Together in Health: HFNJ’s September 2024 E-newsletter
September 16, 2024In this Issue:
- Letter from the Board Chair and CEO (below)
- Third Quarter Grant Awards
- Interview: Steve Margeotes of Main St. Counseling
- Your Input Needed: HFNJ Training Series for Nonprofits
- Grants in Action: Make the Road NJ
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Building Relationships for Long-term Success
Strengthening relationships is part of the DNA of The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey. For nearly three decades we have worked in partnership with community institutions to help foster healthier bodies and minds for those who may not have access to quality healthcare.
As a funder, HFNJ has always sought to build long-term relationships with our grantees, and to support new projects so that they grow roots and flourish. Through this sustained relationship, grantees have been able to adapt and respond to real time needs as projects evolve. Similarly, HFNJ has been able to learn from grantees what is working—and what is not.
Through the grant renewal process, we engage in ongoing dialogues with our grantees that strengthen our partnership. We recognize that projects rarely evolve in a straight line. Launching new health and human service initiatives requires making strategic modifications and changes along the way, and sometimes dramatic shifts in new directions. The renewal process is a chance to use field data to inform decisions and to compare the original goals of a project to the current realities on the ground. While this might lead to sometimes-uncomfortable conversations about future directions, these discussions foster a deeper sense of trust between the grantee and HFNJ while also informing us on best practices (at a recent meeting with trustees, one long-time grantee shared that a “tough love” conversation years earlier about a project that had run into difficulties – and the choices made as a result – was critical to putting the organization on a path to success).
Our trustees are currently engaged in a strategic dialogue examining how HFNJ can best support our grantees in achieving sustainable success. We have initiated a pilot to support multi-year grants and will be considering how we can build upon lessons learned from the grantees who administered these multi-year projects. We are also currently examining how our renewal process may be adapted to meet current best practices and the needs of organizations today.
Please feel free to share with us at mschmidt@hfnj.org your thoughts on our process, and any suggestions you may have to better support your work.
In good health,
Amy Schechner, Board Chair
Michael Schmidt, CEO/Executive Director