Do gay, lesbian, and bisexual organizations receive their fair share of foundation giving?: The case of Massachusetts

GLQ

Volumn 4, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 537-556

  Magnus, Stephen A ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0008938926     PISSN: 10642684     EISSN: 15279375     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1215/10642684-4-4-537     Document Type: Article

References (18)

1. See Foundation Center, Guide to U.S. Foundations, Their Trustees, Officers, and Donors, vol.1 (New York: Foundation Center, 1994), xiii, table 4. These figures, unlike other Foundation Center figures referenced in this article, are based on 990-PF (private foundation) tax forms submitted to the Internal Revenue Service and thus account for total grant dollars awarded by foundations, without exclusions. By contrast, other data from the Foundation Center are based on a sample of about 950 foundations, out of about 35,000 foundations in the United States.
2. The Fenway Community Health Center specializes in rendering medical services to the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community and has a national reputation for its innovative work in AIDS treatment and education.
3. Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, Lesbian Projects: Public and Private Support (New York: Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, 1985).
4. Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation, Lesbian Projects and Organizations in the United States (New York: Astraea National Lesbian Action Foundation, 1991).
5. Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, Funders of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Programs: A Directory for Grantseekers (New York: Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, 1993).
6. In spite of their designation as "public" charities, these grant-making organizations are actually private.
7. Unfortunately, none of the standard grant reference or index books lists the total value of foundation grants received by Massachusetts service organizations. This would be the ideal figure with which to compare funding for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community. Instead I have had to compare the total funding received by Massachusetts gay organizations with the total funding awarded by Massachusetts foundations.
8. Other comparative figures are as follows: (1) Massachusetts-based nonprofit organizations received a total of $4.6 billion in gifts, grants, and contributions from all sources (including government and individual donors) in 1988, according to the Non-profit Almanac 1992-1993 (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992-93), 457. No figures are available on what percentage of this $4.6 billion was awarded by private foundations, public charities, and corporate donors. (2) Out-of-state foundations donated $181,756,213 to Massachusetts-based nonprofit organizations in 1989, according to Foundation Center grant records on file at Associated Grantmakers of Boston. However, according to the Foundation Center, this information is based on a representative sample of about 950 foundations across the country and thus does not reflect total giving. In spite of the difficulty of making direct comparisons or calculating gay share percentages using these numbers, they provide further confirmation that the gay, lesbian, and bisexual share of grant dollars is very limited.
9. Grants to transgendered organizations were not specifically tracked. Future research should address their funding and service needs.
10. I grouped together multiple contributions as one grant if the entire amount was awarded at the start and the contributions were all made within a few years. There would be nine additional grants (i.e., 259 in total) if I had counted the multiple contributions as separate grants.
11. I raise this point because the Foundation Center's $216.9 million figure for Massachusetts foundations' grants in 1992, and similar figures for other years, include grants to out-of-state nonprofit organizations. The Foundation Center could not provide an estimate of what percentage of the grants was awarded to in-state organizations.
12. The only estimate I have for regional corporate grants is from the New York City-based Conference Board, a nonprofit business membership organization that publishes reports and offers seminars on business policy, work and family issues, and business philanthropy. According to the Conference Board, twenty-six of the largest companies in the New England area awarded grants totaling $155.7 million in 1992. These grants included both direct corporate grants and grants awarded through corporate-sponsored foundations. Obviously, the $155.7 million figure dwarfs the $275,900 that the state's gay, lesbian, and bisexual organizations received from corporate sources over the entire five-and-one-half-year period under study.
13. The grants to nongay organizations offering gay-related programs spanned 1987 to 1992. All were for programming or general operations; none was for capital expenditures or was a matching grant. Ten of the grants were for mixed gay, lesbian, and bisexual programs. One was for a lesbian-specific program. The remaining nine grants were for mixed gay and straight programs. The grant topics included a self-defense class for gays and lesbians, a one-day educational event on alternative families, production of a video on sexual harassment in the workplace (the video specifically covered lesbian concerns), and antihomophobia education. Fourteen of the grants went to educational organizations, four to social or community organizations, one to a religious youth organization, and one to a women's organization. Four of the grants originated from corporations or corporate foundations, thirteen from private foundations or public charities, and the remaining three from "other" types of funders (a category that includes universities, hospitals, and community organizations like the Boston Pride Committee).
14. Foundation Center, The Foundation Grants Index (New York: Foundation Center, 1990-1994).
15. Political advocacy organizations are not legally classified as 501(c)(3) nonprofit institutions, and they cannot receive tax-deductible contributions.
16. According to Working Group on Funding Lesbian and Gay Issues, Lesbian Projects, the most frequently funded gay organization during the period 1982-1984 was the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force, which was awarded just eighteen grants in three years at an average of $3,264 per grant. "Such an active grantseeking organization consumes a disproportionate amount of energy and resources, especially when the average grant award was just over $3,000," according to the report (46). Although there is evidence of sharply increased grant giving since the early 1980s, the survey shows that even recent gay grants are often under $500 (about a fifth of all grant awards tracked by the study).
17. Twelve donor-advised grants were excluded from the analysis. They totaled $19,300 (± $3,150) and spanned the years 1988 to 1991. Eight grants ($10,450) were awarded to educational organizations. The other four (totaling $8,850 ± $3,150) went to legal organizations. All the grants were given to gay-, lesbian-, and bisexual-identified organizations and were intended for general operations or programming. None of the grants was for capital expenditures or was a matching grant.
18. The sometimes fuzzy distinction between gay political and service organizations posed a methodological challenge for the study, and some organizations that were excluded may believe that they should have been included.