The newly formed Boston-based Equality Fund has just received a $250,000 donation from the Boston Foundation, which will help to kick start giving for the permanent LGBTQ community fund. The first of its kind in the Greater Boston Area, the Equality Fund is gaining enthusiastic attention here at home and in other communities across the country.
“Boston, and Massachusetts, has really been a national leader in LGBTQ equality,” said Boston Foundation Chief of Staff Stephen Chan. “It was time to create an ongoing resource for the community for decades to come.”
The Equality Fund was developed with LGBTQ leaders, straight allies and prospective donors. While it is stewarded by the Boston Foundation, the grant-making abilities and the intricate workings of the organization will be tackled by the Advisory Committee, which is Co-Chaired by Greater Boston Food Bank President and CEO Catherine D’Amato, and Scott Squillace, Esq., principal founder of Squillace Associates P.C. Estate Planning Law Firm.
The Fund was established last month by the Boston Foundation, which has a long history of supporting local, national and international LGBTQ organizations like GLAAD, AIDS Action Committee, Fenway Health and The Theater Offensive, as a way to address the ever evolving needs of the community.
“Had this organization existed 30 years ago it may have had to do with HIV/AIDS issues,” Squillace told EDGE. “Ten years ago it would have been focused on same-sex marriage. Today we might be looking at things like anti-bullying and trans issues. But 20 to 30 years from now we don’t know what the needs of this community will be.”
The Equality Fund will provide the security of having a permanent means of supporting the needs of the local and international LGBTQ community, whatever they may be.
While the Fund continues to build endowment and grow financially, it has committed to giving at least $100,000 per year to meet the immediate needs of the community and will begin making grants in early 2013.
In addition to the Boston Foundation’s donation, the Equality Fund has received support from corporate donors such as BNY Mellon, Eastern Bank and Northern Trust, as well as individual benefactors.
Both Squillace and Chan seemed quite optimistic about the potential for growth of this Fund, estimating it will reach a substantial several-million-dollar mark, but hoping for much more.
“I would like to see it at $100 million before I die,” said Squillace, outlining his hopes for the Equality Fund. “I want there to be a meaningfulness in the Fund that outlives us all and creates a sustainable source of support.”
Local Orgs Worry About Competing With the Fund; Equality Assures All Stand to Benefit
While most of the reaction and buzz has been positive and excited, some local organizations, worried about the prospect of competing with the Equality Fund for funds and resources, are taking the news with a cautious grain of salt.
Squillace sees the positives. He assured that it will be additive, not competitive, and said that many of the local LGBTQ organizations will benefit from the Equality Fund. “Some smaller organizations that constantly struggle with fundraising love that there’s a neutral ’Switzerland’ to lean on from time to time. And for larger organizations that don’t have meaningful endowments long term, this is important,” he said.
Also important to note is that the Equality Fund will not diminish the ability or desire of the Boston Foundation to continue working with and supporting LGBTQ organizations and community.
“This will augment, not replace, the Boston Foundation’s work with LGBTQ organizations,” said Chan. “It will expand them.”
Expanding the support and visibility of LGBTQ issues is a core mission of our movement, and, from what Squillace and Chan have said, the Equality Fund seems to be a promising facilitator for this goal.
The news of the Equality Fund and its anticipated success have been making waves and receiving a lot of attention from other community funds around the country, some of whom want to begin benchmarking with Boston.
“We are hoping to start a trend,” said Squillace.
And with Boston’s history of trailblazing in LGBTQ rights, it is not hard to imagine this happening. In addition to being a front-runner in LGBTQ equality, Boston has a high concentration of wealth, making it a hub for philanthropy.
Squillace, who works in estate planning, recalled a client of his who wanted to donate the bulk of his estate to gay causes asking if there was “some kind of gay United Way.”
The need for a general, flexible and sustainable fund specifically for the needs of the LGBTQ community was clearly there. And now, with the formation of the Equality Fund, those who wish to philanthropically support this community will be able to do so through a well-organized, responsibly-managed, and most importantly, respected, organization.
“As a gay person of color,” said Chan, “I really think this is an opportunity to create a place for people to come together to build bridges across generation, social and economic gaps and to strengthen the bonds of the community.”
To learn more about the Boston Foundation and the Equality Fund, or to become a donor, visit www.tbf.org.