New Jersey Health Foundation — 2027 Community Health, Behavioral and Social Science, Social Service and Education Grants
The NJHF Annual Grants Program funds projects addressing community health, wellness, human services, mental health, crisis intervention, behavioral and social science, family needs and health education. It is a separate competitive grant track from NJHF’s early-stage Research Grants. Applications for the current annual cycle opened September 14, 2026.
Funding and application deadline
Up to $35,000 for an individual applicant project, awarded to the affiliated institution for a one-year project. Applications must be submitted electronically by November 16, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. according to the funder’s official September 2026 FAQ. The FAQ does not specify a time zone; verify the portal cutoff before submission. The sample award agreement provides an 80% initial payment, with remaining 20% payable following accepted financial and narrative reporting.
Eligible organizations and principal investigators
Only full-time faculty, staff and other personnel at the nine NJHF affiliates are eligible as principal investigators: Cooper University Health Care, Hackensack Meridian Health, Kessler Foundation, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Rowan University, Rutgers University, University Hospital and Virtua Health. Part-time employees, adjunct faculty and postdoctoral fellows cannot serve as principal investigators. Organization-specific internal approvals are required before submission.
Application documents and permitted activities
Submit through the official application portal. The September 2026 policies require a one-page executive summary, a four-page double-spaced project proposal, a principal-investigator CV/biosketch (five-page maximum), the required institutional support letter and a budget on the provided form. Proposals should explain the public or community need, project design, methods, resources, evaluation, goals and prior funding. Behavioral and social science research belongs in this community-health track rather than NJHF’s conventional Research Grants track.
Expense restrictions
Only direct project expenses are fundable. Principal-investigator and co-principal-investigator salary, overhead, tuition, grant-administration and investment management fees are excluded. Eligible project staff compensation must reflect time committed. Equipment costing more than $750 requires justification. Most travel is excluded without an unusual circumstance and specific justification. No express applicant cost-sharing requirement was identified in the controlling policies. Grants are not open to unaffiliated nonprofit organizations simply because they undertake community-health work.
Official sources
September 2026 Community Health Grant Policies and Procedures · Community Health Program FAQs and deadline · NJHF funding page. Applicant-specific login-only portal fields and the exact deadline time-zone handling remain to be independently checked.