LGBTQ Giving Hit by Economy, Disillusionment

The Center for Responsive Politics and OpenSecrets.org report financial contributions to federal candidates, regardless of party, from LGBTQ organizations are down this year compared to past election years.

The group analyzed financial data from LGBTQ special interest groups. So far this year, such groups have given a total of $744,040 to federal candidates. That compares to $2 million given in 2006 and $1.8 million in 2008. Nearly all of this year’s money—a total of $625,272—came from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group.

Andy Szekeres, an LGBTQ political consultant based in Denver, Colo., says the decline in contributions is seen across the board. “What I am hearing from major donors across the country and it is not limited to the gays by any means … everyone is giving less,” he says.

He also believes some of the decline can be attributed to a depressed mood, as LGBTQ equality items have either stalled or faced failure. One such loss came this week, when the U.S. Senate failed to move forward on a bill containing repeal measures for “don’t ask, don’t tell.”

“LGBT [organizations] have always relied on major gifts from a number of funders, when those funders decide to put their money elsewhere they need to totally rework their fundraisingstrategies,” he says. “If the community has something to get excited about they will come back full force with their check books, but they are not stupid. The major donors are reviewing every gift much closer and want to know where each dollar is going with reports of what it achieved.”

Donors’ “closer review,” Szekeres says, is caused by the nation’s ongoing economic woes.

“The economy is catching up with a number of our largest traditional funders,” he explains. “We as the LGBT community have been relied upon for years to be the ‘Gay ATM’ for many national [organizations], gay or not but when we pull back they feel the pinch in a major way.”

The downturn in financial giving affects far more than politics. Szekeres says he’s talked about putting together awareness tools to stress the importance of giving.

“I have sat down with some donors about putting together a [public service announcement] in the LGBT community to educate our community members [on] how to give, why to give and why it's important as a community that has higher than average incomes to get more involved,” he says. “There is a great chance to work with the community members … Many of them have never been correctly taught why it is important to invest in our community and its needs.”

Matt Comer is a staff writer for Campus Progress.

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