Each year, CLAGS receives support from a small number of foundations. These visionary institutions are among the first in the foundation world to recognize the importance of the cultural and intellectual production of lesbians and gay men. The Chicago Resource Center awarded $2,000 to support the CLAGS Colloquium Series in Lesbian and Gay Studies. The monthly series is the vehicle through which cutting-edge research on the lesbian and gay experience first reaches the general public. Last year, the Rockefeller Foundation awarded CLAGS $250,000 to support the work of scholars in lesbian and gay studies. The award allows CLAGS to fund six scholars doing research in lesbian and gay studies over the next three years, beginning this fall. The Paul Rapoport Foundation awarded $15,000 to CLAGS, the largest grant ever in their long history of giving to the organization. According to executive director Jane Schwartz, the-Rapaport Foundation’s Board wanted to make a substantial investment in CLAGS in light of founder Martin Duberman’s departure. “The board wanted to signal to other foundations that we were confident about CLAGS’s future,” said Schwartz. The first $10,000 of the award is an outright grant; the remaining $5,000 is a matching grant, designed to encourage CLAGS to increase its donor base. The New York City Lesbian and Gay Funding Collaborative has extended its $10,000 capacity-building grant. CLAGS received the grant, designed to support strategic planning and organizational development, last year. So far the money has supported hiring an organizational consultant who has conducted a strategic planning retreat and fundraising trainings. The extension, which continues the grant to the end of 1997, will allow for further training and consultation. The Northstar Fund committed $1 ,500 to support Relatively Speaking: A Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Families. The Office of City Council Member Tom Duane contributed $2,500 toward the printing and distribution of CLAGS’s newsletter. The Office of State Assembly Member Deborah Glick contributed $3,000 toward general operating expenses.
