Few Bright Spots for LGBT Giving in 2010

Times are hard all around, and LGBT nonprofits are feeling it in their bottom line.

Foundations and other grant makers have had to cut back their giving as the economic meltdown dealt their portfolios a major hit. In more cheery news, a report from The Foundation Center warns that this year’s decline in giving has not only been worse than previously thought, but also will continue into 2010.

“The majority of grant makers responding to the survey believe that the nonprofit community in general was not sufficiently prepared to weather the economic crisis, although most think that the nonprofits that do survive will emerge stronger than before,” wrote Steven Lawrence, senior director of research, at The Foundation Center.

So what does that mean for already-struggling LGBT nonprofits? Administrative cutbacks, staff layoffs, and increased competition for limited sources of funding.

There is one bright spot: the recent launch of a $10 million endowment called the Palette Fund.

Established in honor of Rand Harlan Skolnick, a nutrition/health executive and philanthropist who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer at age 50, The Palette Fund will provide grants to groups dealing with LGBT Youth, HIV/AIDS, Nutrition and its Effect on Health, and Patient Navigation.

“We address these health and societal problems through grant making, education and, in some cases, program development with organizations that provide critical services and build knowledge in areas that are still very much new frontiers,” said Terrence Meck, president and executive director of the Palette Fund, and former life partner of Rand Skolnick.

Recipients of money from the Palette Fund thus far include The Point Foundation, The Trevor Project, the Hetrick-Martin Institute, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, and The National AIDS Housing Coalition.

Unfortunately, the Palette Fund’s monies are a drop in the bucket compared to what’s needed throughout the LGBT community. According a survey released last month by the San Francisco-based Horizons Foundation, over a third of grant makers reported plans to give less in 2009 to LGBT organizations than they did in 2008. Of those, about one-in-five expect to reduce their giving by at least 25%.

"It's ultimately about members of our community who cannot access the services they need. It's people who need advocates who can't get them, and so the impact is really measured in people's daily lives," Roger Doughty, Horizons' executive director, told The Bay Area Reporter recently.

In other words, we’re going to see a lot of nonprofits close or consolidate in 2010. Some good long-term effects of nonprofits closing their doors would be greater cooperation among survivors and more resource sharing for like-minded organizations.

But the short-term effects, no matter how you cut it, will mean that fewer people in need will likely be helped out.

(Photo courtesy of Chrisdlugosz's photostream on Flickr.)