The New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund (NJCAEF) is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1983 to empower low- and moderate-income people and communities of color through direct counseling and services, public policy research and advocacy, community education and training on public policy issues important to working families. Our goals are to promote economic and racial equity, to empower the marginalized, and to build strong communities via services that foster financial stability and mobility.
NJCAEF provides free comprehensive outreach and education services, including HUD-certified housing and foreclosure counseling, homeownership education for first-time homebuyers, financial education and one-on-one financial coaching, tax preparation, and healthcare enrollment assistance. Together, these programs promote affordable homeownership, financial literacy, asset preservation, health care access, and economic growth for New Jersey’s low- to moderate-income communities and people of color.
NJCAEF also works closely with our 501(c)(4) sister organization, NJ Citizen Action, to provide education and research on issue campaigns that advance the interests of working families, including in health care, financial justice, workplace protections, anti-poverty and tax fairness.
NJCA vs. NJCAEF
Both NJCA AND NJCAEF are committed to a New Jersey where everyone has a voice and everyone has equal opportunities to thrive, regardless of race, gender, or socio-economic circumstances. To fully work toward this vision while complying with federal tax law, it is necessary to operate under two organizational entities: New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) and the New Jersey Citizen Action Education Fund (NJCAEF).
The Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization primarily focused on research, policy development, and increasing public understanding and support for solutions that would end social, racial, and economic inequities that marginalized NJ communities face. NJCAEF also provides resources, tools, and services to marginalized NJ communities and individuals. Gifts to the (c)(3) are fully tax-deductible to the donor.
New Jersey Citizen Action is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that engages in direct advocacy with lawmakers and activists and promotes the election of candidates for political office who will support social, racial and economic justice policies that advance the interests of low- and moderate-income people and families. Gifts to the (c)(4) are not tax deductible.