About Us - History
Pride Foundation was founded in December 1985 by four committed individuals who believed that the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community needed its own philanthropic, organization. This new agency was charged with providing funding to local LGBT organizations and raising awareness of LGBT issues among foundations.
Since then, Pride Foundation has put more than $7.2 million to work building equality for our LGBT community. Thousands of people join with us every year, knowing that their gift to Pride Foundation helps many organizations and students.
Together we are continuing to build strong communities and leaders. Here's how things have changed since we started:
- In 1987, we awarded our first grants totaling $7,654. In 2007, we awarded more than $581,000.
- Pride Foundation's endowment has grown to $22 million.
- In 1993, Pride Foundation started our scholarship program for LGBT and allied students and granted $3,680. Since then it has become one of the nation's largest LGBT scholarship funds. In 2007 more than $200,000 was given to 90 LGBT and Allied students.
- In 1997, Pride Statewide/Regional Communities was launched in three communities. Today, we have eleven active regional communities. Click here to find out more.
Endowment
One of the primary reasons Pride Foundation was founded was to establish an endowment for the community. Pride Foundation’s endowment is a pool of marketable assets (stocks, bonds) that are invested to exist in perpetuity, generating income every year for our programs and operations. The endowment is an important source of revenue and each year 5% of the endowment is combined with other contributions to Pride Foundation from individuals, businesses, and foundations.
It is even more important that Pride Foundation have an endowment as an LGBT organization. The endowment helps us to break the cycle of money raised/money spent that has kept too many LGBT groups from growing and pushing for full equality. Pride Foundation’s endowment is also a powerful statement of the LGBT community’s caring and philanthropy. Pride Foundation also uses our endowment to further our mission, by encouraging companies that we hold stock in to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their non-discrimination policies. To date Pride Foundation has successfully worked with General Electric, McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, Starbucks and Emerson to update their policies and ensure a fair workplace for their employees.
