Community Foundation of New Jersey

What Community Foundation of New Jersey does

Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) is a 501(c)(3) community foundation headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, founded in 1979 as the Greater Essex Community Foundation and rebranded to its current statewide scope in 1983. CFNJ provides philanthropic infrastructure for individuals, families, businesses, professional advisors, and nonprofit organizations, managing approximately $1.17 billion in charitable assets across 1,200 active funds as of 2025. Its core offerings include donor-advised funds (DAFs), legacy funds, scholarship funds (138 funds with $31 million in assets serving 271 students annually), corporate philanthropy funds, designated agency funds, collaborative funds, agency endowment funds, and special project funds, supported by six internal investment portfolios (Flagship, Balanced, Knox Hill, S&P 500 Index, Stable Value, and ESG Pool) and an impact investing capability. The foundation also administers targeted grant programs, including the 2025 NJ Strong Emergency Fund, and produces the "Jersey Gives A Damn!" podcast. Technology infrastructure consists of an online grant management portal (grantinterface.com), a fundholder management portal (fcsuite.com), and a universal scholarship application system that matches students to eligible funds from a single submission.

CFNJ's business model is built on recurring fund management fees charged on assets under management, supplemented by donation inflows. In 2025, the foundation received approximately $208 million in gifts and disbursed 8,900 grants totaling $163 million, a $58 million year-over-year increase. Go-to-market is hybrid: a sales-led model pairs fundholders with donor services staff for personalized philanthropic planning, while a community-led model leverages partnerships with professional advisors (attorneys, wealth advisors), community organizations, and major co-funders such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Prudential Financial, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, and the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium. The foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees chaired by Harry O'Mealia, with Hans Dekker serving as President since June 2003, and operates an affiliated regional entity, the Community Foundation of South Jersey, covering the state's southern counties. CFNJ holds 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, files annual Form 990s, and is subject to SOC-aligned annual independent audits.

Name

Community Foundation of New Jersey

Legal name

Community Foundation of New Jersey

Website

https://cfnj.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Community Foundation of New Jersey is a Morristown-based 501(c)(3) community foundation managing $1.17 billion across 1,200 charitable funds for individual, family, corporate, and nonprofit fundholders statewide. It provides donor-advised funds, scholarships, grants, and impact investing services across New Jersey.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Philanthropy and Charitable Fund Management

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Community philanthropy
• Donor advised funds
• Charitable fund management
• Scholarship administration
• Nonprofit grantmaking

Headquarters

HQ city

Morristown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Fund Management Fees: CFNJ charges management fees on donor advised funds and other charitable funds to cover operational costs and support community work. The fund management fee goes directly into supporting work to improve the community rather than to a for-profit company.
2. Donations and Contributions: The foundation receives donations from fundholders, corporations, and individuals. In 2025, gifts to CFNJ totaled approximately $208 million. The foundation accepts various types of assets including cash, stocks, real estate, and other property to establish and grow charitable funds.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) is a 501(c)(3) community foundation that creates and manages charitable funds on behalf of individuals, families, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. It offers a full range of giving vehicles including donor advised funds, legacy funds, scholarship funds, designated agency funds, corporate philanthropy funds, and impact investing portfolios, while providing personalized donor services, grantmaking administration, investment stewardship, and statewide community philanthropy advisory support.

Product overview

The Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) operates as a unified philanthropic services platform offering multiple fund types and giving vehicles. The core portfolio includes Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs), Legacy Funds, Scholarship Funds, Designated Agency Funds, Corporate Philanthropy Funds, Collaborative Funds, Agency Endowment Funds, and Special Project Funds. Supporting services include Impact Investing with various investment portfolio options (Flagship, Balanced, Knox Hill, S&P 500 Index, Stable Value, ESG Pool). CFNJ also administers targeted grant programs (NJ Strong Emergency Fund, RSI Foundation Grants, Pi Chubb Grants, George A. Ohl Jr. Grants, St. Clare's Grants, Alkemade Vision Health Grants, Quinn's Corner Fund) and produces the Jersey Gives A Damn! Podcast. Regional affiliates include the Community Foundation of South Jersey. Major initiatives include Equity Ahora NJ, EQUIP New Jersey, and Press Forward New Jersey. In 2025, CFNJ made 8,900 grants totaling $163 million across its fundholder base.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) A flexible fund type for individuals, families, and organizations that allows fundholders to receive immediate tax benefits, recommend grants to qualified charities, and grow charitable assets over time under CFNJ stewardship.
• Legacy Funds Charitable legacy funds that allow donors to entrust CFNJ with fulfilling their long-term philanthropic intent, ensuring their giving continues and adapts to future community needs.
• Scholarship Funds Over 135 scholarship funds administered by CFNJ offering traditional and customized education awards for New Jersey students, with eligibility matching through a universal online application.
• Designated Agency Funds Funds that permanently support a specific charitable organization, ensuring its continued work even if the original organization ceases to exist.
• Corporate Philanthropy Funds Business-advised funds and employee crisis funds that help companies approach philanthropy in a focused, efficient manner aligned with company objectives and community needs.
• Collaborative Funds Pooled funding vehicles that allow like-minded donors to combine resources, reduce costs, and tackle major societal issues through shared governance.
• Agency Endowment Funds Endowment funds that assist charitable organizations in meeting current and future needs, with CFNJ investing assets for long-term charitable purposes.
• Special Project Funds Flexible, innovative funding vehicles initiated by businesses, foundations, donors, or partnerships to address current challenges throughout New Jersey.
• Impact Investing Investment strategy enabling fundholders to generate positive, measurable financial returns while also creating social good through low-interest loans, credit, and equity investments.
• Investment Portfolios Internal investment portfolio options for fundholder assets, including Flagship, Balanced, Knox Hill, S&P 500 Index, Stable Value, and ESG Pool.
• NJ Strong: Emergency Fund Rapid-response emergency fund providing safety net grants to nonprofits affected by federal funding freezes, disbursing over $1 million across 22 human services organizations.
• RSI Foundation Grant Grant program funding the health and well-being of communities in Rahway and surrounding Union and Middlesex counties, with awards ranging from $2,500 to $25,000.
• Pi Chubb Grants Field trip and educational experience grants for Newark organizations, including bus expense funding capped at $1,400 per school and Learning Opportunity Fund grants up to $2,500.
• George A. Ohl Jr. Grant Grant supporting organizations that improve or expand healthcare services, with preference for curing infantile paralysis, awarding $5,000 to $11,000.
• St. Clare's Nursing Education Grant A $20,000 award supporting organizations providing financial assistance to nursing students from Morris and Sussex counties.
• George & Yvonne Alkemade Vision Health Grants Grants funding organizations providing general care and assistance to the blind community, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $45,000.
• St. Clare's Children's Behavioral Health Fund A $10,000 award funding children's behavioral health services in Sussex and Morris counties.
• Quinn's Corner Fund Emergency and planning grants supporting domestic violence survivors and their pets in New Jersey, with one-time $5,000 grants.

Quantifiable outcome

• 8,900 grants totaling $163 million made in 2025, a new record with $58 million increase from 2024
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.

• New Jersey Civic Information ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024CFNJ partnered to house the New Jersey chapter of the Press Forward initiative to advance local news and civic engagement across the Garden State, with plans to invest more than $500 million nationally.
• Tammy Murphy, First Lady of New JerseyflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnered with Tammy Murphy, founder of NJ Pandemic Relief Fund, along with other statewide philanthropic organizations to provide $65 million in grants and support to more than 130 organizations during COVID-19 crisis.
• Community Foundation of South JerseyflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCFNJ's affiliate for the South Jersey region, helping local people and organizations turn ideas for good into action across the region's eight counties. CFSJ connects resources, relationships, and purpose to strengthen South Jersey.
• Robert Wood Johnson FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with CFNJ and CFSJ to co-create Equity Ahora NJ, a reimagined initiative investing in community-led groups and networks rooted in racial equity and centered on systems change to advance health equity across New Jersey.
• EQUIP New JerseycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntermediary initiative to strengthen the ecosystem of organizations working to advance justice across the state, with members shaping the initiative's design, priorities, and vision through distributed leadership.
• Theatre Development Fund (TDF)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration to gift Broadway and Off-Broadway tickets to service members visiting New York City during Fleet Week. Distributed 4,000 tickets to US Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard members and Blue Star Families from 2023-2025.
• 180 Turning Lives AroundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered to support the first refuge for both domestic violence survivors and their pets in New Jersey, with Karen Lindemann designing a legacy fund to ensure safe places for survivors and companions.
• RedRoverminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to help domestic violence shelters become pet-friendly, including training, planning support, and resources to create safe havens for survivors and their pets.
• Community Health Acceleration ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered to fund a report examining challenges in perinatal care access and insurance markets across New Jersey, highlighting coverage gaps and disparities.
• NJ Birth Equity Funders AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated to fund a report on perinatal care challenges in New Jersey as part of broader effort to address birth equity issues statewide.
• Newark AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated to launch The Bridge Project, supporting 250 women and their babies with unconditional cash support starting in pregnancy through early childhood to reduce child poverty.
• Reitman FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFamily foundation at CFNJ making grants to projects for women and children at risk in New Jersey, including Meet Her at the Gate re-entry program and Kessler Foundation study on stroke recovery.
• Prudential Financial, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Prudential Community Grants Program, providing microgrants to local changemakers and leaders who have solutions to support their neighborhoods but lack access to financial resources.
• Newark Public LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStewards Philip Roth's bequest of 7,000 personal book volumes to support services, programming, book acquisitions, and maintenance for the Philip Roth Personal Library.
• Investors BankminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to analyze and launch college savings account program for public-school kindergarten students in Hopatcong, New Jersey.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Community Foundation of South Jersey: CFNJ's affiliate serving South Jersey's eight counties; jointly controlled with CFNJ. Same community foundation model, fund types, and donor services, focused on a complementary geographic region.
• The New York Community Trust: One of the largest community foundations in the U.S., managing similar DAF, legacy, and competitive grant programs across the New York metro region. Directly comparable in mission, product mix, and donor-advised fund services.
• Boston Foundation: Major Greater Boston community foundation with similar DAF and competitive grantmaking programs. Comparable in scale, fund types, and local community foundation model serving a single metropolitan/regional donor base.
• Cleveland Foundation: The oldest community foundation in the U.S., operating a comparable model of donor-advised funds, competitive grants, and scholarship administration. Similar AUM scale and product breadth to CFNJ.
• Silicon Valley Community Foundation: Large community foundation known for tech-driven DAF growth and impact investing offerings. Comparable in DAF-centric business mix, fund management fee economics, and emphasis on innovation in philanthropic services.
• Greater Kansas City Community Foundation: Mid-large community foundation with a similar mix of donor-advised funds, scholarship administration, and competitive grantmaking. Comparable scale and regional community foundation model.
• Chicago Community Trust: Major regional community foundation serving the Chicago metro area with similar DAF, legacy giving, and competitive grant programs. Comparable AUM scale and product breadth to CFNJ.

Broad incumbents

• Fidelity Charitable: The largest commercial donor-advised fund sponsor in the U.S. Offers similar DAF services but as a national, for-profit-scaled platform with lower fees and stronger digital UX — directly competing for CFNJ's DAF growth.
• Schwab Charitable: National commercial DAF sponsor affiliated with Charles Schwab. Offers similar tax-advantaged giving accounts and competes with CFNJ for donor advised fund dollars at a national scale.

Others

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Large national private foundation based in Princeton, NJ, and a current strategic partner of CFNJ (Equity Ahora NJ). Comparable as a NJ-based philanthropic institution with overlapping health and equity focus areas.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/givingnj
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CommunityFoundationofNewJersey
• Facebookfacebook.com/givingnj
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/community-foundation-of-new-jersey
• Instagraminstagram.com/cfnjscholarships

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Community Foundation of New Jersey