Specialty Report
In 2018, Funders for LGBTQ Issues set out to survey the board and staff of foundations in order to identify how many LGBTQ people worked in philanthropy — which resulted in The Philanthropic Closet: LGBTQ People in Philanthropy.
In the designing the survey, we realized that we had an opportunity to not only ask about sexual orientation and gender identity but also to inquire about a range of personal identifiers. With the inaugural Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals (DAPP) Survey, we asked participants to identify their role within their foundation, their age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and disability status. This report lays out the results of the DAPP survey in aggregate form.
Produced in partnership with CHANGE Philanthropy and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), the report and accompanying infographic explore diversity in the philanthropic workforce. Overall, the report finds a statistically significant difference between funders with a social justice focus and all other funders. Social justice funders were much more likely to have higher representation of LGBTQ people, people of color, and people with disabilities.
The report finds:
- People of color accounted for 37.8 percent of people on the staff or board of participating foundations.
- However, the percentage varied depending on a foundation’s focus. People of color made up 45.6 percent of the staff and board at foundations with a social justice focus, while they accounted for 33.0 percent of staff and board at foundations with another focus.
- While women accounted for nearly 70 percent of the staff and board at all participating foundations, only 44 percent of board members were women.
- Nearly half of women at foundations with a social justice focus were women of color; only a third of women at foundations with another focus were women of color.
- Among lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in philanthropy, 43.1 percent of those at foundations with a social justice focus were people of color, compared to one-third of those at foundations with another focus.
- Among transgender people, 57.1 percent of transgender people at foundations with a social justice focus were people of color, while 25 percent of transgender people at foundations with another focus were people of color.
- At foundations with a social justice focus, people with disabilities made up 8.8 percent of staff and boards, compared to 4.8 percent at foundations with another focus.
- Across all participating foundations, 10.3 percent of staff and board were born outside of the United States.
Special thanks to the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund for providing the funding to undertake the inaugural DAPP Survey and to SMU DataArts for helping us administer the survey.
- In 2018, Funders for LGBTQ Issues set out to survey the board and staff of foundations in order to identify how many LGBTQ people worked in philanthropy — which resulted in The Philanthropic Closet: LGBTQ People in Philanthropy. In the designing the survey, we realized that we had an opportunity to not only ask about sexual orientation and gender identity but also to inquire about a range of personal identifiers. With the inaugural Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals (DAPP) Survey, we asked participants to identify their role within their foundation, their age, gender identity, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and disability status. […]
- The Philanthropic Closet: LGBTQ People in Philanthropy highlights the findings on sexual orientation and gender identity from the inaugural Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals (DAPP) Survey, a first-of-its-kind pilot study on diversity in philanthropy, conducted in partnership with SMU DataArts and made possible by funding from the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Thirty-four percent of individuals responded to the survey, resulting in the highest response rate of any such survey SMU DataArts has conducted. As a result, with a 99.9 percent confidence level, the findings are representative of the composition of the 36 participating foundations. Highlights from the report […]
- This report is the third in a series of reports entitled Out in the South. This third report, Part Three: Opportunities for Funding LGBT Communities in the U.S. South, provides contextual information that highlights the intersections between critical funding priorities and the lived experience of LGBT Southerners. It also offers specific opportunities and recommendations for funding in the areas of economic opportunity, education, health, HIV/AIDS, media, arts and culture, policy reform, social justice, and youth, including examples of successful partnerships between funders and grantees working in the South. Out in the South, Part Three, builds on our previous two reports […]
- Vital Funding Part Two builds upon the rich conversations from the first LGBT Health Funding Summit and Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ special report, Vital Funding – Investing in LGBTQ Health and Wellbeing. This second report identifies several potential strategies for funders concerned about health disparities, HIV/AIDS, and LGBTQ communities to increase access to insurance coverage for LGBTQ people; build the capacity of the HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ health services sector; increase LGBTQ cultural and clinical competence of health service providers and systems; strengthen HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ health policy and advocacy infrastructure; and support efforts to address mental and behavioral health and […]
- In the last decade, U.S. foundation funding for domestic and global trans issues increased more than eight fold – growing at three times the rate of LGBTQ funding overall. However, even at its record high of $8.3 million in 2013, the philanthropic resources provided hardly seem commensurate with the severe challenges global trans communities continue to face. TRANSformational Impact analyzes the scope and character of foundation funding for trans issues.
- LGBTQ communities face stark health disparities ranging from high rates of HIV/AIDS and cancer to disproportionate levels of substance use and mental health challenges. This report assesses the scale and character of foundation funding addressing the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ communities. Between 2011 and 2013, domestic foundation funding for LGBTQ health totaled $50.4 million. In a rapidly changing landscape for both health policy and LGBTQ issues, funders now have several unique opportunities to achieve lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ communities.
- This report is the second in a series of reports entitled Out in the South. This second report, Part Two: LGBTQ Community Assets in the U.S. South, identifies more than 750 LGBTQ community assets in the U.S. South and spotlights several funding strategies with potential for high impact. The report assesses the state of the LGBTQ movement in the U.S. South based on a comprehensive scan of the region’s LGBTQ community assets, a survey of more than 200 organizers and service providers working in the South, and in-depth interviews with 30 LGBTQ leaders. Out in the South, Part Two, builds […]
- This report provides detailed data on the current scope and character of foundation funding at the intersection of LGBTQ and immigrant rights. It also includes an overview of the ecology of advocacy and service organizations working to address the needs of LGBTQ immigrants, and offers recommendations for funders.
- This report is the first in a series of reports entitled Out in the South. This first report, Part One: Foundation Funding for LGBTQ Issues in the U.S. South, explores the underfunding of LGBTQ communities in the U.S. South in comparison to the rest of the country. It identifies who is funding in the South, and examines the issues and strategies currently being funded.
- Every year for nearly a decade, Funders for LGBTQ Issues has released an annual report seeking to quantify and examine the amount and character of foundation grantmaking for LGBTQ communities. This brief paper seeks to build on those annual tracking reports by taking a longer and wider view. The title references physics as the study of things that are in motion, of how things interact and relate to each other. This paper looks at the movement of LGBTQ funding over time and how LGBTQ grantmaking has interacted with other trends in the philanthropic world and beyond. This paper also offers […]
- Towards a More Responsive Philanthropy: Grantmaking for Racial Equity and LGBTQ Justice continues our efforts to advance work at the intersection of racial equity and LGBTQ justice. In it you will find the stories of 5 foundations who are working on these critical issues.
- In 2007, the ADAM funding collaborative and Funders for LGBTQ Issues launched a matching grants program designed to support and serve LGBTQ youth. Four years after the initiative’s first grants were made, foundation staff reflect on what their participation revealed about engaging youth, the value (monetary and otherwise) of matching programs, and the power of small grants to do mighty things.
- At 40 years and counting, LGBTQ grantmaking has played a significant role in the fight for LGBTQ rights and equity. Forty Years of LGBTQ Philanthropy: 1970 – 2010 documents the amount and character of the first four decades of U.S. institutional support to LGBTQ communities through community, public, family and private foundations.
- An investigative report on the effects of the economic downturn on LGBTQ organizations and their funders.
- An update on the Racial Equity Campaign outlines U.S. foundation support for LGBTQ communities of color, in calendar year 2008.
- An investigative report on the effects of the economic downturn on LGBTQ organizations and their funders.
- An updated, detailed directory of organizations and projects in the U.S. that are serving LGBTQ people of color.
- A report card on 19 LGBTQ grantmakers that examines how they integrate racial equity into their LGBTQ grantmaking and their internal operations.
- An overview of Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues’ Racial Equity Campaign.
- A first-ever report on autonomous lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people of color organizations in the U.S
- A progress report describing the background, design and implementation of Common Vision.
- Highlights a number of issues facing LGBTQ communities, as well as existing organizing efforts among LGBTQ groups that effectively address racial and economic justice matters.
- Presents issues facing LGBT elders and sample grants supporting a broad range of organizations working with and advocating for this population.
