February 1, 2018
The Community Foundation of New Jersey today thanked its more than 1,000 fundholders for new philanthropic gifts to CFNJ totaling $78.5 million in 2017.
CFNJ currently stewards roughly $500 million in charitable assets, making grants to nonprofit organizations in line with the advice of active fundholders or the philanthropic goals of those who leave bequests. Sixty-one new funds were established in 2017.
In 2017, CFNJ made a record 6,515 individual grants totaling $49.5 million on behalf of these New Jerseyans. Of this amount, 3,389 individual grants totaling $28.9 million supported nonprofits in New Jersey. Another 3,126 grants totaling $20.5 million supported nonprofits outside of New Jersey.
Approximately $25 million of the total grantmaking came from donor advised funds, through which individuals, families, and businesses not only support a wide range of organizations and issues, but also leverage CFNJ’s team of philanthropic professionals to achieve the most favorable tax treatment and greatest community impact.
CFNJ fundholders granted approximately $1.5 million in scholarships in 2017, helping 225 young people achieve their dreams of a college education.
Legacy Funds, through which donors entrust CFNJ to steward their giving in line with their philanthropic goals, were responsible for $9.7 million of the year’s total giving, impacting a range of causes and regions of the state.
Business Advised Funds took on added importance in 2017 following the hurricanes that devastated homes and displaced thousands of people across Puerto Rico, Texas, and Florida. CFNJ worked with CR Bard, Becton Dickinson, and Ports America to create Employee Crisis Funds that are providing emergency grants to their hundreds of impacted employees.
“With the support of interested fundholders and several legacy gifts, we have been able to expand our Changemaker Projects,” said Hans Dekker, CFNJ’s president. “This has led to major successes in areas such as juvenile justice reform with the State on track to close two youth prisons and entrepreneurship wherein our nonprofit partners have provided more than 300 microloans to women small business owners in Newark.”
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 $500 million in charitable assets and made more than 6,000 grants last year to charitable work in New Jersey and around the world.