$100 Million for the LGBTQ Community: Unprecedented Campaign Surpasses Goal in Legacy Gift Commitments
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$100 Million for the LGBTQ Community: Unprecedented Campaign Surpasses Goal in Legacy Gift Commitments
Through Historic Now and Forever Campaign, SF Bay Area LGBTQ Community Foundation Prepares Community for Tomorrow
October 9, 2019, San Francisco, CA – Horizons Foundation, the world’s first LGBTQ community foundation, announced today that through its historic Now and Forever Campaign, the foundation has identified over $100 million in future legacy gifts that will support the LGBTQ community.
These legacy commitments, which to date total $103.5 million, come in the form of future bequests through donors’ estate plans; these gifts have yet to be received by the foundation.
Many of these gifts will support Horizons’ LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund, a permanent source of resources for the LGBTQ community. The Endowment Fund, which is currently valued at over $13 million – and has tripled in the last seven years – enables much of Horizons’ extensive grantmaking to LGBTQ organizations in the SF Bay Area, today and in perpetuity. Other legacy gifts may go directly to organizations supporting the LGBTQ community, depending on the donors’ wishes.
“Never before has our community been so prepared for what lies ahead,” said Roger Doughty, Horizons’ President. “The extraordinary generosity of the LGBTQ community will create a stronger world for many generations to come. To date, more than 350 people have included the foundation in their estate plans because of Horizons’ unmatched history and expertise in supporting all parts of the LGBTQ community.”
This announcement comes one day after an ideologically alarming Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases that could determine whether an individual could be fired simply for being LGBTQ. Recognizing that the LGBTQ movement is far from over, Horizons created the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund, and launched the Now and Forever Campaign, to support the LGBTQ community in whatever challenges – and opportunities – it may face.
In particular, the LGBTQ Community Endowment Fund enables Horizons’ flagship funding program, Community Issues, which awards general-operating and project-specific grants to LGBTQ organizations in the nine counties of the SF Bay Area across broad funding areas, with an emphasis on innovative solutions in service to the most under-resourced segments of the LGBTQ community. These are the foundation’s latest grantee partners through the Community Issues program.
In crossing the $100 million threshold, Horizons exceeds its goal of Phase II of its Now and Forever Campaign. In Phase I, which concluded in 2016, Horizons raised over $3.5 million in near-term capital to invest in the infrastructure that would enable Phase II of the campaign.
In total, Horizons has identified over $120 million in legacy gift commitments that will come through the foundation. $103.5 million is earmarked for the LGBTQ community, but Horizons supports donors in making legacy gifts to all types of causes. Those interested in making a legacy gift can learn more at legacy.horizonsfoundation.org.
About Horizons Foundation
Horizons Foundation (www.horizonsfoundation.org) envisions a world where all LGBTQ people live freely and fully. The world’s first community foundation of, by, and for LGBTQ people, Horizons invests in LGBTQ organizations, strengthens a culture of LGBTQ giving, and builds a permanent endowment to secure our community’s future for generations to come. Horizons will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2020. Learn more at horizonsfoundation.org.
