Tonya Ewers, Gill Foundation
303.829.5413
tonyae@gillfoundation.org

Amanda Mountain, RMPBS
719.251.2595
amandamountain@rmpbs.org *

One-time gift, valued at $1.3 million, is the largest private donation in 56-year history of Rocky Mountain PBS

DENVER (July 17, 2012) – Continuing its strong commitment to local nonprofits and public broadcasting in Colorado, the Gill Foundation has announced a $1.3 million one-time gift to Rocky Mountain PBS through the donation of its building in Colorado Springs. With this gift, Rocky Mountain PBS will create the “Tim Gill Center for Public Media,” a collaborative initiative led by Rocky Mountain PBS to create cross-platform content for public media. In the spirit of the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado, the Gill Foundation program previously headquartered in the building, the new center also will continue to offer free public meeting space to local nonprofits.

The Tim Gill Center for Public Media will have wide-reaching positive impact on public broadcasting in Colorado and in communities across the state, bringing together 21 organizations to create cross-platform content, increase the collective impact of public broadcasting statewide, and link higher education with public media so that area college students can be trained with the requisite skills necessary to thrive in the new media environment.

“This catalytic investment is the largest private donation in our 56-year history,” said Doug Price, President and CEO of Rocky Mountain PBS. “Because of the generosity of the Gill Foundation and Tim Gill, Rocky Mountain PBS will create the Tim Gill Center for Public Media to serve as a place for collaboration, innovation and engagement in Southern Colorado and beyond.”

“With all the changes taking place in the media, public broadcasting is more important than ever,” said Tim Gill, Founder and Board Chair of the Gill Foundation. “A healthy democracy depends on informed citizens, and this new center will help public media have greater impact in Colorado.”

Rocky Mountain PBS will lead the center’s programs in collaboration with partner organizations that include the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Colorado College and KRCC 91.5 FM, Pikes Peak Community College, Pikes Peak Library District, and the Rocky Mountain Community Radio group which represents 16 public and community radio stations around the state.

“Since 1996, the Gill Foundation has supported public broadcasting in the state through our Gay & Lesbian Fund program. Although we expect to maintain that commitment at current levels, this one-time gift represented a unique opportunity to benefit many of our current grantees,” said Tim Sweeney, Gill Foundation President and CEO. “The commitment by Rocky Mountain PBS to maintain free public meeting space for nonprofits was also compelling. We knew what this space has meant to the community as a place to gather, have dialogue, and work together to build a better Colorado Springs and a better Colorado.”

A public celebration and ribbon-cutting event will be held in September when the building is reopened by Rocky Mountain PBS. Organizations interested in utilizing the building’s meeting and event space should visit www.rmpbs.org/TimGillCenter for ongoing updates and additional information.

In October of 2011, the Gill Foundation announced that, in light of the tremendous progress toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in Colorado, the foundation would initiate a strategic re-evaluation of its Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado program. As part of that decision, the foundation consolidated the program’s physical location to its Denver offices, leaving the Colorado Springs building available for sale or donation. Multiple organizations approached the foundation with proposals for the building’s future. The Rocky Mountain PBS proposal was selected because of the potential impact the Tim Gill Center for Public Media will have in Colorado and nationally.

The Gill Foundation’s strategic re-evaluation of the future direction for its Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado program continues, and this gift does not reflect any future funding priorities. Earlier this year, the foundation renewed all grants awarded by the Gay & Lesbian Fund program in 2011, totaling $1.3 million to 240 Colorado nonprofits. The foundation anticipates an announcement related to the future strategy of the Gay & Lesbian Fund before the end of 2012.

*Audio clips with Doug Price, President and CEO of Rocky Mountain PBS, are available upon request. Please contact Amanda Mountain at 719.251.2595.

COLORADO SPRINGS – The Gill Foundation announced today it is embarking on a strategic re-evaluation of its Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado to determine the best way to have the biggest impact in Colorado going forward.  During this assessment, all of the 2011 grantees of the Gay & Lesbian Fund will receive funding in 2012. In addition, the foundation is making staff changes and moving Gay & Lesbian Fund operations to its Denver office.

“Fifteen years ago, the Gay & Lesbian Fund first began operating with a simple goal of supporting nonprofits that are working to build a better Colorado for everyone. We hoped that in the process of supporting those worthwhile nonprofits, we could demonstrate to our friends and neighbors in Colorado that gay and lesbian people care about the same things as everyone else and that we can make even more progress for our state when we all work together,” said Tim Sweeney, President and CEO of the Gill Foundation.

“In the years since we launched, the Gay & Lesbian Fund has invested more than $27.6 million in nonprofits all across the state. During this period, Colorado has become a much more inclusive and welcoming state while the economy and needs of Colorado have changed.

“Given the changed landscape, we believe it is time for us to evaluate how to make the greatest impact in Colorado going forward,” Sweeney said. “People’s attitudes have changed and we need to change to keep up with the new challenges and opportunities. The organization will spend 2012 determining the best way to move forward.

“Our commitment to improving lives in Colorado and across the nation is unwavering.  Colorado programs outside of the Gay & Lesbian Fund, including the funding of our progressive allies, our LGBT and HIV service and advocacy organizations, and our anti-bullying work will continue on their current trajectory and will not be directly affected by this re-evaluation.

“Despite declines in our endowment due to the economic environment, we have increased our grantmaking and charitable activities since 2009 and we expect to continue at these levels, further increasing our grantmaking to more than $12 million annually.”

The Gill Foundation’s total grantmaking was $9.4 million in 2009, and $11.8 million in 2010.
The Colorado portion of this grantmaking was $3.2 million in 2009, and $4 million in 2010.

Sweeney also announced as part of the restructuring:

• The operations of the Gay & Lesbian Fund will be consolidated into the Denver offices of the Gill Foundation. The Colorado Springs office will be closing and the staff positions eliminated at the end of 2011. No decision has been made yet as to the disposition of the Colorado Springs property.
• During 2012, the foundation will provide renewal grants to all of the 2011 Gay & Lesbian Fund grantees. Our commitment to Colorado is as strong as ever, and we will not be reducing our grants budget.
• This decision will not directly impact the Gill Foundation’s other Colorado programs.

Changing Perceptions
“Since we started 15 years ago, the Gay & Lesbian Fund, its grantees and partners have played a major role in helping Colorado become a more accepting place for LGBT people,” said Mary Lou Makepeace, Vice President of the Gay & Lesbian Fund. “There is a lot of work yet to do and it is appropriate for the organization to take stock of the successes and determine how best to move forward.”

In 1992, Colorado voters approved Amendment 2, an amendment to the state constitution that made it illegal for cities, towns or counties to pass any law that would give gays and lesbians the same rights as other people. At that time a significant percentage of Coloradans said they didn’t know anyone who was gay.

Four years later, the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado began operations with the mission to create greater awareness and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Colorado, and to demonstrate that we all care about the same things and we all want to help create a better Colorado for everyone.

Attitudes in Colorado toward gay people have changed dramatically in the 15 years since the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado was founded. This shift is evident through public opinion polls and through approval of statewide policies.

A 2010 Greenberg Quinlan Rosner research poll of 1,006 adult Coloradans shows a dramatic shift in public opinion from the days when Amendment 2 was approved:

• The poll not only found that most Coloradans know someone who is gay, but 62 percent also said they believe that being gay or lesbian should be accepted;
• The poll also showed that Coloradans were now split (45 percent for and against) on marriage for gay and lesbian couples, with 74 percent in favor of some form of legal relationship recognition.

And since 2006, six state laws have passed that provide protections for LGBT people:

• Colorado Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA)
• Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act in housing and public accommodations
• Colorado Hate Crimes Law
• Colorado Second-Parent Adoption Act
• Colorado Designated Beneficiaries Act
• Colorado Anti-Bullying Law

In addition, in the 2011 legislative session a bill that would have legalized civil unions was passed by the State Senate with bi-partisan approval and garnered the support of editorial boards across the state before being voted down in a House committee.

The shift is also evident in the fact that when the Gay & Lesbian Fund started giving out grants in 1996 there were organizations that refused to take money because they did not want to have to acknowledge they received funding from a gay organization (one of the requirements of receiving a grant). “It was actually hard to give money away,” said Makepeace. “But in 2011, we had to turn away more than 100 organizations that requested funding.”