RECENT
STUDY
by
the
New
York-based
organization
Funders
for
Lesbian
&
Gay
Issues
unveiled
an
unfortunate
problem
with
gay
and
lesbian
groups
across
the
country,
whether
they
were
local
or
national
institutions:
Our
organizations
are
woefully
under-funded.
The
study,
released
in
April
of
this
year,
looked
at
the
charitable
giving
patterns
of
the
country’s
top
1,000
corporate
and
private
foundations
through
fiscal
year
2002.
It
found
that
only
one-tenth
of
one
percent
of
all
the
money
given
to
charitable
causes
went
to
organizations
working
for
gay
and
lesbian
causes.
Furthermore,
the
overall
percentage
of
money
going
to
gay
and
lesbian
causes
from
such
foundations
remained
flat
for
13
years,
from
1989
to
2002,
the
last
year
that
was
included
in
the
study.
On
the
bright
side,
corporate
and
private
philanthropies
are
giving
about
$30
million
annually
to
support
gay
and
lesbian-related
concerns.
The
study’s
authors
say
that
reflects
how
much
mainstream
philanthropic
organizations
have
opened
up
in
the
past
decade
or
so
to
giving
grants
to
gay-related
organizations.
This
becomes
more
troublesome
when
viewed
against
the
backdrop
of
just
how
much
money
anti-gay
fundamentalist
groups
are
successful
in
raising
to
promote
their
anti-gay
agendas.
The
organized
religious
right
raises
an
estimated
$400
million
annually
to
push
their
agenda,
of
which
defeating
gay
rights
is
a
cornerstone.
In
2004
alone,
conservative
forces
raised
an
estimated
$125
million
to
fight
same-sex
marriage
at
the
ballot
box
in
numerous
states.
In
contrast,
the
combined
budget
of
all
the
national
gay
and
lesbian
organizations
working
on
gay
and
lesbian
rights
issues
was
only
about
$40
million,
excluding
groups
that
primarily
do
AIDS
work.
While
fund-raising
isn’t
a
glamorous
or
fun
topic,
the
hard
truth
is
that
in
our
current
political
and
social
system,
it
takes
money
to
get
out
your
message.
It
takes
money
to
run
political
campaigns
aimed
at
protecting
gay
rights,
it
takes
money
to
buy
media
spots
(especially
on
TV).
It
takes
money
to
produce
educational
kits
to
get
out
to
the
public.
It
takes
money
to
pay
for
lobbyists
to
try
to
sway
the
opinion
of
politicians,
whether
it’s
in
Washington
D.C.,
or
a
state
capital.
As
it
turns
out,
we
as
a
gay
and
lesbian
movement
are
not
awash
in
cash.
There
are
three
major
funding
sources
for
gay
groups:
public
or
government
funding,
private
or
corporate
foundations,
and
individual
donations.
With
the
current
political
atmosphere
and
the
strength
of
the
mostly
anti-gay
Republican
Party,
both
at
the
national
and
local
levels,
it
seems
unlikely
to
hope
for
any
significant
increase
in
public
or
government
money
for
groups
that
support
gay
and
lesbian
organizations.
Corporate
giving
may
be
a
more
hopeful
avenue.
Few
major
corporations
want
to
be
perceived
as
anti-gay
anymore.
Non-discrimination
policies
that
include
sexual
orientation
are
standard
fare
among
most
big
companies,
and
are
even
pretty
common
among
smaller
ones.
The
business
world
has
come
to
see
nondiscrimination
as
a
bottom-line,
dollars-and-cents
issue:
In
an
economy
where
businesses
are
hustling
for
all
the
best
possible
workers,
it
just
doesn’t
make
good
economic
sense
to
discriminate
against
gays.
However,
the
move
to
better
business
practices
and
job
policies
doesn’t
necessarily
translate
into
more
money
from
corporations
or
foundations
for
gay
and
lesbian-related
groups
or
causes.
In
the
business
world,
giving
away
money
to
non-profits
is
still
an
exercise
in
public
relations,
and
it
is
still
much
safer
and
more
heartwarming
to
cultivate
your
public
image
by
giving
money
to
open
a
hospital
wing
to
treat
children
with
cancer
than
it
is
to
help
fund
a
gay
and
lesbian
community
center.
Gay
groups
and
gay
organizations
should
still
ask
for
and
push
for
more
money
from
corporate
and
foundation
sponsors.
But
realistically,
it
doesn’t
appear
as
if
a
huge
increase
in
cash
flow
is
going
to
be
forthcoming
overnight.
THAT
LEAVES
PRIVATE,
INDIVIDUAL
donations.
Fund-raisers
for
gay
and
lesbian
groups
say,
on
the
whole,
we
as
gays
and
lesbians
lag
in
our
private
donations,
particularly
considering
what
an
affluent
segment
of
the
population
we
are
often
portrayed
to
be.
No
doubt
there
are
some
historical
influences
at
work,
including
the
huge
financial,
emotional
and
volunteer
strain
the
AIDS
crisis
has
taken
on
gay
men
and
lesbians.
But
another
factor,
experts
say,
is
that
our
movement
is
so
young,
it
hasn’t
yet
done
a
good
job
of
getting
members
used
to
the
notion
of
regularly
giving
money.
Instead,
we
tend
to
often
operate
simply
under
“crisis”
mode
—
for
example,
when
an
anti-gay
initiative
hits
close
to
home,
gay
people
will
pound
the
pavement
and
open
their
wallets.
But
even
in
a
place
like
San
Francisco,
with
one
of
the
most
organized,
motivated
and
politically
astute
gay
communities,
charitable
giving
to
organizations
is
woeful.
A
study
by
the
San
Francisco-based
Horizons
Foundation
found
that
only
one
in
300
people
give
$1,000
or
more
per
year
to
gay
and
lesbian
causes.
The
study
also
showed
that
gay
and
lesbian
groups
themselves
often
do
a
poor
job
of
organizing
long-term
fund-raising
campaigns.
As
a
result
of
the
study,
in
late
2005
the
group
intends
to
launch
a
public
awareness
campaign
called
“Out
Your
Pocketbook,”
about
the
importance
of
gay
philanthropy.
It
also
plans
to
launch
the
Legacy
Fund,
a
sustainable
financial
endowment.
In
these
political
times,
more
than
ever,
gay
and
lesbian
groups
need
to
be
mustering
the
forces
—
and
the
money
—
to
combat
the
next
inevitable
wave
of
anti-gay
referendums
and
ballot
measures.
Just
because
a
group
says
it
works
for
gay
rights,
or
has
a
national
office
in
Washington,
D.C.,
doesn’t
mean
it’s
worth
writing
a
check
to.
Before
you
give
out
your
money,
check
on
the
group’s
accomplishments
and
history.
Ask
them
for
a
copy
of
their
annual
report.
Find
out
what
projects
they
have
recently
undertaken,
or
what
their
most
recent
successes
have
been.
And
...
