Foundation funding for LGBTQ communities and issues in the United States reached a record $252 million in 2021, a report from Funders for LGBTQ Issues finds.

Released toward the end of Pride Month, the report, 2021 Resource Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations (32 pages, PDF), found that while funding reached a new high mark, it did not benefit all members of the community equally, as $204 million (81 percent) was allocated to the general LGBTQ community, while funding to Black LGBTQ communities slightly decreased from $18.7 million (12 percent) in 2020 to $18.4 million (7 percent) in 2021. In addition, nominal giving to trans communities increased slightly from 2020 but remains lower than the record high in 2019. The report also found that despite the sector-wide increase in overall foundation funding in 2021, only 0.28 percent specifically supported LGBTQ communities and issues.

According to the report, grantmaking for LGBTQ communities and issues is increasingly top heavy. As in 2021, the top 10 funders accounted for more than 60 percent of total funding, and the top 20 funders accounted for 72 percent, with the top funder, Gilead Sciences, accounting for 19 percent, followed by the Ford Foundation, California Endowment, Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and Gill Foundation. The top 20 recipients, which included Southerners On New Ground (SONG), Transgender Law Center, Los Angeles LGBT Center, GLAAD, and Abounding Prosperity, received a total of $68 million, accounting for 27 percent.

According to the report, the U.S. Pacific region received the largest share of funding (19 percent), followed by the Southeast (13 percent) and Northeast (8 percent), with U.S. Territories (1 percent), and the Mountain (6 percent) and Midwest (5 percent) regions continuing to lag. Consistent with previous trends, funding for program- or project-specific support continued to be the most common (51 percent), followed by general operating support (38 percent) and capacity building (7 percent). In terms of issues addressed, funding for civil and human rights continued to garner the largest share of funding (27 percent), followed by strengthening communities, families, and visibility (24 percent); health and well-being (24 percent); economic issues (12 percent); education and safe schools (6 percent); and unspecified (7 percent).

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Andrea Migliarini)