The Delaware Valley Legacy Fund (DVLF) is a community foundation whose mission is to support the needs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) and straight-allied communities in Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. It is engaged in building a permanent endowment and philanthropic apparatus to serve the fundraising and grant making. DVLF was founded in 1993 and is based in Center City Philadelphia.
History.
DVLF was created in 1993, when community activists and donors decided that there was a need, given the growth of the LGBT movement, for a permanent reservoir of funds to support organizations in Greater Philadelphia. Many of these leaders had lived through the McCarthy Era, the Civil Rights Movement, and the beginning of the HIV/AIDS era, and desired the stability that could be provided by a permanent funding source. Legendary lesbian activist Barbara Gittings, whose activism began forty years earlier in the 1950s, served as a founding board member that also included Larry Biddle and Dennis Green.
In 2008, DVLF grants will total over $55,000, up from $18,800 in 2007.
The current president is D. Mark Mitchell and the current executive director is Samantha M. Giusti.
It has a 12-member Board of Directors and an Advisory Council of about 25 members.
Fundraising.
DVLF devotes significant resources to raising funds for programs and growing the endowment. It cultivates a broad donor base of individuals, couples, and businesses interested in supporting regional LGBT communities.
Grant making.
DVLF is also a grantmaking organization. In 2008, DVLF grants exceeded $50,000. Organizations that have received funding that year included:
"(Asterisks indicate organizations for which DVLF provided the founding grant or grants.) "
References.
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