November 12, 2015
During the week of November 12-18, 2015, the Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) will join more than 750 community foundations across America celebrating Community Foundation Week. For more than 25 years, the effort has raised awareness about the increasingly important role of these philanthropic organizations in fostering local collaboration and innovation to address persistent civic and economic challenges.
“Community foundations bring philanthropists’ giving to life,” said Hans Dekker, CFNJ’s President. “Given the enormous challenges facing communities across New Jersey, we are determined as ever to simplify the process of giving and amplify the impact of that giving so that specific problems actually get solved.”
Community foundations are independent, public entities that steward philanthropic resources from institutional and individual donors to local nonprofits that are the heart of strong, vibrant communities.
So far in 2015, CFNJ has granted more than $32 million to nonprofit organizations.
CFNJ also marked its 35th anniversary this year by celebrating the success of its Changemaker Fund, which has empowered fundholders and other donors to help young girls escape human trafficking, put an end to solitary confinement for New Jersey’s incarcerated kids, and help 100,000 children from low-income families start the school day with a nutritious breakfast.
Community foundations represent one of the fastest-growing forms of philanthropy. Every state in the United States is home to at least one community foundation—large and small, urban and rural—working to advance solutions on a wide range of social issues.
Community Foundation Week, created in 1989 by former president George H.W. Bush, recognizes the work of community foundations throughout America and their collaborative approach to working with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to address community problems.
About the Community Foundation of New Jersey
Established in 1979, the Community Foundation of New Jersey’s mission is to support charitable giving that is inspired by its fundholders, targeted at making communities stronger, driven by creative solutions, and effective in achieving lasting change. Through a combination of Legacy Funds and Donor Advised Funds, the foundation has granted an average of more than $30 million each year to charitable organizations and currently stewards over $320 million in charitable assets for current needs and future challenges.