South Jersey has assets. Today, our region has current household net worth of $429 billion. Communities regularly struggle to overcome the perception that they lack the capacity, the tools, or the know-how to make a lasting change for the better. Simply understanding the scale of the region’s net worth can be helpful in dispelling that perception and help residents and community leaders start dreaming about is possible now and in the future.
Many people have wealth. Families of all incomes across South Jersey have something to contribute to this region. A broad- ranging outreach strategy gets all families involved in our region’s future. We do better when our neighbors do better, and our town does better when all South Jersey communities do better.
We can seize this opportunity. Regions started assessing their local transfer of wealth in the 2000s. Foundations used this information to develop community giveback campaigns, inform donor development strategies, and conduct strategic planning. Some foundations called on neighbors to give just 5%, a remarkable $23.2 billion in our region, to support important philanthropic purposes. Experience shows that understanding our region’s transfer of wealth – having numbers and setting goals – helps foundations better reinvest those assets to promote community economic development.
The time for planning is now. Community economic development takes time. Local organizations should be planning for population shifts, recognizing that $48.8 billion will transfer from one generation to the next by 2030. Developing a strategy to retain just a portion of a region’s transfer of wealth needs to start now.
Healthy and vibrant communities take investment and the generosity of community members, time, talent, and treasure. The transfer of wealth opportunity in our region likely represents one of the most underdeveloped resources for furthering community-led projects and programs. Capturing 5% of our transfer of wealth could support $404 million in average annual funding to support critical community efforts. A concerted effort to capture just a portion will mean that communities have the resources they need to make investments in their future.