2017 Tracking Report

This 16th edition of the 2017 Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations captures foundation funding at a complicated moment, a year after we reported on the unprecedented but much-needed philanthropic response to the Pulse Nightclub Massacre that propelled philanthropic support for LGBTQ issues to the highest level ever recorded.

In 2017, grantmaking by U.S. foundations in support of organizations and programs addressing LGBTQ issues totaled $185.8 million. This represents a decrease of over $16 million from the record-breaking $202.3 million reported in 2016 because, as expected, the more than $30 million in funds distributed in direct response to Pulse was highly focused in both scope and timing. When OneOrlando Fund grantmaking is excluded, LGBTQ funding increased by about $10.8 million, or six percent, in 2017, similar to the rate of growth in recent years.

Highlights from the report include:

• Funding for trans communities in the United States reached a record high of $22.6 million in 2017 — a 33 percent increase from 2016.
• The South became the most funded region in 2017 with more than $22 million in funding, occupying the top position for the first time since we began tracking funding by region. But even with a 27 percent increase in funding, it is worth noting that when accounting for the fact that the South is home to more than one-third of the country’s LGBT adults, the region still lags behind the Northeast and the Pacific in LGBTQ funding per LGBT adult.
• Non-LGBTQ-focused organizations received 35 percent of domestic LGBTQ funding, the largest share of funding devoted to non-LGBTQ groups since we began tracking organization type.