Transgender and gender-nonconforming people, and the families that support them, are under increasingly severe attack in the United States. Proposed and adopted state laws targeting transgender children and threatening trans childrens’ parents, as well as a marked rise in violent hate crimes directed at transgender people, raise the life-or-death question: As threats mount, just what, if anything, is the philanthrosphere doing to support organizations that serve and advocate for transgender and gender-nonconforming people and their families?
Historically, funders have done little to support these communities, even though anti-trans violence has been an issue for years. However, while funding to support nonprofits serving transgender people and their families still lags way behind the need, there’s ample reason for cautious optimism that philanthropy is starting to catch on.
Funders for LGBTQ Issues reported in 2015 that only a single penny out of every $100 awarded by foundations went to trans-focused organizations. Today, the organization says that figure has quadrupled, but that still amounts to a paltry $.04 per $100 awarded in grants overall.
In 2019, Funders for LGBTQ Issues also launched Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC), an initiative to inspire the philanthrosphere to create a culture that’s inclusive and supportive of trans people. As of 2021, 52 funders had signed the pledge, including the Ford Foundation, the Boston Foundation, The California Endowment, the Colorado Health Foundation, the Simmons Foundation and the Levi Strauss Foundation. There’s also evidence that funders are taking the pledge seriously. In June, for example, Ford committed to doubling its support for trans-serving organizations, to “at least” $10 million over the next five years.
GUTC pledge participants have announced monetary support, included trans-specific organizations in their overall LGBTQ+ grantmaking, publicly spoken out against misinformation and hurtful legislation targeting transgender people and their families, and made it clear that transgender equality is among their values.
Ford’s announcement wasn’t the only development on the trans rights funding front last month. June also saw the launch of the Trans Futures Funding Campaign, a call for philanthropy to invest $10 million in new funding to support local trans-focused organizations. Bear in mind, that’s less than a tenth of the $110 million raised in 2020 alone by SPLC-identified hate groups opposing LGBTQ+ equality, many or all of which support efforts to undermine the wellbeing of transgender and gender-nonconforming people. In March, Inside Philanthropy profiled eight funders backing grassroots LGBTQ+ movements, including several with funds specifically resourcing trans-supporting and trans-run groups. In the face of the crises facing so many trans people in the U.S. today — and what we hope is a growing trend of energy and funding to meet that threat — we decided to do a quick tally of how many funders either focus specifically on trans-serving organizations, or have dedicated pots of money specifically for that purpose.
We found five such organizations, one of which is currently accepting applications.
The Fund for Trans Generations at Borealis Philanthropy, a signatory of the 2019 Grantmakers United for Trans Communities Pledge, moved $8 million to 205 grantees between 2016 and 2021. A Borealis spokesperson told IP that this invitation-only fund will commit $2.5 million in grants this year.
The Groundswell Fund’s Black Trans Fund (BTF) launched in 2020, awarding just over $200,000 in grants and paid fiscal fees to Black trans-led groups that year. In response to the pandemic, BTF joined Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund to move an additional $200,000 to Black trans-led organizations. Groundswell’s Black Trans Fund is accepting applications through September 15, 2022.
Groundswell, a GUTC participant, is also the home of the invitation-only Liberation Fund, which supports organizations led by both cis and trans women of color and awarded $1.1 million in 2021.
Trans Justice Funding Project supports U.S.-based grassroots groups run by and for transgender people, providing small, critically needed grants to frontline groups protecting and advocating for trans people and their families. A GUTC participant, the trans-led Trans Justice Funding Project, which was founded in 2012, has announced over $1.9 million in grants to 355 grassroots groups in 2022. Applications for the Trans Justice Funding Project will reopen at the end of December 2022 according to the funder’s website.
Transgender Strategy Center’s Transgender Strategy Fund has announced unspecified funding for eight organizations and four fellowships in 2022. The Strategy Fund, which was launched in 2020, awards average grants of $18,000 and is supported by ViiV Healthcare, Levi Strauss Foundation, AIDS United and Gilead Sciences.
The Arcus Foundation, founded in 2000 by billionaire and leading LGBTQ donor Jon Stryker, is another GUTC participant with a history of making trans-specific funding commitments. For instance, Arcus launched the Global Trans Initiative with the NoVo Foundation in 2015. According to an Arcus spokesperson, the foundation has announced $425,000 in grants to trans-focused organizations in the U.S. so far in 2022, and continues to fund trans-focused work internationally. Arcus is an international foundation that also prioritizes great ape conservation in addition to its LGBTQ funding. The application process for its social justice program, which encompasses trans funding, is by invitation only.
While the five organizations above are the only ones with funds dedicated entirely to trans-focused organizations that we were able to identify, other funders include support for trans-serving and trans-led nonprofits in their grantmaking. For example, 24% of Third Wave Fund’s over $2 million in 2021 grants went to groups led by transgender individuals, while Third Wave Fund itself proudly proclaims that its focus is on community and youth-led groups working toward gender justice. And Women Donors Network’s Jean Hardisty Initiative recently announced $250,000 in funding to Black LGBTQIA+ youth organizing, including $50,000 to L.A.’s ProjectQ, whose work includes a focus on Black and brown trans youth. A WDN spokesperson said that trans-led and trans-focused organizations are also included as awardees in the funder’s other initiatives.
There’s also cause for hope that the work of Funders for LGBTQ Issues’ Grantmakers United for Trans Communities Initiative, the Trans Futures Funding Campaign, and funding ramp-ups like Ford’s will further nudge the philanthrosphere into substantive and long-overdue action. Philanthropic funders’ level of urgency and commitment may well help determine whether or not the plague of physical and legislative violence against transgender Americans is allowed to continue.