Funders for LGBTQ Issues is pleased to announce its eighth grantmaking cycle for the Out in the South Fund, awarding $500,000 to 12 LGBTQ funds and allied grantmaking organizations throughout the US South.

The Out in the South Fund is a collaborative fund awarding general operating grants to build and support locally-driven Southern funds supporting LGBTQ movement work. Over the last eight years, the fund has distributed over $3.7 million dollars to catalyze this imperative funding infrastructure. 

The eighth grantmaking cycle of the Out in the South Fund was awarded in the final weeks of 2023— a year that witnessed over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills introduced in state legislatures across the country, the majority of which started in the South and over 80 of which passed into law. The ongoing demand for the safety, wellness, and joy of trans and nonbinary communities and spaces is continuously threatened and under attack at the same time that our latest research reveals the LGBTQ philanthropic support for the South is stagnating.

The grantee partners of the Out in the South Fund support robust funding infrastructure networks deeply rooted in community; an intervention to traditional funding streams that is needed now more than ever. We are pleased to announce our continued support of the following twelve grantee partners:

AR+ Collaborative, Little Rock, AR

Blackbelt Community Foundation, Selma, AL

Co-Thinkk, Asheville, NC

Campaign for Southern Equality/Southern Equality Fund, Regional

Campaign for Southern Equality and Southern Vision Alliance, Regional

Contigo Fund, Orlando, FL

LGBTQ Fund of Greater Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

LGBT Fund at Spartanburg County Foundation, Spartanburg, SC

LGBT Fund of Mississippi, Jackson, MS

Southern Power Fund via Alternate ROOTS, Regional

Southern Vision Alliance, NC and SC

Texas Pride Impact Fund, Dallas, TX

Grant amounts in this eighth cycle are commensurate with our seventh round of grantmaking which saw a $50,000 increase in our annual investment to the fund. In addition to these Out in the South Fund grants, half of our grantee partners also received additional support in the form of matching grants, pass through funding, and auxiliary support. 

The Out in the South Fund is a central element of the Out in the South program and a critical piece of Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ own strategy to transform philanthropy in the U.S. South. We are growing and learning alongside our grantee partners as we build a community of practice with regional and national funders

In service of this learning, this year the Out in the South program will undergo an external evaluation. We will use this evaluation to learn from the lessons of the first eight years of the program, and refine  to ensure its long term sustainability and vitality. We look forward to sharing the findings with our network.  

We thank the members of the Out in the South Steering Committee and Pooled Fund Committee for their invaluable guidance and stewardship of this program. 

You can view the complete list of grantees and grant amounts on our website here.