Donor Focus: Gays and Lesbians

“I would be suspect of any organization who is obviously trying to capitalize on the media attention surrounding the gay movement,” Roybal says. “Like an organization who shows up at a gay-pride event just to collect money — basically, any efforts driven by the gain of revenue and not necessarily the building of relationships.”

Loyal, responsive donors
While not every effort to raise money from gays succeeds, or even gains their respect, some mainstream organizations have found success by drawing on their affinity with the gay community.

“Gays and lesbians give where their hearts go. During hard times, when the economy is tighter, as it has been for the last few years, the gay community continues to give,” confirms John Knoebel, president of New York City-based Triangle Marketing Services, a full-service mailing-list firm specializing in the gay and lesbian market. “They have the disposable income to do so.”

According to Knoebel, TMS has observed four categories of repeat gay-list users:

1. Gay and lesbian nonprofit and political organizations: Many of the first gay lists on the market developed out of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Today, charities such as Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal Defense Fund regularly target gay donors.
2. Health and disease-related causes: The Leukemia Society of America, the Dana Farber Breast Cancer Institute and the American Foundation for AIDS Research all have rented TMS files. Naturally, HIV/AIDS-related charities actively reach out to the gay community, but TMS has witnessed many general health- and disease-related organizations tailor special appeals.
3. Political fund-raisers: “Large nonprofit mailers who may have more of a liberal slant” are repeat renters, Knoebel avers. American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and Southern Poverty Law Center all have rented gay lists.
4. Gay and lesbian nonprofit and political organizations: Many of the first gay lists on the market developed out of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Today, charities such as Human Rights Campaign and Lambda Legal Defense Fund regularly target gay donors.