Impacting Communities: 2009
Colorado is home to people of diverse backgrounds, all of whom value their quality of life. All of our work in 2009 – whether it was a nonprofit event sponsorship or our participation in a local chamber of commerce – was aimed at creating a deeper understanding that the fair and equal treatment of all people makes our state a better one in which to live, work, and play.
Our 2009 Grants
In 2009, we awarded more than $2.4 million to Colorado’s nonprofit organizations. The majority of our grants contain a challenge, or matching fund, component. Why? Because we believe that a challenge helps to introduce nonprofits to a wider array of donors. First-time donors are more motivated to give when their contribution is instantly doubled by a matching grant.
Approximately 66% of the 2009 Gay & Lesbian Fund grants had a matching component. Our grantees were able to leverage the $670,000 total matching grants we gave them into more than $1.1 million in donor contributions.
Click here to see a full overview of the 194 grants and our nonprofit grantees from 2009.
Our 2009 Event Sponsorship
Event sponsorship grants are another way we support Colorado nonprofits. Event fundraising can represent a significant amount of the yearly income for most organizations, so our event sponsorships provide basic support. In 2009, the Gay & Lesbian Fund sponsored 179 events, ranging from the 2009 Southern Colorado Sustainability Conference to the Ready, Set, Grow event for the Women’s Bean Project in Denver.
Click here to view a full listing of the 179 events we sponsored in 2009.
Our 2009 Community Event and Meeting Space
The Gay & Lesbian Fund also offers public meeting spaces – both in Denver and Colorado Springs – for use by local, nonprofit organizations. And the best part, it’s free. In 2009 alone, our community rooms hosted more than 18,000 people at 673 events put on by nonprofit organizations like the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR) and the Sierra Club.
Click here for more information about our free public meeting spaces.
Our 2009 Advancing Equality Heroes
Each year, we proudly honor outstanding Colorado organizations and individuals who demonstrate a commitment to creating a state where all people are welcomed, included, and treated equally. These visionaries drive positive change in their communities. For instance, in 2009 we recognized a student who led the effort to bring the “No Place for Hate” program to his Greeley high school after he witnessed the physical and verbal harassment of an African American friend.
Click here to read more about all six of our 2009 Advancing Equality Award winners.
Driving Change in the Workplace
The employment nondiscrimination act in Colorado makes it illegal to consider sexual orientation, including transgender status, when making employment-related decisions. Workplaces that value equality require reflection, planning and work. We wanted to help organizations take equality up a notch by providing them with the tools and maps to get there.
Our “Advancing Equality Toolkit” offers useful information including suggested language for company policies and procedures. Our “Gender Expression Toolkit” helps organizations understand the varying issues transgender people encounter every day.
Please click here to download the Advancing Equality Toolkit.
Click here to download the Gender Expression Toolkit.
2009 Outstanding Foundation Award
We love to recognize our outstanding partners here in Colorado so it truly was an honor for us when we learned we had been named the 2009 Outstanding Foundation on National Philanthropy Day in Colorado. We are humbled by this recognition and are committed to supporting the work of our grantee partners and Colorado nonprofits who are making Colorado an even better place to live–for everyone.
Click here to read more about the Gay & Lesbian Fund being named the 2009 Outstanding Foundation.
The Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado. We believe in equality. We believe in Colorado.
