May 31, 2018
The Community Foundation of New Jersey’s (CFNJ) strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency have earned it a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. This is the eight consecutive year that CFNJ has earned this top distinction.
Since 2002, using objective analysis, Charity Navigator has awarded only the most fiscally responsible organizations a 4-star rating. In 2011, Charity Navigator added 17 metrics, focused on governance and ethical practices as well as measures of openness, to its ratings methodology. These Accountability & Transparency metrics, which account for 50 percent of a charity’s overall rating, reveal which charities operate in accordance with industry best practices and whether they are open with their donors and stakeholders.
“CFNJ’s exceptional 4-star rating sets it apart from its peers and demonstrates its trustworthiness to the public,” according to Michael Thatcher, President & CEO of Charity Navigator. “Only a quarter of charities rated by Charity Navigator receive the distinction of our 4-star rating. This adds CFNJ to a preeminent group of charities working to overcome our world’s most pressing challenges. Based on its 4-star rating, people can trust that their donations are going to a financially responsible and ethical charity when they decide to support CFNJ.”
“It’s important our fundholders know that our staff is not only an effective resource in charitable planning, but also precise and transparent in our handling of incoming gifts and outgoing grants,” said Hans Dekker, CFNJ’s president. “We are also fortunate to have an exceptional Board of Trustees and skilled Finance Office that together ground us in good governance and financial accountability.”
CFNJ’s rating and other information about charitable giving are available free of charge on www.charitynavigator.org. More-detailed information about CFNJ’s rating is available to Charity Navigator site visitors who become registered users, another free service.
About Charity Navigator
Charity Navigator, www.charitynavigator.org, is the largest charity evaluator in America and its website attracts more visitors than all other charity rating groups combined. The organization helps guide intelligent giving by evaluating the Financial Health and Accountability & Transparency of more than 8,000 charities. Charity Navigator accepts no advertising or donations from the organizations it evaluates, ensuring unbiased evaluations, nor does it charge the public for this trusted data. As a result, Charity Navigator, a 501 (c) (3) public charity itself, depends on support from individuals, corporations and foundations that believe it provides a much-needed service to America’s charitable givers. Charity Navigator, can be reached directly by telephone at (201) 818-1288, or by mail at 139 Harristown Road, Suite 101, Glen Rock, N.J., 07452.
About the Community Foundation of New Jersey
The Community Foundation of New Jersey educates and engages the people of New Jersey on the power of charitable giving to effect positive change in our communities. Since its founding in 1979, the Community Foundation has counseled New Jersey families and businesses on how to use philanthropic funds to target and increase the impact of their giving in the areas that matter most to them. These more than 1,100 Legacy Funds and Donor Advised Funds grant tens of millions of dollars each year, and have enabled the Community Foundation to launch its own Changemaker Projects that are improving New Jersey and its dynamic communities. The Community Foundation’s funds currently hold over $450 million in charitable assets and made over 5,000 grants last year to charitable work in New Jersey and around the world.