30 Apr Community Spirit Fuels Downe Township Challenge Grant Victory
The Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) celebrates the hard work of Cumberland County residents from Downe Township and their investment in the Downe Community Endowment Fund at CFSJ. The fund will help drive community change, led by neighbors with local resources and local knowledge.
In 2022, CFSJ presented the opportunity for towns participating in the Transform South Jersey initiative to bolster their efforts to create a community endowment through a challenge grant in partnership with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A community leadership initiative, Transform South Jersey, tasked residents with organizing and mobilizing the community for action. The endowment would ensure resources were available for the community to implement their ideas, and through the challenge grant, their efforts to raise those resources would be doubled.
Neighbors in Downe Township have spent the past five years better understanding their community’s unique opportunities and needs, building trust and relationships, and laying the groundwork for what has become their own locally controlled and permanent community endowment.
“The process of building a community endowment contributes to a community’s capacity to make better decisions about—and act on—its future,” noted Andy Fraizer, CFSJ’s Executive Director. “Moreover, the fund serves as a vehicle for all those who live, work, and play in Downe to contribute, creating a lasting positive impact on the place they love so much,” he continued.
Jamie Warner, a member of the Downe Community Endowment Fund’s advisory board reported, “At first, some of our volunteers were worried that we wouldn’t be able to raise money for our endowment. As we talked with more of our neighbors though, we were reminded just how committed they are to our community, and when given the opportunity to do so, how happy they were to give to it.”
“We’ve already used some of the dollars we’ve raised to work with the Township to make improvements to our local veteran’s park. Adding lighting, a gazebo and even a brand-new flagpole, we’re helping make it an even more welcoming place for our neighbors to gather,” said Warner. “Looking to the future, we’re excited to grow our fund and the impact it will have across all of Downe,” she added.
The initial apprehension wasn’t entirely surprising. In more rural communities that face challenges from depopulation to environmental concerns, it’s not always easy to recognize the abundance of resources within the community. In 2024, CFSJ released The South Jersey Transfer of Wealth Study, which the Community Foundation aspires to shift the narrative and inspire communities across the eight-county region. According to the study, a total of $48.9 billion will transfer from one generation to the next in South Jersey by 2030, highlighting that there are available resources in the community to capture for impact.
CFSJ believes these findings from the study underscore the importance of keeping local wealth that is generated in a community, in the community. This is especially a priority in a place like South Jersey, where assets often end up redirected to other economies throughout the country as people move away. Downe Township’s success with the challenge grant leaves them in a great position to capitalize on a tremendous transfer of wealth opportunity, $2.2 billion potentially changing hands over the next five years in Cumberland County.
The unveiling of the study findings also marks the next phase of CFSJ’s Transform South Jersey initiative, encouraging South Jerseyans to consider leaving five percent (5%) of their estate to their hometown. Giving just 5% to local charitable causes and programs would amount to more than $10 billion in the next decade.
“Our hope for South Jersey is that together we harness the opportunity of this generational wealth transfer to create permanent community capital to transform the region for the better, always adapting and always striving to be a region where all neighbors aspire, succeed, participate, and give. We are proud to recognize Downe Township and their success in using home-grown philanthropy to benefit the community today and for generations to come,” said Fraizer. “Working with and creating funds at CFSJ is one of the easiest and most impactful ways to leverage this opportunity and to play your part in shaping the future of South Jersey and the things that matter most to you. If you live in a South Jersey town with a community endowment fund, we encourage you to support it. If one doesn’t yet exist in your town, we welcome the opportunity to explore how you can work with us to start one,” he added.
South Jersey neighbors who want to support the Downe Community Endowment Fund can make a tax-deductible donation via credit card online – donate here.
Information on additional ways to donate and about other CFSJ funds can be found at this link.
No Comments