Stonewall Community Foundation
/Stonewall Community Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Stonewall Community Foundation supports a wide range of LGBTQ causes ranging from homelessness to improving mental health.
IP TAKE: This iconic LGBTQ funder and GUTC signatory supports a broad range of organizations. Grantmaking prioritizes New York City organizations, but recent funding has also gone to national organizations as well as organizations operating in other parts of the country. International groups will want to look elsewhere, however.
In addition to its grants, it is home to over 50 different funds, and grantseekers will want to look those over as they are varied and support the LGBTQ community in unique ways. Stonewall also runs scholarship programs for LGBTQ students. Overall, Stonewall is approachable, but not very transparent. It invites nonprofits and individuals to reach out for information about funding, but it doesn’t give much information about how much money goes where.
PROFILE: The Stonewall Community Foundation was established in 1990 in New York City. Its mission is to “[s]trengthen the LGBTQ movement by making smart, values-driven investments in dynamic organizations, projects, and leaders.” The foundation, a GUTC signatory, supports nonprofits and individuals with grants and scholarships and is one of the country’s largest organizations to support LGBTQ refugees and asylum seekers.
Grants for LGBTQ
All of Stonewall’s various funds serve the LGBTQ community in some way. They support everything from the arts and education to homelessness and immigrant rights, and touch upon nearly any cause you can think of as long as the LGBTQ community benefits.
Additionally, the foundation has two grants programs, one for groups and one for individuals. Stonewall’s nonprofit grants prioritize “organizations, projects and leaders that elevate LGBTQ people and our cultural contributions, advance our rights, and promote our wellness, safety and liberation.”
The foundation’s Stay Gold Fund Grants for Individuals are intended to “provides financial support for trans individuals in New York City seeking gender-affirming procedures related to transition, including certain surgeries.” Grants are for $10,000.
Stonewall currently runs three scholarship programs:
The Traub-Dicker Rainbow Scholarship, which supports “lesbian women in their pursuit of higher education, is awarded to several women each year in amounts ranging from $1,500 to $3,000.
The Aritzia Scholarship supports four LGBTQIA people per year who “study, plan to work in, or demonstrate a commitment to the fields of fashion design, retail management, mental health, or social justice advocacy.” Aritzia is a one-time scholarship of $5,000.
The Little Bird Scholarship for LGBTQI Immigrants aims to provide “a measure of financial stability to undergraduate students who are both LGBTQ or intersex and undocumented immigrants, including refugees and individuals seeking or granted asylum.” The Little Bird Scholarship is awarded in the amount of $18,000 per year for up to two years.
Past grantees include American Near East Refugee Aid, the Brooklyn Community Pride Center, the Peter Cicchino Youth Project, the Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps and the Transgender Law Center. For additional information about recent grantmaking, see the foundation’s grantee page.
Important Grant Details:
The Stonewall Community Foundation makes over $500,000 in grants a year. Grants are generally awarded in amounts of up to $25,000, with an average grant size of about $5,000.
Scholarships are granted in set amounts. More than half of Stonewall’s grants remain in the greater New York City area, but national organizations as well as organizations operating in other parts of the U.S. have received funding in recent years.
This funder accepts applications for its grants during rotating application windows.
Grantseekers are advised to sign up for the foundation’s newsletter, which features updates on the application process and due dates.
Scholarship applicants may also join the mailing list for updates or email the foundation for additional information.
General inquiries may also be submitted via the foundation’s contact page.
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