The Gill Foundation is an American

philanthropic foundation A foundation (also a charitable foundation) is a category of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that typically provides funding and support for other charitable organizations through grants, but may also engage directly in charitable act ...

based in

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It is one of the largest funders of efforts to secure full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

) people in the United States. The foundation's mission is "to secure equal opportunities for all

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

, regardless of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

or gender identity and expression."

History

The Gill Foundation was founded by

Tim Gill Tim Gill (born October 18, 1953) is an American computer software programmer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and LGBTQ rights activist. He was among the first openly gay people to be on the Forbes 400 list of America's richest people. He is the fo ...

in 1994, two years after the passage of Amendment 2, a

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

ballot initiative denying

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, and

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

people equal protection under the law. As of 2017, the foundation had granted more than $335 million to various

nonprofits A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

. In 2004, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the largest association of charitable fundraisers in the world, honored the Gill Foundation with its 2004 Outstanding Foundation award.

Grant-making activities

The Gill Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in the United States working to bring about equality for LGBT people. Beyond its grant-making, the foundation also has been recognized for its OutGiving program, through which the foundation seeks to build a larger base of philanthropists giving strategically in support of LGBT causes. In recognition of the OutGiving program,

Liberty Hill Foundation The Liberty Hill Foundation is a non-profit organization founded by Sarah Pillsbury, heir to the Minnesota Pillsbury baking fortune, along with Anne Mendel, Larry Janss and Win McCormack, in 1976. Its motto is "Change. Not Charity." The name of th ...

honored

with its Upton Sinclair Award in 2011 "for his vision, passion and leadership in helping to create and continuing to inspire the modern day LGBTQ donor movement." The Gill Foundation invests a significant portion of its funding in its home state of Colorado, supporting nonprofits working to improve the quality of life for all Colorado residents. In 2016, $1.7 million was invested in Colorado organizations. Its Gay & Lesbian Fund's $1 million challenge grant in 2005 to the Mile High chapter of American Red Cross was one of the largest non-corporate donations in the country for

Hurricane Katrina disaster relief The disaster recovery response to Hurricane Katrina in late 2005 included U.S. federal government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), state and local-level agencies, federal and ...

. At its inception, the Gill Foundation office was based in Colorado Springs. In June 2012, to consolidate operations, the Gill Foundation closed down the office in Colorado Springs while continuing its presence in Denver. The foundation donated the Colorado Springs building to Rocky Mountain PBS to create the Tim Gill Center for Public Media. The foundation reevaluated the future direction of the Gay & Lesbian Fund, although it remains committed to its Colorado programs.

References

External links

*
Meet the Megadonor Behind the LGBTQ Rights Movement

The Advocate Op-ed: Where will activism dollars go next?
Feb. 3, 2014 *{{cite news , url= https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/giving/12GILL.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin , title=Grants for Gay Services Grow and Go Mainstream , first=Dirk , last=Johnson, work=

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, date=11 December 2007 , issn=0362-4331 , accessdate=April 12, 2012 LGBT organizations in the United States Organizations based in Colorado Tim Gill 1994 establishments in Colorado

History

Grant-making activities

See also

References

External links