MAP Study: LGBT Groups’ Finances Stabilizing Despite Economy
A new report from an LGBT think tank has found that the nation’s leading gay rights groups have financially stabilized following the recent economic downturn. But the data also shows that the number of individual donors and their contributions have significantly decreased over the past year.
The Movement Advancement Project–or MAP–released its 2011 National LGBT Movement Report on Tuesday. It examined 40 organizations within the movement, which account for about 70 percent of the budgets of ALL gay advocacy groups.
MAP Executive Director Ineke Mushovic tells OutQ News that finances for LGBT groups leveled-off last year after having suffered a 25 percent drop in revenue the two years prior. She notes that this is due to increased fundraising, corporate giving and estate donations.
But the report also shows that the number of INDIVIDUAL donors is down 12 percent since 2010, with their TOTAL contributions dropping 14 percent. That’s considering less than THREE PERCENT of LGBT adults donate to organizations within the movement.
Mushovic says while she’s “very heartened” to see how well organizations are doing in the tough economic climate, she’s just “cautiously optimistic” about the future faced with a lack of resources.
MUSHOVIC: I think if we can start to understand what is causing that low percentage of giving, then we can start to address the problem. So that also makes me optimistic, just that we are on a path to try and uncover and then solve that issue.
Despite the loss in funds, combined revenues last year exceeded expenses by about $5 million, a stark contrast from the movement’s economic situation in 2009.
But MAP also found that the nation’s 10 largest ANTI-GAY groups spent about THREE TIMES more than the 40 LGBT organizations participating in the research.
