Announcement and 2013 Cycle 3 Open Invitation for Letters of Inquiry
The Gill Foundation, Evelyn and Walter Haas Jr. Fund, an anonymous donor, and Ford Foundation, in conjunction with Tides Foundation, are pleased to announce the third cycle of the seventh year of the State Equality Fund. This is an open announcement and invitation to submit a Letter of Inquiry (LOI). The State Equality Fund operates as a donor-advised fund of Tides Foundation, which is the grantmaking entity, but it is programmatically staffed on behalf of its donors by the Gill Foundation. By virtue of this arrangement, almost all of the State Equality Fund assets – $2.5 million estimated for 2013 – will be re-granted.
Since 2007, the Fund has granted more than $11 million to advance LGBT equality at the state level. It is an outcome-based fund, focusing on plans to achieve elements of equality in the form of policy change. While working in conjunction with the Civil Marriage Collaborative, the State Equality Fund supports issues not eligible for funding from the Civil Marriage Collaborative. The State Equality Fund is the only avenue for directly or indirectly accessing Gill Foundation funds. Detailed funding guidelines are included in this document. Please note that the guidelines have changed since the last cycle.
If invited to submit a proposal, applicants will be required to follow a specific, pre-determined format for the program plan portion of the proposal. A document detailing this format will be sent with proposal invitations and is available upon request. Prospective grantees will also be required to participate in a webinar conducted by Alliance for Justice regarding legal compliance for advocacy-related work.
Additional Information
Tides Foundation is the legal grant making entity for the State Equality Fund, but it is programmatically staffed on behalf of its donors by Gill Foundation. All questions at all stages of the proposal, grant, and reporting processes should be directed initially to the Gill Foundation and not Tides Foundation. Please contact StateEqualityFund@gillfoundation.org with questions before submitting your LOI. While materials and questions are directed to the Gill Foundation, it is not the grantmaking entity and should not be referred to as such.
