The Equality Fund Grant

The Equality Fund Grant aims to empower Greater Boston’s LGBTQ+ community by addressing racial and ethnic inequities through a proactive grantmaking approach. This year, grants range from $1,000 to $25,000 and prioritize initiatives that enhance healthcare access, housing stability, legal advocacy, and safe educational environments, fostering community and reducing social isolation.

About the Equality Fund
Starting in 2023, the Equality Fund embarked on a new strategic vision to better serve Greater Boston’s LGBTQ+ community and, as part of our strategy, contribute meaningfully to address the racial and ethnic inequities that exist within this community. The Equality Fund’s grantmaking approach takes a proactive intersectional lens, as we work across the many diverse spaces that make up the LGBTQ+ community and in working to support the most urgent community needs.
Established in 2012, the Equality Fund at the Boston Foundation works to advance the equitable treatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) individuals and their families and support Greater Boston nonprofit organizations that serve and strengthen the LGBTQ+ community. The Fund is committed to investing in research, public forums and convenings, strategic partnerships, and grantmaking to nonprofit organizations that provide critical services to our diverse LGBTQ+ community.
This year, the Equality Fund is awarding grants at three levels.
Grants will be awarded at two (2) levels:

• $10,000
• $25,000
• Funding will support the following types of work:

Organizations or programs providing critical research, advocacy, or field-building support for the LGBTQ+ community.Organizations or programs serving the general needs of the LGBTQ+ community. Examples include but are not limited to: community-building activities; capacity building (except capital construction costs and related); outreach and educational activities; legal services; mentoring; health and human services (such as addressing food insecurity, homelessness and housing instability, healthcare access, refugee support services, and more).
Grant Priorities
Priority consideration for larger grants will be for organizations and/or programs that starts with, and is centered around, the most marginalized groups in the LGBTQ+ community: people of color (particularly youth of color), transgender and gender expansive communities, refugees and asylum seekers, LGBTQ+ aging adults and senior populations, and homeless individuals, and whose work seeks to address:

• Healthcare access
• healthcare access within underserved communities with a focus on

mental and behavioral health (especially for LGBTQ+ youth to help address high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation), gender affirming care, and a healthcare workforce that is trained to work with older LGBTQ+ adults, including older adults living with HIV.
Housing and economic stability
support for safe and affordable housing options for low and moderate-income LGBTQ+ individuals and families, trainings for shelter and housing staff to ensure consistent and affirming care,expanding initiatives to provide housing to prevent homelessness,programming that reduces food insecurity for LGBTQ+ individuals and families,work that supports upward economic mobility for LGBTQ+ individuals and families, andsupport to reinforce anti-discrimination measures in housing and employment.
Legal rights protections, legal services, & advocacy
work that:
work that seeks to
increase safe and welcoming school environments for LGBTQ+ students with supportive and inclusive general curricula and health education, provide safe and affirming out-of-school time youth development and mentoring programs,  support ongoing advocacy by parents, youth, educators, and community residents at the local and state-level.
Decrease social isolation & increase community building:

• work that seeks to foster community building, relationships, and connections for individuals and groups at risk of social isolation.
• Structural support:
• initiatives and partnerships that help nonprofits explore organizational changes as they navigate this uncertain funding and legal environment including

exploring reorganization, partnerships to increase community impact and organizational efficiencies, organizational mergers, significant changes to business models and revenue streams and other efforts.

Eligibility

Eligible organizations and programs include:Organizations serving primarily LGBTQ+ populationsLGBTQ+ serving programs or projects, fiscally sponsored by another organization, in which at least 60% of the program’s participants identify as LGBTQ+LGBTQ+ serving programs or projects, housed or operating within a larger organization, in which at least 60% of the program’s participants identify as LGBTQ+Programs and organizations serving LGBTQ+ communities, and whose composition of boards, staff, and volunteers are representative of the demographics and lived-experiences of their constituenciesGrants will be made for general operating support, to organizations and/or projects serving the LGBTQ+ community in Greater Boston and the Boston’s Foundation “catchment area”.