When Disaster Philanthropy Hits Home

Point Pleasant Beach, New Jersey (Photo: REUTERS/Les Stone/American Red Cross)

The clean-up and relief effort will be going on for weeks if not months, while the recovery and rebuilding will take years. There will come a point in the weeks to come when the work will transition from first response to recovery, when the American Red Cross will move on, and the long road to rebuilding will start.  If things in New Jersey unfold the way they have in other communities devastated by catastrophic events like this, we know that the philanthropic community will be deeply involved.

…

The challenges created by Sandy will be with us for a very long time, and yet we aren’t even sure what all of these challenges will be.  Additionally, there will be great opportunities to bring innovative ideas and practices to some of our longstanding problems. This is what philanthropy can do quite well.

—Nina Stack, CEO of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and President of the Forum’s Board in a new blog post at the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation‘s site.

Read the full post here.

CNJG’s Facing Our Future Updated

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers has released an updated 2012 version of the Facing Our Future Report.  This nonpartisan report updates the 2011 report and identifies specific, measurable options needed to refocus and redefine government services.  The report is an outcome of a volunteer leadership group comprised of individuals with extensive senior experience in state government under the umbrella of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers to provide an objective, independent analysis of the long-term fiscal challenges facing all levels of New Jersey government in the next five years.

Collaboration at CNJG’s 2009 Annual Meeting

On December 10th, the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers (CNJG) gathered its members for a day of collaboration towards smarter grantmaking. With presentations by the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s Thomas McLaughlin and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations’ Kathleen Enright, and performances by a strings trio from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and improv actress Gerry Martin, participants saw how working together—both with other funders and with grantees—will lead to a stronger impact and greater change.