Get Ahead of the Summer Slowdown

June 29, 2017

Summer for a lot of New Jerseyans means more time at the Shore or in the backyard. We all unplug, decompress, go on vacation.

It’s also a time for fundholders to take an inventory of the kind of assets they might want to put towards charity. For many nonprofits, after all, the “summer slowdown” is an extra hurdle at a tough time of year. The number of volunteers and total contributions to charity drop despite communities’ steady or increasing needs (think: children from low-income families without access to school lunches).

Fortunately, the Community Foundation makes it easy for anyone – whether you’re fundholders or not – to support worthy causes through the dog days of summer. You can:

  1. Explore the myriad asset types you can contribute to the Community Foundation, whether into a named fund or one of our Changemaker projects.
  2. Login to your fund to check its balance, give directly to worthy nonprofits today, and ensure it’s adequately funded for a busy fall.
  3. Make a gift to our Scholarship Opportunity Fund to help one or more New Jersey students this coming semester, or open your own scholarship fund.
  4. Support the Field Trip New Jersey endowment to get more kids learning outside the classroom.
  5. Join with women in North Jersey, Essex County, or the Jersey Coast to pool resources for a major philanthropic gift.
  6. Invest in Newark’s women entrepreneurs through Grameen America.
  7. Support the work of the Greater Newark Conservancy’s social enterprise business – CityBloom Landscaping – which teaches Newark residents new skills and empowers them to build landscaping businesses of their own.

Or if you want another idea, give us a call.  Even in these relaxed days of summer, your CFNJ team is here to help you find the perfect project or nonprofit to match your interest and commitment to helping others.  We’re at 973-267-5533 all summer long.