As part of our process of assembling stories for our 30^th Anniversary Publication, FJC contacted a number of longtime partners to ask how critical stages of their organization’s life cycle were affected by FJC’s support.  We were blown away by the detailed, specificity of their responses!

For reasons of space, we condensed their testimonials in our publication, and we present them in full here.

Back in 2014, The Climate Museum was just getting started, and our approach to climate engagement — using arts and cultural programming to help people feel and act on their own civic agency on climate change — was so new that it struck a lot of people as eccentric. Fast forward to now, and it’s commonplace that we need arts and culture to move forward. FJC played an important role in that shift.

In those early days, we formed a corporate entity to get us started, the Climate Museum Launch Project, and conducted due diligence on fiscal sponsors, knowing we’d need tax-deductible donations to get off the ground. Our first choice quickly became clear: FJC. The FJC team was recommended by the experts with whom we conferred, and its reputation in the field was impeccable.

That decision served us well; FJC is built into the foundation of our success. The FJC team managed all administrative and regulatory aspects of our revenues for several years; we simply could not have handled this on our own, even setting aside the wait for 501(c)(3) status. FJC was so great to work with that we stuck around for a while even after receiving our determination letter from the IRS.

Even after our transition to independence, FJC continued to advance our interests. Significant donors forgot about the transition and sent checks to FJC more than once. Even though they’d also forgotten to identify the Museum in the memo line, the FJC team spotted the error, alerted us, and sent us the checks that had been made out to them.

In short, FJC provided the Climate Museum with an indispensable service and did so at the highest level of excellence. Their partnership was essential, and I’ve recommended them frequently over the years.—Miranda Massie, Founder and Director, The Climate Museum

As part of our process of assembling stories for our 30^th Anniversary Publication, FJC contacted a number of longtime partners to ask how critical stages of their organization’s life cycle were affected by FJC’s support.  We were blown away by the detailed, specificity of their responses!

For reasons of space, we condensed their testimonials in our publication, and we present them in full here.

FJC first supported NYCEEC with a grant in 2013, at a time when the organization was still in its very early stages. NYCEEC was working to establish itself as a specialized nonprofit lender focused on financing clean energy improvements in the built environment, with a particular emphasis on serving communities and buildings that often face barriers to accessing capital.

That early support was important because it helped NYCEEC build capacity at a formative point in its development. FJC’s involvement provided flexible, mission-aligned funding when NYCEEC was still proving its model, building its track record, and demonstrating that targeted financing could help improve housing quality, preserve affordability, and reduce environmental burdens for New Yorkers.

Since then, FJC’s support has continued over the years as NYCEEC has grown from an early-stage organization to a leader in green lending. The impact of this work has reached thousands of people, many of them lower-income residents, by supporting projects that contribute to better living conditions, greater affordability, and healthier indoor and outdoor environments.

FJC’s involvement was the right thing for that time because it combined timing, flexibility, and mission fit. At an early stage, NYCEEC needed partners willing to invest in its potential before the organization had the scale and history it has today. FJC’s support helped NYCEEC move from concept and early execution toward sustained impact, ultimately contributing to cleaner, safer, and more affordable homes for the communities NYCEEC was created to serve.

—Curtis Probst, CEO, New York City Energy Efficiency Corporation (NYCEEC)

As part of our process of assembling stories for our 30^th Anniversary Publication, FJC contacted a number of longtime partners to ask how critical stages of their organization’s life cycle were affected by FJC’s support.  We were blown away by the detailed, specificity of their responses!

For reasons of space, we condensed their testimonials in our publication, and we present them in full here.

At the height of the financial meltdown, in 2008, New Economy Project (then the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project) launched a citywide Foreclosure Prevention Gap Loan Program, geared to low income NYC homeowners harmed by predatory lending and loan servicing practices. FJC was one of two lending partners we worked with to deploy loans.

Through a donor-advised fund at FJC, we made deferred-repayment mortgage loans to very low-income homeowners, repayable only upon the homeowner’s death, sale of the home, or other change in ownership.

The Program, which we operated until December 2013, provided relatively small, low-interest loans that enabled 116 households, and a total of 386 NYC residents, avoid foreclosure. Over this five-year period, the Loan Program enabled borrowers to eliminate nearly $5 million in high-cost mortgage debt; reduce monthly housing payments by 27.1%, on average; and preserve at least $20.8 million in home equity.

The Program was designed to complement other foreclosure prevention efforts, by filling “gaps” in financing needed to obtain affordable loan modifications and other long-term solutions to keep people in their homes. Gap Loans provided homeowners and their advocates with a critical negotiating tool, which they used to secure substantial principal write-downs, short pay-offs, and sustainable loan modifications from banks and mortgage servicers.

The Loan Program added a powerful new tool to our work and that of our community partners.

Our experience with this program informed our later work creating a zero-interest NYC DREAMer Loan Fund that supported more than 1,000 New Yorkers to apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA); and our current New Economy Loan Fund, which has made close to $3 million in no/low-interest loans to support worker cooperatives, community land trusts, and other community ownership initiatives across the city.

FJC enabled us to make extremely flexible, deferred-repayment loans to very low income homeowners who were at greatest risk of foreclosure and displacement — many of whom remain in their homes to this day.

—Deyanira Del Río, Executive Director, New Economy Project

As part of our process of assembling stories for our 30^th Anniversary Publication, FJC contacted a number of longtime partners to ask how critical stages of their organization’s life cycle were affected by FJC’s support.  We were blown away by the detailed, specificity of their responses!

For reasons of space, we condensed their testimonials in our publication, and we present them in full here.

FJC’s partnership with public broadcasting began in 2009, with a loan to North Texas Public Broadcasting (KERA), and has since made a significant impact through three channels.

The loan to KERA helped acquire a Dallas, TX signal to broadcast a Music Discovery radio service for a younger audience. KXT 91.7 has been voted the top radio station in Dallas, and now has one of the largest audiences in public broadcasting, with over 200,000 weekly listeners.

In Pittsburgh, FJC helped preserve WDUQ 90.5 FM (known as “WESA” post-sale) as a public radio news station. The acquisition of the station by a local group with strong ties to the community helped strengthen WESA both financially and operationally. In Kansas City, FJC helped preserve a public radio station while increasing its reach from 400,000 to 1.4 million potential listeners.

FJC’s financings came at a moment when local public media was acutely at risk: the 2008 recession strained local economies and the finances of universities and state governments, and roughly half of public broadcasting stations are licensed to educational institutions that depend on that funding. Access to capital was essential to preserving stations at risk of being sold, and to preventing the loss of local news outlets in the communities they served. FJC’s loans were instrumental in preserving and strengthening local public media outlets across the country.

At the same time, FJC’s direct support to PMC through the Revolving Public Media Fund I and Revolving Public Media Fund II helped subsidize PMC’s services for smaller stations that could not afford outside expertise.

The capacity and the visibility that FJC helped PMC build early on is the same capacity PMC called on when the public media system needed it most: when the 2025 rescission threatened federal funding for local stations, PMC’s Bridge Fund raised and deployed $26 million in emergency grants to 74 organizations.

—Erik Langner, Executive Director, Public Media Bridge Fund

The Chronicle of Philanthropy published a column by FJC CEO Sam Marks this week titled, “Start Asking Donors What They own, Not Just What They’ll Give” (8/24/2026). The column featured examples of contributions of non-liquid assets from our imaginative donors.

The article references the following examples:

• Dr. Leonard Polonsky and Georgette Bennett’s donation of their vacation home.
• Richard Wallman’s donation of shares in a private company

Framed as advice for operating nonprofits, Marks’s column notes that wealthier donors tend to have more complex balance sheets with assets that are not immediately converted to cash, such as interests in businesses, or real estate.  The article encouraged nonprofits to engage donors in giving in the context of their broader estate planning. Operating nonprofits do not necessarily have to become experts in due diligence such gifts if they work with intermediaries like FJC. 

Marks notes, “Once donors realize they aren’t limited to giving cash or publicly traded stock, they begin thinking differently about philanthropy.”

Marks described FJC’s due diligence process in the column, excerpted here:

Behind every successful gift of a complex asset is a rigorous due-diligence process meant to protect both the organization and the donor.

Before FJC accepts a complex asset, we confirm the donor owns it and can transfer it, look for legal and tax complications, estimate what the asset will cost to hold, and ask whether and when it can realistically be sold.

We also guard against donors who pursue these gifts in bad faith — someone looking to claim a tax deduction while offloading an underperforming asset that may never convert to cash, for example. Our goal is to steward these resources so they can help nonprofits achieve their missions, not to hold them indefinitely; so we reject contributions where liquidity is too remote.

A useful test for any proposed gift: Can we determine its value? Can we reasonably convert it to cash? What financial, legal, or operational responsibilities would ownership create? An asset that fails any of those tests — one that needs specialized valuation, carries ongoing expenses, or requires serious legal review — is a signal to bring in help rather than go it alone.

Have questions? Considering a donation of assets that aren’t cash or appreciated securities?  Take a look at our FAQ and reach out to CEO Sam Marks. 

Thirty years ago, FJC started with donors who wanted more choice from their philanthropy. Founding Board Member Neal Myerberg reflected on the organization’s journey with current FJC CEO Sam Marks, and this conversation was captured in the linked video.

When FJC started, the donor-advised fund industry was limited by a lack of imagination. Few sponsors of DAFs accepted anything other than cash or appreciated stock.  Donors were limited in how their accounts were invested for growth.  Donors could only deploy their account funds as grants, not as loans or impact investments.

FJC’s founders saw room for something different. They believed that using the tools of finance could increase giving capacity and drive more impact.

Since its founding, FJC has deployed nearly $1 billion in grants through donor-advised funds. It has also helped move hundreds of millions more into the nonprofit sector through loans, revolving funds, enterprise capital, fiscal sponsorship, and other customized structures.

FJC remains a place for donors who want more from their philanthropy—and for nonprofits whose needs are not always solved by a grant. In celebration of thirty years of impact, we’re sharing stories and insights from the people and partners that have built FJC.

In a recent conversation with FJC CEO Sam Marks, founding board member Neal Myerberg described the early promise simply: donors could come to FJC with ideas, and FJC would find a way. Here are some of his key insights.

A Different Kind of DAF Sponsor

FJC was built for donors who think carefully about capital. Many bring the same discipline to philanthropy that they bring to business, investing, and estate and legacy planning. Donors who think creatively about how to give can compound their impact.

FJC’s sophistication and responsiveness allows it to work with donors who have creative ideas about what they donate, and how those funds grow over time.  FJC accepts appreciated stock, real estate, cryptocurrency, private company interests, and other complex assets. It works with donors that want to customize how those funds are invested.  With our donor’s guidance, FJC uses those philanthropic assets to fund grants, but also nonprofit loans and investments that can be repaid and reused over time.

Grants (and Much More)

On the nonprofit side, the same principle applies.

For nonprofits to achieve their missions, they must also thrive as operating businesses. Like any enterprise, they manage payroll, real estate, debt, delayed contracts, seasonal revenue, expansion plans, and moments of real financial pressure.

Some challenges call for grants. Others call for bridge financing, working capital, concessionary debt, guarantees, or revolving funds.

FJC’s role is to help translate those needs into structures that donors can understand and support.

That has meant helping a nonprofit acquire property quickly committed public funding arrived. It has meant restructuring a cultural institution’s debt so a it could survive a severe revenue shock. It has meant creating revolving funds where the same philanthropic dollars can help one household, one project, or one organization, and then be used again.

Getting to Yes

FJC’s culture is often described as flexible or nimble. Those words are true, but they can make the work sound easier than it is. Getting to yes requires discipline and expertise.

It means evaluating complex assets. Reviewing proposed investments. Underwriting loans. Servicing payments. Reporting back to donors. Managing compliance. Asking hard questions before money moves.

Neal described FJC as operating in a “can-do mode.” That phrase captures something important. Donors do not come to FJC looking for a call-center experience. They come because they want people who will listen carefully, understand the goal, and figure out how to get it done.

A Launchpad For Impact

FJC’s fiscal sponsorship work comes from the same instinct.

For people with charitable ideas, fiscal sponsorship can provide the structure needed to begin: a 501(c)(3) home, tax-deductible receipting, grants administration, vendor payments, and the operational backbone required to move from vision to action.

Neal called fiscal sponsorship one of the most exciting things FJC does, because it helps people pursue charitable missions they might not otherwise be able to.

That work also keeps FJC close to the realities of the nonprofit sector. We see what emerging initiatives need. We understand the operational burden behind good ideas. And we know that sometimes the most useful thing philanthropy can provide is not only money, but structure.

Constantly Innovating

The next generation of donors is asking more complex questions.

More wealth is held in private companies, real estate, and other less liquid assets. More donors are thinking about grants, loans, investments, and social enterprise as part of one broader effort to make change. More nonprofits need capital that is flexible enough to match the way their work actually happens.

Thirty years in, our job is still to help donors use philanthropy creatively, responsibly, and with serious intent. We still understand what nonprofits need and build structures that can help. And we still find a way when a good idea requires some creativity and the flexibility to build something new.

FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds is pleased to announce the appointment of Rob Kaufold to its Board of Directors. With more than 20 years of experience advising families on philanthropic strategy and financial management, Rob brings a practitioner’s perspective on what donors and families need from a philanthropic partner like FJC.

FJC is a leading public charity offering donor-advised funds, fiscal sponsorship, lending and philanthropic capital solutions for donors and nonprofit organizations. Donor advised funds allow individuals and organizations to make tax-deductible contributions to FJC, which are then distributed to charities recommended by the donor. Fiscal sponsorship enables new and innovative charitable projects to receive donations and grants under FJC’s legal and financial umbrella, allowing them to focus on their mission and impact.

CEO Sam Marks said, “Rob has spent his career helping families design and execute philanthropic strategies that are values-driven and aligned with long-term impact. He has a deep understanding of the family office landscape and what makes FJC’s approach to donor-advised funds distinct. We’re excited that he will now help guide FJC’s continued growth.”

Rob currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of a private single-family office. He has held leadership roles including President and Chief Risk Officer of a private family office, Executive Director of the Hemera Foundation from 2011 to 2023, and Director of Philanthropic Services at Arlington Trust Company. A Certified Public Accountant, Rob holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Providence College and a master’s degree in philanthropic studies from the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University.

Reflecting on his appointment, Kaufold said, “I continue to see FJC as a leader in the field of philanthropy, not just in the field of donor-advised funds. FJC stands out as an innovative partner that finds ways to get funds to where they are needed most. I look forward to working with Sam, the board, and the team to see what’s possible.”

Rob’s appointment reinforces FJC’s commitment to expanding access to creative philanthropic solutions for donors and the families and advisors who serve them.

FJC’s CEO Sam Marks has been awarded ThinkAdvisor’s Luminaries with Heart Award. The Luminaries program is a national initiative that highlights individuals and firms in financial services whose work demonstrates innovation, leadership, and community impact. Awardees are selected by ThinkAdvisor’s editorial team and an advisory board following an independent review.

Marks was recognized for expanding FJC beyond traditional grantmaking, making philanthropic capital work harder and smarter. FJC’s capital solutions help nonprofits access bridge financing, equity-like investments and revolving funds—tools often reserved for private-sector organizations.

“When philanthropic capital is structured thoughtfully and with an understanding of how organizations actually operate, it can solve problems that would otherwise slow down important work,” Marks said.  “At FJC, we’ve become the go-to philanthropic platform for imaginative donors that want to do more with their giving.”

This recognition speaks to the collaborative effort behind these solutions: donors willing to think creatively about how they use their charitable assets, nonprofit leaders who surface the financial challenges they’re navigating, and a staff team committed to getting the details right.

FJC shares the honor of this award with the growing community of partners that are demonstrating what flexible, mission-driven capital can do to help nonprofits achieve their missions.

FJC was born into a different world thirty years ago. Donors contributing to their Donor Advised Fund accounts wrote out checks by hand, mailing them in an envelope.  The Internet was in its infancy and communication was mostly phone calls and the occasional fax.  FJC’s “database” was a Rolodex, and if someone referred to “the cloud,” the staff would have probably checked the weather. And in 1995, industrywide only about $2.5 billion was held in DAF accounts. The first corporate-sponsored DAFs were just a few years old, and most DAF accounts were held in a handful of large community foundations that had existed since the 1920s. 

FJC’s founders had a vision for doing philanthropy differently.  They believed that DAFs had enormous potential, and that they could be flexible tools to support nonprofits, when donors had imagination.  Even before the term “impact investing” was coined, they understood that philanthropic capital in DAFs could be invested in loans to nonprofits, providing critical bridge financing to achieve mission while growing their donors’ capacity to give. 

In our first years of operation, we had a great year if we made more than $3 million in grants to nonprofits.  Last year we made over $46 million in grants.  This growth in grantmaking capacity is a function of the continued generosity of our donors and the tax-free investment growth of those donated assets, both in the capital markets and our loan pool, which has grown from an initial seed of $5 million into a $75 million fund.  Meanwhile we have incubated over 400 fiscally sponsored organizations and projects, hundreds of which have spun off and received their own 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

During this time, the world of philanthropy has changed radically.  Impact investing has become a movement, encompassing not just specialized lending to nonprofits but investing for-profit in alignment with values.  DAFs, once the purview of a few community foundations, have gone mainstream. Today’s DAF industry holds over $250 billion in assets, driven largely by the DAF platforms of large financial services companies.  In recent years, fintech companies have been entering the industry, promising speed, convenience and AI agentification.

As we head into our fourth decade, FJC has some exciting plans to refresh our own IT infrastructure, which will position us to be even more tech-forward as we grow.  As we and the industry evolve, we will continue to stay true to the original conception of this organization: creative, responsive, expert in 501(c)(3) tax-exempt and laser-focused on how we can advance the missions of our nonprofit grantees and partners.  We will continue to work with donors whose capacity to give is expanded by flexibility about what they give, how their funds are invested, and how they are deployed.  We excitedly look forward to our next 30 years, and we look forward to working with you. 

We would like to advise our donors of a few important deadlines:

Grant Recommendations & Distributions: December 16, 2025.  This is the deadline for this year’s grant recommendations!  We know that many of your favorite charities plan big year-end campaigns.  Please help us make these critical resources count for your nonprofit partner’s fiscal year by making your recommendations before this deadline. 

Please note that grant recommendations made after December 16 (5PM Eastern Standard Time) may be approved and processed early in 2026.

Contributions: December 31, 2025.  For your giving to FJC to qualify for a 2025 tax deduction, we must receive your contributions by December 31.

Electronic transfer recommended.  We recommend that cash contributions are sent by credit card, ACH, or wire transfer and received by FJC by December 31. (Please note that ACH transfers can take up to 5 business days to settle, so please plan accordingly). Using electronic payments ensures the most efficient crediting of your account. Please contact FJC for instructions.

Contributions by check.  If you make contributions to your account by check, please note that checks that are sent via U.S. mail must be postmarked by December 31 to qualify as a 2025 tax deduction. Deliveries by other means (such as FedEx, DHL or others) must be received by December 31, regardless of shipping date. 

Does your financial institution issue checks in bulk? Please note that if you are using your financial institution’s online bill-pay module, certain financial institutions that rely on bulk check processing will arrive at FJC without a postmark.  We recommend executing these payments ASAP, because checks without a postmark must be received by December 31 to count to qualify as a 2025 tax deduction.

Contributions of securities and mutual fund shares. These should be made as soon as possible and received by FJC by December 31.  Please notify us in advance of the transfer so we can promptly credit your fund.

Contributions of other assets.  Real estate, restricted securities or privately held stock can be made, but require longer lead times, so let us know ASAP.

Questions?  Contact us at fjc@fjc.org.