Community Foundation Named Top Charity in NJ, Top Community Foundation in US

Rankings reflect fundholder creativity, NJ’s rich nonprofit landscape

(Morristown, NJ) – The Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) was today named one of New Jersey’s top 10 charities by Charity Navigator, the nation’s largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities.

Charity Navigator made the determination following their calculation that CFNJ spends 95.2% of its total expenses on programs and services and scored a 98.03% on overall financial accountability and transparency based on 2017 data. Charity Navigator examines tens of thousands of non-profit financial documents and uses this information to develop an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 9,000 of America’s charities.

“These numbers only tell part of the story,” said Hans Dekker, CFNJ’s president. “There are, in fact, many amazing charities in New Jersey, which is why we consider ourselves privileged to work with fundholders to identify and support so many of them.”

Others on the list of New Jersey’s top 10 charities include the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Jersey Battered Women’s Services, Table to Table, St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, Princeton Area Community Foundation, Great Swamp Watershed Association, Fulfill, and United Way of Central New Jersey.

“Our function is to multiply the effect of those New Jerseyans who wish to support worthy charities through a custom or scalable approach,” explained Dennis Wilson, CFNJ’s Board Chair. “Because of our deep familiarity with New Jersey Communities and their emerging challenges coupled with CFNJ’s history of delivering the most promising path to a spectrum of effective solutions, we can confidently say that the opportunity to create meaningful change through philanthropy has never been greater.”

Charity Navigator also named CFNJ to its most recent list of the top 10 community foundations in the United States (2018). Those community foundations on the list are, according to Charity Navigator, “empowering donors, large and small, to make a difference through a number of community-focused initiatives. They are focused on addressing the most pressing issues facing their constituents through creative approaches and innovative programs.”

About the Community Foundation of New Jersey

With $460 million in assets, the Community Foundation of New Jersey creates and scales custom solutions for purpose-driven individuals, families, and businesses. The level of precision in CFNJ’s investment and grantmaking capabilities is made possible by a team of specialists who understand the unique contours of communities and can manage the scope of CFNJ’s giving vehicles. From creative projects that tackle critical societal or policy issues to scholarship funds, corporate philanthropy, legacy funds and donor advised funds, CFNJ manages nearly every giving vehicle and tailors solutions to meet critical needs. More than 1,100 funds grant tens of millions of dollars each year, including $66 million in 2018 in New Jersey and beyond.

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