Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Racial Equity Online Toolkit?

The Racial Equity Online Toolkit provides a range of grantmaking tools, commentaries and best practices to support grantmakers in implementing an LGBTQ racial equity lens into their grantmaking and internal operations. The toolkit is a project of Funders for LGBTQ Issues that—as part of its Racial Equity Campaign—seeks to increase the amount of foundation dollars reaching LGBTQ communities of color by raising awareness among philanthropists and the public at large. See the tools.

What is the Racial Equity Campaign?

Funders for LGBTQ Issues' Racial Equity Campaign is a multi-year initiative to create healthy grantmaking institutions that embody fairness and inclusiveness and support the leadership of LGBTQ people of color and their organizations. Through a community-based grantmaking initiative, original research and grantmaking resources, and by increasing philanthropic awareness about the wide array of programmatic responses that can repair racial, economic and gender inequities in our communities, the campaign aims to stimulate broader philanthropic support for LGBTQ communities of color. Learn more about the Racial Equity Campaign.

What is the Racial Equity Regranting Initiative?

As part of the Campaign, the Racial Equity Regranting Initiative supports LGBTQ people of color organizations and projects by investing in community foundations and funds around the country. To ensure that the diverse breadth of LGBTQ communities is supported in the long term, the Initiative works to enhance the grantmaking practice of community funders, which engage LGBTQ people of color efforts in their communities to award funding and provide capacity building. Meet the foundations participating in this initiative.

What is Funders for LGBTQ Issues?

Funders for LGBTQ Issues is a national, philanthropic organization that works with grantmakers around the world to strengthen and study foundation giving to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) communities. Through research, convening and education, Funders for LGBTQ Issues aims to broaden philanthropic support for LGBTQ rights—and advance racial, economic and gender justice. Working side-by-side with funders and our movement's organizations through three decades, Funders for LGBTQ Issues remains the sole organization dedicated exclusively to increasing institutional giving to LGBTQ communities in the US. Learn more about us.

How much do foundations give to LGBTQ people of color organizations and programs?

As our research reveals, LGBTQ grantmakers have been an undeniable force in LGBTQ rights, the philanthropic sector and our larger civil society. From 2002 to 2007, they provided more than $304 million to LGBTQ communities around the country. Further, foundation dollars to LGBTQ people of color grew from $1.2 million in 2002 to $7.8 million in 2007. Despite this tremendous growth, foundation giving that explicitly reaches people of color accounted for a modest 10.1 percent of all LGBTQ foundation dollars in 2007. Further, only one in four LGBTQ grantmakers explicitly supported organizations that serve LGBTQ communities of color in 2007. And these funding streams often don't reach groups working within LGBTQ communities of color; according to Funders for LGBTQ Issues' Building Communities report, 57 percent of LGBTQ people of color groups reported receiving no foundation revenue for their latest annual incomes. This toolkit is a part of a broader campaign to reverse these trends and increase the level of philanthropic support for organizations explicitly serving LGBTQ communities of color. Read the campaign's goals and benchmarks (PDF).

What are some of the leading foundations supporting LGBTQ people of color?

Funders for LGBTQ Issues has been working with an assortment of foundations around the country to better support LGBTQ communities of color. A number of these foundations have paved the way on these issues—and others are beginning to carve a thoughtful space in their institutions. Our LGBTQ Grantmakers 2008 Report Card on Racial Equity features a number of these foundations, Further, our Racial Equity Campaign Goals and Benchmarks brief ranks foundations with the highest percentages of LGBTQ giving to communities of color. We've also spotlighted a number of these grantmakers in this toolkit, under "perspectives from the field." Read how leading grantmakers address these issues.

Who's advising the content of this toolkit?

To inform the content and direction of this site, Funders for LGBTQ Issues been working with a national advisory committee of grantmakers, philanthropic experts and leaders in the fields of structural racism and LGBTQ rights. Meet the national advisory committee.

How often will this toolkit launch new tools and perspectives?

To begin this important dialogue, we've produced eight tools that provide the foundation for understanding how a host of inequities affect LGBTQ communities of color—and how grantmakers can begin understanding the societal conditions that create and recreate these disparities. Over the next year and a half, Funders for LGBTQ Issues will release more tools to support grantmakers in implementing an LGBTQ racial equity lens into their grantmaking and internal operations. Please let us know if there's a specific tool that woule useful for your foundation. Register for regular email updates.

How were the individuals providing the "perspectives" selected?

Funders for LGBTQ Issues, along with the toolkit's advisory committee, identified an initial set of commentators from the philanthropic sector and the broader nonprofit sector who serve as thought leaders in LGBTQ issues, racial justice and effective philanthropy. To ensure that the communities most affected by these issues are leading the conversation, the majority of commentators are LGBTQ people of color. Read interviews with key leaders.

Can I submit my organization's publications to this site for posting?

Absolutely. This section of our online toolkit represents the beginning of a more comprehensive library of nonprofit literature about LGBTQ people of color. We welcome suggestions of any nonprofit publication that explicitly describes the realities of LGBTQ people of color. Email us with suggestions.

If my foundation is interested in learning more, whom should I contact?

Funders for LGBTQ Issues staff members would be happy to offer ourselves as a resource to foundation staff members, trustees and colleagues. Please feel free to contact us with inquiries. Visit our Contact Us page.

What is the Racial Equity Online Toolkit?

What is the Racial Equity Campaign?

What is the Racial Equity Regranting Initiative?

What is Funders for LGBTQ Issues?

How much do foundations give to LGBTQ people of color organizations and programs?

What are some of the leading foundations supporting LGBTQ people of color?

Who's advising the content of this toolkit?

How often will this toolkit launch new tools and perspectives?

How were the individuals providing the "perspectives" selected?

Can I submit my organization's publications to this site for posting?

If my foundation is interested in learning more, whom should I contact?