In 2022, U.S-based foundations awarded $258,101,259 to LGBTQ communities and causes.

Similar to prior years, the trend of “top-heaviness” of foundation support—where a relatively small number of foundation sources provide a disproportionately large percentage of the funding for LGBTQ communities and causes—continued into grantmaking from U.S.-based foundations in 2022. The top funder alone accounted for 14 percent of total foundation support, and the top twenty funders were responsible for 67 percent of funding. As a result, any decrease in overall funding from the top grantmakers has far-reaching impacts on the LGBTQ community and intersecting social justice movements. 

Within this top-heavy funding landscape, LGBTQ communities and movements remain vulnerable to shifts in grantmaking trends and crises, as well as strategic priority changes and natural staff turnover at grantmaking organizations. 

Click the visualization below to explore the top funders of LGBTQ communities and causes in 2022.

Who is served by this funding?

The Resource Tracking Report identifies grants that support specific populations within the broader LGBTQ community to identify gaps in funding and opportunities for strategic grantmaking.

LGBTQ Populations

In 2022, grantmakers allocated 79 percent ($203.3 million) of all U.S-based foundation support for LGBTQ communities and issues to the general LGBTQ community. Transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary (TGNCNBi) communities and issues received 19 percent of total funding ($48.2 million). Very little funding was allocated to any other specific LGBTQ populations in 2022.

LGBTQ Communities of Color

Under two-fifths of U.S. foundation funding for LGBTQ communities and causes went to LGBTQ communities of color. In 2022, 38 percent of total funding went to communities of color ($98.8 million), a decrease from 43 percent in 2021.

How has funding for LGBTQ communities and causes changed over time?

Philanthropic support for LGBTQ communities and causes from U.S.-based foundations totaled $258.1 million in 2022. This 2022 total is a nominal increase of $7.3 million (less than 3 percent) from the $250.8 million in total funding reported in 2021.

All LGBTQ Funding

In real dollars, however, foundation support for LGBTQ communities and causes actually decreased in 2022 due to the impact of inflation. Additional funding above and beyond the 2021 level of inflation, which was 8 percent according to the Consumer Price Index, would have been necessary to overcome the impact of inflation on funding for LGBTQ communities. In effect, inflation washed out the nominal increase in funding for LGBTQ communities and issues observed in 2022.

TGNCNBi Funding

A total of $48.2 million was awarded specifically to TGNCNBi communities and issues in 2022, which represented a 34 percent increase from the $36.0 million that were awarded to these communities in 2021. Our research supports that a significant portion of the increase in funding for TGNCNBi communities and issues in 2022 was attributable to the work of the Trans Futures Funding Campaign (TFFC), which began in the spring of that same year.

LGBTQ Communities of Color Funding

While funding specifically to Black LGBTQ communities nearly doubled from $18.4 million in 2021 to $35.0 million in 2022, funding allocated to LGBTQ communities of color generally (not to a specific racial or ethnic group) decreased substantially. This suggests that grantmaking dollars previously earmarked for LGBTQ communties of color generally were reallocated specifically for Black LGBTQ communities.

Click the legend on the graph below to customize which racial and ethnic groups are visible.

Where does this funding go?

The Resource Tracking Report identifies grants that are awarded to support LGBTQ communities and causes on a local, state, regional, and national level. This analysis highlights geographic locations that may lack targeted funding. 

There was a 12 percent decrease in funding for Southern LGBTQ communities and causes in 2022 when compared to the prior year, despite escalating right-wing attacks targeting LGBTQ community members in the region. Funding for Southern LGBTQ communities has never been commensurate with the needs of the population as more LGBTQ people live in the Southern region than any other.

Use the buttons below to explore maps of total LGBTQ funding by state, as well as funding specifically for TGNCNBi communities and causes by state.

What types of grants does this funding support?

For the first time, funding for general operating support was the most common type of support, accounting for 51 percent ($130.8 million) of all grant dollars awarded to LGBTQ communities and issues in 2022. For many years, the majority of funding had been allocated for program or project-specific support for grantees working on LGBTQ issues.

For the first time in more than a decade, funding for issues related to health and wellbeing among LGBTQ communities received the highest percentage of funding in 2022. This increase in funding for health and wellbeing coincided with the rise in anti-trans legislation targeting gender-affirming health care and criminalizing supportive parents of trans youth and their medical providers across the U.S.

Though COVID-19 continues to impact every aspect of society, the Resource Tracking Report identified a 39 percent decrease in grantmaking for issues related to COVID-19 among LGBTQ communities in 2022 compared to the prior year. This decrease in COVID-19-specific funding is troubling given that LGBTQ people and their households were particularly vulnerable to negative consequences due to the pandemic.

Conclusion

The $258.1 million allocated to LGBTQ communities and causes in 2022 is absolutely critical to… But this funding is cents on the dollar of all U.S. foundation funding.

All LGBTQ Funding

For every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2022, only 25 cents specifically supported LGBTQ communities and issues in the United States. This is less than the 28 cents for every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2021.

TGNCNBi Funding

For every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2022, 4.6 cents supported TGNCNBi communities, which was an increase from less than 4 cents per $100 awarded in 2021.

As a core component of our organization’s research portfolio, the Resource Tracking Project continues to evolve to more accurately capture the state of U.S. foundation funding for domestic LGBTQ communities and causes, offering timely analyses of trends that are also relevant to the needs of broader social justice movements. Given the unprecedented challenges in recent years facing the LGBTQ community at all levels of society, it is clear that dedicated, reliable, and sustainable funding is necessary to defend and promote the rights, safety, and wellbeing of LGBTQ communities and advance our collective liberation.

 

Recommendations

For Grantmakers:

  • Submit your LGBTQ grantmaking data for future Resource Tracking Reports.
  • Use this data to make strategic funding decisions to diversify funding sources and help stabilize support for LGBTQ communities and causes.
  • Adjust funding levels to account for the ongoing and lasting impact of inflation on grantees.
  • Take the GUTC Pledge!
  • Grantmakers in the Southern US: Learn more about the Out in the South Initiative.

 

For LGBTQ Organizations:

  • Use this data to inform and direct your work.
  • Let us know if you have any questions about the data that reflect your work.

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Read the Full 2022 Tracking Report

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