Who We Help / Case Study

Racial Equity Campaign

Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues (FLGI), a national philanthropic group based in New York City, requested MAKE WAVES’ assistance in garnering media attention for its Racial Equity Campaign, which kicked off with the release of two reports on racial equity in philanthropy. 

The first, Building Communities: Autonomous Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer People of Color Organizations in the U.S., is the first-ever national study on organizations led by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people of color.  The second, LGBTQ Grantmakers 2008 Report Card on Racial Equity, assessed giving patterns among 19 foundations supportive of LGBTQ causes to determine the extent of support that goes to autonomous gay groups led by people of color.

The Solution:

FLGI and MAKE WAVES collaborated with the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to release the Building Communities report at the Task Force’s annual Creating Change conference, held this year in March in Detroit.  The Report Card was released in collaboration with the Council on Foundations at its annual conference in Washington, D.C. in early May.  In order to optimize media exposure, MAKE WAVES created an extensive media list that included 259 print, broadcast and online outlets.  Joan Grangenois-Thomas, Account Director, conducted targeted pitching to specific reporters from that media list in order to cultivate interest in both reports and in the work of FLGI overall.

The Results:

Response to the Racial Equity Campaign from reporters and other LGBTQ advocates was extremely positive.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy included coverage of the reports in two stories, one on March 6 and another on May 15.  The Advocate, the leading national gay and lesbian news magazine, ran a substantial story on the Campaign on April 23 and AlterNet reprinted the full piece on May 28.  FLGI’s Director of Research and Communications, Robert Espinoza, was profiled in Gay City News on June 12.  Coverage of both reports also appeared in several LGBTQ blogs.  We have reason to hope that more stories will appear in the coming months, including one in the New York Times.