An organization founded to fight violence following the Pulse nightclub shooting; another serving homeless LGBTQ youth in Arkansas; one that fills its community with music; one that works to build bridges across racial boundaries in the deep South; another that provided vital services to those in need following the Houston-area floods. The Dru Project, Lucie’s Place, Southerners on New Ground, the Rainbow Women’s Chorus, and the Houston LGBTQ Center are but a few of the more than 600 organizations participating in Give OUT Day 2018, www.giveOUTday.org on April 19th. Give OUT Day, the only national day of giving for the LGBTQ community, has participating organizations in all 50 states and D.C. Throughout the day-long event, thousands of people make gifts to support a diverse array of LGBTQ nonprofits across the country, ranging from social services agencies, health care nonprofits, and advocacy groups to community centers, arts organizations, and sports leagues, among many others. Give OUT Day has become an important tool in helping raise awareness and funds for local LGBTQ nonprofits. In 2017, it successfully raised more than $750,000 from more than 10,000 individual donors. “I’ve been moved by the stories of so many of our participating organizations that have used the day to further their own mission and to connect with new donors,” stated Nikole Pagan of Give OUT Day. “There is no part of the country where LGBTQ lives have not been changed for the better by the incredible work the Give OUT Day participating organizations are doing each day. Nonprofits are the backbone of LGBTQ America, and at a time where our rights are once again under assault, these organizations are using Give OUT Day as a vehicle to resist and to rebuild.” Pagan cites the SOURCE LGBT+ Center in Visalia, California as one inspiration among many. The small organization is located in the deep-red Central Valley and far away from the epicenters of LGBTQ life in other areas of California. Although only one year old in 2017, the SOURCE used the power of Give OUT Day to connect with an impressive 288 donors, raising more than $17,000 to provide services and programs that further its mission. Give OUT Day is a project of San Francisco-based Horizons Foundation, powered by Click & Pledge, and sponsored, in part, by The Blade Foundation. For more information on Give OUT Day, go to: www.giveoutday.org
