic advisor are $1,630. If a firm is interested in joining to have more than one advisor on staff join, please contact CNJG to discuss.

Leadership Gifts

Some members include an additional gift to help cover the costs of CNJG’s operations. Membership dues cover about 40% of our operations. These welcomed and unrestricted funds help underwrite the many programs and services that CNJG provides to our members and the philanthropic sector.
 

Sponsorships

In addition to membership, CNJG offers companies and foundations the opportunity to sponsor events, programs, and services. Please contact Theresa Jacks for more information.

For any other questions or to learn more about CNJG membership, contact Craig Weinrich.

These articles are curated from news sources, philanthropic-focused publications, philanthropy serving organizations, and other places found on the internet. We encourage philanthropic organizations to read, share, and use the strategies suggested in these articles for your own diversity, equity, and inclusion learning journey. If there are others that you feel we should include, please contact us.

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Philanthropy Pours More Money Into Advancing Economic Wealth of Latinos (10/13/2022)

ABC News: Two New Jersey towns illustrate the race gap in the COVID pandemic (5/13/2022)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: General Operating Support Is Vital to Advancing Equity, Strengthening Nonprofits, Say Leaders (4/18/2022)

MacArthur Foundation: Movement to End Philanthropy’s Complicity in Anti-Blackness (4/18/2022)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Nearly 500 Foundation Leaders Unite to Push for More Support of Asian Americans (3/26/2021)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: As Violence Against Asian Americans Intensifies, the Moment for Philanthropy to Act Is Now (3/17/2021)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: How One Family Foundation is Evolving to Refocus on Racial Equity (3/16/2021)

HealthDay.com: Many Adults Do Not See Link Between Racism, Poorer Health (1/27/2021)

Stanford Social Innovation Review: How to Begin Considering a Gender Lens Investing Strategy (12/10/2020)

Nonprofit Quarterly: How to Welcome Native Leaders to the Philanthropic Sector (12/3/20)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Opinion Piece: Diversity Mandates from Foundations Maki It Harder for Nonprofits to Do Their Jobs Well (12/2/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Invest in and Strengthen People of Color: A Corporate Grant Maker Explains How (11/17/2020)

Nonprofit Quarterly: White House Declares Ban on Federal Racial Equity Trainings (9/14/20)

Nonprofit Quarterly: White Supremacy: Call It By Name (9/14/2020)

Denver Post: How Donors Can Advance Racial Equity (9/14/2020)

ROI-NJ: NJ to recognize Juneteenth as official state holiday (9/11/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: The 'Warping Effects' of Philanthropy (8/25/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Companies Lead Philanthropic Response to Calls for Racial Justice, but Will It Last? (8/25/2020)

Exponent Philanthropy: Moving Towards Racial Equity in Philanthropy: Introducing an Anti-Racist Intersectional Frame (8/25/2020)

Inside Philanthropy: “A Moment of Reckoning.” How Can Funders Support an Equitable and Inclusive Arts Sector? (7/16/2020)

Generocity: Uprising in Philadelphia: A to-do list for the next six months (7/9/2020)

Boston Globe: The Problem is White Supremacy (6/29/2020)

Inside Philanthropy: Amid Demands for Change, Here’s How Philanthropy Can Back Underfunded Black-Led Group (6/18/2020)

Nonprofit Quarterly: This Moment Shows Us Why Philanthropy Should Reinvent Itself by Gislaine Ngounou, of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation (6/17/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Who Holds Philanthropy Accountable for Racial Justice? by Lisa Pilar Cowan, vice president of Robert Sterling Clark Foundation (6/16/2020)

Creative New Jersey: Summary and resources from their statewide conversation on Racial Justice  (6/10/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: 64 Black Foundation Leaders Tell Philanthropy to Go Big in Response to Pandemic and Police Killings  (6/10/2020)

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Mass Decarceration, COVID-19, and Justice in America by Deanna Van Buren co-founder of Designing Justice + Designing Spaces and F. Javier Torres-Campos, Thriving Cultures Program Director at Surdna Foundation (6/9/2020)

Communications Network: Crowdsourced Anti-Racism Resources and Tools

NonprofitAF.com: Privilege, power, and personal conflicts: The forces preventing change in nonprofit and philanthropy by Vu Le (6/8/2020)

Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia: Articles and Resources from the webinar: The Crisis of White Supremacy in America: What’s Philanthropy’s Role (6/4/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Dismantling Racism Might Require Philanthropy to Dismantle Itself by Lisa Pilar Cowan, vice president of the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation (6/2/2020)

Chronicle of Philanthropy: Why All Grantmakers Should Seek to Fix Democracy by Suzette Brooks Masters, senior strategist at the Center for Inclusion and Belonging at the American Immigration Council (6/2/2020)

Southern Poverty Law Center: Authoritarian State or Inclusive Democracy? 21 Things We Can Do Right Now by Eric K. Ward, Senior Fellow (6/1/2020)

Nonprofit Quarterly: Dear Philanthropy: These Are the Fires of Anti-Black Racism by Will Cordery of Leverage Philanthropic Partners LLC & Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice (6/1/2020)

NonprofitAF.com: Have nonprofit and philanthropy become the "white moderate" that Dr. King warned us about? by Vu Le (6/1/2020)

Library Journal: Books on Anti-Racism (5/31/2020)

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Overcoming the Racial Bias in Philanthropic Funding by Cheryl Dorsey, Peter Kim, Cora Daniels, Lyell Sakaue, & Britt Savage (5/4/2020)

Stanford Social Innovation Review: For a More Equitable America, Understand Race and Racism as Actions We Do and Can Undo by MarYam Hamedani, Hazel Rose Markus & Jeanne Tsai (5/1/2020)

Jacobin Magazine: The Perils of Liberal Philanthropy by Karen Ferguson (11/2018)

Smithsonian Magazine: The 1968 Kerner Commisssion Got It Right, But Nobody Listened by Alice George (3/1/2018)

Continuum Chart on Becoming an Anti-Racist Multicultural Organization by Crossroads Ministry (2013)

The Characteristics of White Supremacy Culture  from Dismantling Racism: A Workbook for Social Change Groups (2001)

Resource Generation: Guidance for Giving to Black-led Organizations for Black Liberation (undated)

Prison Policy Initiative: Prison Gerrymandering Project how the Census Bureau counts people in prison (undated)

In their 2017 book The New Localism, Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak make the case that we're at the beginning of a new era: one in which cities and counties must take the lead on new strategies to address pressing social and economic challenges.

But if they hope to be successful, city leaders cannot take on this burden alone: they need to unleash the collective power of their communities. The good news is that a growing number of cities are finding that supporting communities in small ways — for instance, with microgrants — can deliver outsized impact.

Consider the case of the Denver Foundation, which has kept its Strengthening Neighborhoods initiative going for nearly two decades. The initiative provides grants ranging from $100 to $5,000 to fund community-driven solutions that take advantage of the skills and resources already present in a community. Similarly, the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation's Spark Grants program relies on a grassroots leadership model to bring diverse groups together to strengthen local neighborhoods.

The power of small grants to drive change has not been lost on city leaders, many of whom are embracing the potential of micro-philanthropy — and pairing it with a citizen-led ecosystem that supports the effective implementation of those grants. In Newark, we've taken these lessons to heart and are eager to share some of what we've learned about how small grants can help lay a foundation for improved social and economic mobility.

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

The administration’s current attempt to exclude and expel people through sweeping executive overreach in defiance of the rule of law is separating families and striking fear in communities, and is part of a broader attempt to criminalize and invisibilize historically marginalized populations, starting with noncitizens.

Join Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrant And Refugees to learn how advocates are addressing the closure of the border and the resulting denial of access to safety while others are defending people who have made the United States their home.

SPEAKERS
Lillian Aponte, Executive Director, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project
Erika Pinheiro, Executive Director, Al Otro Lado
Fatima Saidi, Director, We Are All America

MODERATORS
Basma Alawee, Deputy Executive Director, Community Sponsorship Hub
Zenobia Lai, Executive Director, Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative

REGISTRATION
There is no cost for this webinar.
You will need to log in or create an account on GCIR's website to register for this program.
Please register for this program by 5pm PT on Friday, April 25th.

The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is pleased to announce a six-part webinar series addressing common questions, clarifying misconceptions, and exploring ways to overcome obstacles in implementing trust-based philanthropy. CNJG is pleased to share this opportunity with our members.

Series Description: Trust-based philanthropy is a philosophy and approach rooted in values of relationship-building, mutual learning, and systemic equity – with a vision of advancing a healthier and more impactful nonprofit sector. While this approach is generally associated with six core grantmaking practices such as multi-year unrestricted funding and streamlined paperwork, the day-to-day work of trust-based philanthropy is very nuanced and dynamic. In fact, funders who have embraced this approach are finding that it requires ongoing self-reflection and rigor with regards to how they think about – and evolve – many of the deeply embedded practices and assumptions of traditional philanthropy.

Given these nuances, it is not surprising that there are many questions and occasional misperceptions about what it actually means to embody trust-based philanthropy in practice. In this 6-part webinar series, the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project will explore some of the most commonly asked questions and the underlying misperceptions that may be roadblocks to understanding and operationalizing trust-based philanthropy.

Each session in the series will focus on a frequently asked question from the field, and will feature perspectives from foundation leaders and others who have grappled with similar or related questions. At the end of each session, participants will walk away with: 1) a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the underlying cultural philosophy of trust-based philanthropy; 2) tips for how to think about and approach these nuances in their own work; and 3) talking points for how to answer these FAQs when they come up from colleagues or peers.

Each session will also provide dedicated space for small-group peer dialogue (among CNJG members) about ways to implement these practices into your grantmaking.

Who should attend: Anyone in a grantmaking role that is curious about understanding the nuances of trust-based philanthropy and how it applies to your work. This series will be ideal for those who have some baseline familiarity with trust-based philanthropy and have questions about how it manifests in practice.

Please note: this webinar series is separate from CNJG’s 2023 Conference for the Social Sector, which features an in-person luncheon keynote by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. CNJG’s conference is open to both funders and nonprofits, so the keynote will differ from this series. Because CNJG’s Doing Good Better initiative leans on the principles of Trust-Based Philanthropy, we encourage our members to register for these sessions - as time allows - for funders to learn about different approaches to changing systems in New Jersey.

Demystifying Trust-Based Philanthropy Series Sessions
Session #1: Does Trust-Based Mean Unconditional Trust?
Session #2: Does Unrestricted Funding Automatically Make a Funder Trust-Based?
Session #3: How Do We Approach Risk and Due Diligence in Trust-Based Philanthropy?
Session #4: What Does Grantee Accountability Look Like in Trust-Based Funding?
Session #5: How Do You Measure Impact in Trust-Based Philanthropy?
Session #6: What Does Racial Equity Have To Do With Trust-Based Philanthropy?

Resources
Recording: Session #1: Does Trust-Based Mean Unconditional Trust?
Transcript: Session #1: Does Trust-Based Mean Unconditional Trust?
Presentation: Session #1: Does Trust-Based Mean Unconditional Trust?
The 6 Practices of Trust-Based Philanthropy
Trust-Based Philanthropy in 4D Overview
Legal Considerations for Trust-Based Philanthropy