2025: The Power of Our Community
At a moment when LGBTQ+ organizations are facing an unprecedented funding crisis, one thing has never been clearer: our community is our greatest source of power.
Across the country, LGBTQ+ nonprofits are losing critical philanthropic support just as anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, voter suppression efforts, and attacks on immigrant communities continue to rise. Leaders on the ground are sounding the alarm. In a recent thought piece, Shelby Chestnut, Executive Director of Transgender Law Center, described a “near complete exodus of philanthropy from movement.”
The data tells a similar story. According to the latest report from Funders for LGBTQ Issues, in 2024, just 16 cents of every $100 awarded by U.S. foundations went to LGBTQ+ nonprofits. For trans-led organizations, that figure was just 3.5 cents.
At Stonewall Community Foundation, we believe the answer to this moment is not to pull back. It’s to step up.
In 2025, our community invested more than $1 million in queer and trans communities.
Our focus may be local, but our impact reaches far beyond New York City. In 2025, Stonewall continued to prioritize LGBTQ+ nonprofits in our own backyard while also expanding our support for grassroots organizations working in communities where philanthropic resources for LGBTQ+ people are scarce.
Together, we made 217 grants to 176 critical nonprofits across 30 U.S. states and territories.
These grants supported organizations building queer and trans power on the ground, from advocacy and community organizing to direct services and movement-building. As anti-LGBTQ+ hate increased and organizations faced the loss of essential funding, we intentionally invested in groups working to protect and expand the rights of our communities.
Because LGBTQ+ rights don't exist in a vacuum. There can be no democracy without LGBTQ+ people enjoying our full rights, dignity, and protections. And there can be no movement without resources.
The people’s foundation
For more than three decades, Stonewall has been a place where our community comes together to turn collective power into action. Today, that role is more important than ever. In good times and in bad, Stonewall is the people’s foundation: an institution built by our community and ready to partner with you to make a difference in LGBTQ+ lives.
As we look ahead, we’re thinking about how we can continue to fortify Stonewall for the future and ensure that our community has the resources it needs to meet whatever comes next. In the coming weeks, we’ll share more ways to get involved, including upcoming events, funding opportunities, and the launch of our year-end campaign, Brick by Brick.
Some funders may be pulling back. Stonewall is stepping up. Thank you for standing with us — and with LGBTQ+ communities across the country — for more than three decades. This is what we can accomplish when we build, fund, and fight together.