2023 Resource Tracking Report: LGBTQ Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations
Published: June 30, 2025
Author(s): Alyssa Lawther, Sammy Luffy, Somjen Frazer
Topic(s): Tracking Report
Region: National
The 2023 Resource Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations (2025) explores the scope and character of U.S. foundation funding for domestic LGBTQ communities and issues based on grants that were awarded in calendar year 2023. This is the 21st edition of this annual report, which continues to document trends in LGBTQ philanthropy for more than two decades. The purpose of this report is to analyze the latest LGBTQ grant data, identify gaps in funding, and present recommendations for U.S.-based foundations to effectively and sustainably support our communities through strategic grantmaking that is in alignment with the realities of LGBTQ communities across the country.
Given the increasingly perilous social and political climate at the time of publication, it is important to note that the funding trends presented in this report reflect grantmaking decisions made in calendar year 2023 under the Biden-Harris Administration, arguably one of the most pro-LGBTQ administrations in history.
Philanthropic funding for LGBTQ communities and causes from foundations based in the United States totaled $209.4 million in 2023. This represented a decrease of approximately $48.7 million or 19 percent from the total funding awarded for LGBTQ communities and causes in 2022. When adjusted for inflation, funding fell by 22 percent from 2022 to 2023. This means that for every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations in 2023, only 20 cents specifically supported LGBTQ communities, which was a decrease from 25 cents per $100 awarded in 2022.
Other key findings from the 2023 data include:
- The primary reason for this decrease in overall grants for LGBTQ communities and causes was a decrease in giving from the top 20 foundations. The top 20 funders awarded 24 percent less in 2023 than the top 20 awarded in the year before.
- Consistent with prior analyses, funding from private foundations accounted for the largest percentage of domestic LGBTQ grantmaking in 2023, with 42 percent. Though private foundations awarded the most funding in 2023, their total grantmaking decreased by 27 percent from 2022. Similarly, community foundation grantmaking decreased by 39 percent from 2022 to 2023, likely due to community foundation’s reliance on funding from private foundations.
- LGBTQ grant funding specifically focused on the needs of transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary (TGNCNBi) communities decreased from $48.2 million in 2022 to $36.4 million in 2023. This was a decrease of $11.7 million, or 24 percent, from the previous year.
- For the first time since 2018, the Southeast region was awarded the highest amount of funding with $36 million, or 17 percent of the total funding awarded in 2023. This represented a $7.6 million, or 27 percent, increase from the funding awarded to the Southeast region in 2022. Given that more LGBT adults live in the Southeast region than any other, this increase in funding specifically for LGBTQ communities and causes in the region is encouraging.
- Funding for Black LGBTQ communities and causes decreased by $14.5 million from 2022 to 2023, which was a 41 percent decrease from the all-time high amount recorded in 2022. The decrease in specific funding for Black LGBTQ communities and causes coincided with a decrease in funding for LGBTQ communities of color generally in 2023.
- New to this report is an analysis of rapid response grantmaking for LGBTQ communities and causes in 2023. According to our analysis, 36 foundations awarded a total of $6.7 million (excluding regranting) to 278 grantees through 325 rapid response grants that year. As anti-LGBTQ bills and rhetoric continue to escalate, rapid response funding will remain an important source of support for LGBTQ movement organizations.
To dig into the key findings from the 2023 Resource Tracking Report, as well as visualize and interact with the data, check out the Resource Tracking Data Explorer.
Note: Based on input from key stakeholders, as well as from the staff and Board of Funders for LGBTQ Issues, top funder and top grantee lists are not included in this report due to some grantmakers’ concerns about increased visibility in a politically hostile environment when progressive causes are being attacked at the federal level. Instead, this report presents aggregate totals and key trends in the latest data to support a robust understanding of the state of LGBTQ philanthropy.
