2018 Resource Tracking Report

The 2018 Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations (2020) explores the scope and character of foundation funding for LGBTQ issues in the calendar year 2018. This 17th edition of the tracking report finds that foundation funding for LGBTQ issues hit a record high of $209.2 million — surpassing the $200 million mark for only the second time. The first was reported in 2016, when the philanthropic response to the Pulse Nightclub massacre drove annual funding to $202.3 million.

The report finds the overall field of LGBTQ philanthropy widening, identifying a record number of grantmakers awarding LGBTQ funding. Analyzing 6,636 grants from a record 450 foundations, the annual tracking report remains the most comprehensive and reliable assessment of LGBTQ grantmaking by U.S. foundations available.

Highlights from the report include:

• Gilead Sciences was identified as the top funder of LGBTQ issues in 2018, becoming the first corporate funder to top our list and the first time the top LGBTQ funder has changed since 2013. Grantmaking from Gilead Sciences accounted for over 10 percent of all LGBTQ funding in 2018, reflecting the top-heavy nature of LGBTQ philanthropy.
• For the second year in a row, the South received the largest share of grant dollars of any region in the United States. A record $31.8 million was awarded to Southern LGBTQ communities, however, its funding per LGBT adult still lags behind the Northeast and the Pacific.
• Continuing an encouraging trend of steady increases, funding for trans communities in the United States reached a new record high of $28.6 million in 2018. While this represents a 27 percent increase in funding for trans issues domestically, funding for trans communities outside the United States declined slightly in 2018.
• There were encoraging increases in funding for LGBTQ people of color, immigrants and refugees, and older adults.
• Despite significant increases in many areas, funding for LGBTQ communities and issues outside of the United States declined by two percent in 2018.
• For the third year in a row, the percentage of domestic funding for LGBTQ organizations continued to decrease relative to funding to non-LGBTQ organizations.

While this report reveals many new record highs, it also reminds us that for every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations, only 28 cents specifically supports LGBTQ issues.