The State of New Jersey Nonprofit Funding 2026

Giving is steady — but checks are getting bigger

NJ private foundations reported $2.57 billion in grants on FY2024 filings, level with 2023 and up 11% from 2022. The bigger shift is in the typical grant: the median rose from $3,000 in FY2020 to $5,000 in FY2024 (+67%), and the mean rose from $41,600 to $61,400. Foundations are concentrating dollars in fewer, larger awards.

One county holds a third of the money

Mercer County — home of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton — accounts for $2.45B of FY2022–24 giving, a third of the state total, and posts the state's highest median grant ($15,000). Bergen County has the most foundations (375) but a $3,500 median: lots of small family foundations. County reflects the foundation's headquarters, not the recipient's location.

Full 17-row county table with medians, means, and grant counts in the PDF.

The fastest-growing NJ foundations

Comparing the same foundations' FY2020 and FY2024 filings (matched cohort of 2,028), RWJF added the most dollars (+$91M), but the sharpest expansions are family foundations scaling from six to eight figures — the Honickman Charitable Fund grew 66x, from $209K to $13.9M. A foundation in growth mode is often building new program areas: the best moment for an introduction.

All 50 growth foundations, ranked, in the PDF.

What gets funded

Healthcare leads: 990 foundations active in healthcare grantmaking deployed $5.7B in FY2022–24. The quieter story is at the bottom of the chart — causes like civil rights (61 funders) and community improvement (70) have few dedicated funders but large average commitments. Less competition for organizations that fit.

Most NJ foundation money leaves New Jersey

Of $7.46B granted in FY2022–24, only $2.56B (34.3%) went to New Jersey recipients. New York captured 19.1% — Manhattan's universities, hospitals, and national nonprofits sit one river away from most of NJ's foundation wealth — with DC and Massachusetts punching far above their size. For NJ nonprofits the implication is sharp: the money is local, the competition is national, and local impact is the differentiator.