Many of our donors and fundholders become committed to a particular cause based on their own experiences. Want to help a community you care about? Want to support conservation efforts in a specific region? Or perhaps help fight a specific disease? A Legacy Fund enables you to support programs, causes, and communities you are passionate about, for generations to come. And by leveraging the Community Foundation’s awareness and expertise, dollars will go to the most promising or effective programs.

Families who contribute to or establish Legacy Funds enable the Community Foundation to respond quickly and nimbly to ever-changing community needs. Because of the contemporaneous and local stewardship of these funds, they are often timeless in terms of impact.

Donors who have a focused commitment to an organization may choose to permanently support it through a Designated Agency Fund. The Foundation’s stewardship guarantees that the good works they value will continue, even if the original organization ceases to exist.


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Designing your philanthropic legacy

Crafting a charitable legacy through planned giving can be both a challenging and a rewarding process. It is a unique opportunity to remember your family and preserve your impact on a cause or community for generations. The Community Foundation’s sole responsibility and fiduciary duty is to steward the legacy grantmaking prudently and in-line with your intent—as you’ve designed it.

Here are the top issues to think through as you consider your philanthropy legacy.



Great work with legacy funds

Realizing a Fundholder’s Wish: Services for the Vision-Impaired
BooksIn 1996, the Alkemade Fund was established at CFNJ under the estate of George and Yvonne Alkemade. Its overall goal was to provide assistance to people with poor vision. The Alkemades could have easily willed those dollars to any number of worthwhile nonprofit organizations that specialize in eye care, and those gifts certainly would have made a difference in the community. But with CFNJ’s partnership model and commitment to long-term, positive change, the dollars have been leveraged even more effectively over time. Read More »

A Lasting Legacy of Art and Service
Irene Van DeusenIrene Van Deusen always understood the need to promote the development of young and emerging artists and musicians. To support this work, she left a significant part of her estate to the Community Foundation specifically to “assist in the development and encouragement of young artists and musicians and encourage individuals to volunteer in their communities.” Read More »

Legacy of an Animal Lover: Great Companions Fund
DogThrough a heartfelt bequest, a Community Foundation fundholer is helping others experience the happiness animals can bring to the lives of people across the Garden State. The fundholder’s tireless devotion to animals will continue in perpetuity through a bequest in her will to establish the Great Companions Fund, an endowed fund that will provide grants to causes and organizations that work with companion animals and wildlife across the state. Read More »

For more articles on CFNJ legacy funds, click here.


Ready to get started?

Contact Hans Dekker at 973.267.5533 or by email with any questions or to establish your fund.