Donor Insights for LGBTQ+

How can I be most impactful as a philanthropist supporting LGBTQ+ causes?

Nonprofits are engaged in a range of efforts relating to LGBTQ+ communities. All this work is important and could benefit from greater donor support. Below, we discuss areas where donors might focus their funding and spotlight several organizations that represent the kind of nonprofits that donors might consider supporting.  

• Center civil rights. This is a top concern for LGBTQ+ communities, especially as hard-won progress is being threatened by conservative attacks on rights and legal equality. National organizations working on legal equality and civil rights include Lambda Legal, Transgender Law Center, the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU, which has an LGBTQ Rights program.
• Focus on health and direct services. LGBTQ+ communities and nonprofits have long focused on health and healthcare concerns, with a history of community advocacy around HIV/AIDS, and today, an increasing focus on health issues including substance use, mental health, senior health and trans healthcare. The organization SAGE provides services and advocacy for LGBTQ+ elders. San Francisco AIDS Foundation promotes health, wellness and social justice for community members impacted by HIV/AIDS. The Los Angeles LGBT Center and LGBTQ centers around the country offer a range of medical and mental health services, along with food programs, housing services and more. The Trevor Project provides mental health crisis support services to LGBTQ+ youth.
• Move resources to LGBTQ+ communities historically under-resourced by philanthropy. More funding is needed in communities that have long been disproportionately impacted by injustice but under-funded by philanthropy. There are opportunities for donors to support organizations that center and are led by BIPOC and trans people in all regions of the United States. To name just a few examples: Somos Familia Valle in Southern California serves a mostly immigrant and POC community and is led by local, low-income, queer, first-generation college students. The Black Visions Collective is a Black-, trans-, and queer-centered organization in Minneapolis that is committed to long-term systemic change. TAKE is a trans-women-of-color-centered nonprofit in Birmingham, Alabama. There are also several pooled funds that make it easy for individual donors to support multiple BIPOC- and trans-led organizations through collaborative regranting, such as the Fund for Trans Generations at Borealis Philanthropy or Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. 
• Support QTBIPOC-led grassroots movements. Lesbian, queer and trans people of color have always been at the forefront of movements for social justice. They have been consistently impactful social justice leaders while also being consistently under-resourced by philanthropy. Funders can change this dynamic. Third Wave Fund, for example, is a place where donors can contribute to support grassroots movements led by young queer and trans people of color.
• Counter conservative opposition movements in the U.S. Donors should consider supporting leading groups working to counter the upsurge in conservative efforts to attack and roll back the civil rights of LGBTQ+ people. The Campaign for Southern Equality launched Meeting the Moment in the LGBTQ South to respond to threats to LGBTQ+ rights. Movement Advancement Project is a nonprofit independent think tank with an LGBTQ+ focus that works to create an inclusive and equitable America. Soulforce is a national organization working to end the religious and political oppression of LGBTQI people. The Proteus Fund’s Rights, Faith, and Democracy Collaborative is a pooled fund that can move donors’ resources to groups fighting for LGBTQ+ social justice in the face of Christian nationalists’ attacks on rights and equality. And the Equality Federation focuses on advancing and protecting LGBTQ+ social justice and rights at the state level.  
• Give globally. LGBTQ+ issues are global, and right now, a global antigender movement is harmfully targeting trans, gender-nonconforming and intersex people, while LGBTQ+ equality has yet to be achieved in many places. Funders interested in giving globally can look to international NGOs such as OutRight International or U.S.-based intermediaries with experience regranting to support LGBTQ+ groups around the world, such as Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. 

Tips for donors supporting LGBTQ+ nonprofits

In considering which impact strategies to support, donors should take into account their personal interests and outlook to find the best fit. They should also keep an eye out for emerging opportunities to give with maximum impact to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals and address LGBTQ+ issues. Here, we offer some insights and suggestions:

• Don’t go it alone. Intermediaries and philanthropy-serving organizations can do a huge amount of the leg work of identifying opportunities in the field, and getting involved with one of these groups is a great way for donors to save time and give more effectively. Regrantors who pool donors’ funds and then make grants to support grassroots LGBTQ+ movements include Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, Groundswell Fund, Borealis Philanthropy and Third Wave Fund. There are also longstanding LGBTQ+ community foundations that donors can get involved with, such as Stonewall Community Foundation and Horizons Foundation. The affinity group Funders for LGBTQ Issues provides research as well as learning and networking opportunities to funders in this area. 
• Keep intersectionality in mind. Every issue is an LGBTQ+ issue because there are LGBTQ+ people in every community. At the same time, LGBTQ+ people of color, young people, elders, immigrants, disabled people, unhoused people and others don’t necessarily have the same experiences or concerns as wealthy, white, cis, able-bodied gay men. Donors can give at the intersections of multiple issues and multiple aspects of LGBTQ+ identities. Lost-n-Found Youth finds safety and shelter for unhoused LGBTQ+ youth in Atlanta. The Okra Project is a New York collective aimed at combating food insecurity in the Black, trans and gender-nonconforming community. The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance builds the capacity of local grassroots LGBTQ+ and API groups. The Border Butterflies Project supports LGBTQ+ migrants at the southern U.S. border and internationally.  

How can I get started making donations to support LGBTQ+ causes?

While nonprofits that support LGBTQ+ causes are underfunded compared to other sectors of philanthropy, this is still a large and multifaceted giving area with many nonprofits and funding intermediaries. Donors who are new to this space should take the time to learn about the landscape. A good place to start is by reading IP’s at-a-glance snapshot of funding trends for LGBTQ nonprofits or our more in-depth State of American Philanthropy brief on Giving for LGBTQ. In addition, peruse recent articles that IP has published about what’s happening in this area of philanthropy. Funders for LGBTQ Issues is another source of helpful information and support. 

To find nonprofits working in the LGBTQ+ field that are well respected, Charity Navigator is a reputable place to search for worthy organizations around the country.

But the best way to get started giving for LGBTQ+ issues and communities is to make some initial gifts, get to know the work of the groups you’re supporting, and connect early with a funding intermediary that can help you learn more about this giving area and increase your giving in a thoughtful way. 

Have suggestions for improving this brief? Please email us at editor@insidephilanthropy.com.