Impact100 Garden State

Impact100 Garden State (Impact100) is an all-volunteer women’s philanthropy organization that collaboratively funds high-impact grants to local nonprofits that serve at least one of our targeted five counties: Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, or Union.

Impact100 is a Special Project Fund of the Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ), a 501(c) (3) organization. All donations to Impact100 Garden State are 100% tax deductible.

Our organization seeks women willing to donate $1,000 annually to become members. 100% of each membership dollar is directly used to fund grants.

The grant funds are pooled together in increments of $100,000 to make game-changing Impact grants. The remaining grant funds are awarded to the finalists as merit grants.

We act as a liaison between the community and nonprofits by hosting networking gatherings, providing media exposure, and creating awareness online.

Since its inception in 2013, Impact100 has awarded local nonprofits $3.5 million in grants. Our grants have supported entrepreneurship, emergency shelters, the arts, early childhood education, programs for low-income minority youth, and making healthy food choices for the food insecure, to name a few. We invite you to learn more about our grantees and their meaningful and effective projects by visiting https://impact100gardenstate.org/grant-recipients/.

The total funding available for grants is determined by the number of women who join Impact100 Garden State by January 31 each year.

Nonprofit organizations are invited to submit online proposals for programs in one of five focus areas: Arts & Culture, Children & Families, Education, Health & Wellness, and Environment/Preservation/Recreation. The Grant Application and training materials are posted on Impact100’s website each year in November. Applications are due mid-January, and grant finalists will be announced in May.

Grant finalists are selected through a rigorous process of proposal review and site visit evaluation by members. Members then review information prepared for each finalist and vote online for their top choices. The votes are tallied, and the award recipients are announced and celebrated at our Annual Awards Meeting in June.

Impact100 has grown steadily since its inception. In 2024, our biggest year yet, membership grew to 408 women, allowing us to award (4) $100,000 in grants and merit awards at our Annual Awards Meeting in June 2024.

With over 70 chapters worldwide, Impact100 chapters have given away more than $160 million to worthy non-profit organizations in local communities. And it’s still growing!