Menlo Park, Calif., July 7, 2009 — Community-based nonprofits and religious gay groups get top ratings in the GreatNonprofits 2009 Pride Choice Awards. Local LGBTQ nonprofits focusing on education, service, and advocacy received more positive ratings than large national nonprofits. Religious organizations, surprisingly, also made a strong showing in the list of winners.
The contest, held during Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in June, asked people to submit reviews and ratings about nonprofits serving the LGBTQ community. The contest was sponsored by GreatNonprofits, GuideStar and Queerty. The results provide surprising insights into the diversity of organizations that are considered effective and important by volunteers, donors and stakeholders of the gay and lesbian population.
Over the course of Pride Month, more than 32,000 people visited the GreatNonprofits Web site, and 736 reviews were posted about more than sixty LGBTQ organizations.
“The Awards gave voice to many of our constituents that we don’t hear from,” says Charles Robbins, Executive Director of The Trevor Project, which won for best LGBTQ organization with an annual budget over $1 million. “It was incredibly meaningful for our staff to hear youth saying ‘I was saved because of the work of The Trevor Project.’ It’s monumental.” Bonnie Rosenbaum is the Deputy Director of Keshet, Inc., the winner among organizations with budgets between $250,000 and $1,000,000. She says, “We are both humbled and fiercely proud of the feedback we have received from our community by participating. Statements such as, ‘my life is better because they exist’ inspire us as we work towards a day when all Jewish children – regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity – have a valued place in Jewish life.”
While big organizations such as Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force were available for review, those groups didn’t see the kinds of results that their smaller counterparts did.
Gay Religious Groups and Community-Based Nonprofits, Not Large Advocacy Organizations, Get Highest Ratings
Menlo Park, Calif., July 7, 2009 — Community-based nonprofits and religious gay groups get top ratings in the GreatNonprofits 2009 Pride Choice Awards. Local LGBTQ nonprofits focusing on education, service, and advocacy received more positive ratings than large national nonprofits. Religious organizations, surprisingly, also made a strong showing in the list of winners.
The contest, held during Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in June, asked people to submit reviews and ratings about nonprofits serving the LGBTQ community. The contest was sponsored by GreatNonprofits, GuideStar and Queerty. The results provide surprising insights into the diversity of organizations that are considered effective and important by volunteers, donors and stakeholders of the gay and lesbian population.
Over the course of Pride Month, more than 32,000 people visited the GreatNonprofits Web site, and 736 reviews were posted about more than sixty LGBTQ organizations.
“The Awards gave voice to many of our constituents that we don’t hear from,” says Charles Robbins, Executive Director of The Trevor Project, which won for best LGBTQ organization with an annual budget over $1 million. “It was incredibly meaningful for our staff to hear youth saying ‘I was saved because of the work of The Trevor Project.’ It’s monumental.” Bonnie Rosenbaum is the Deputy Director of Keshet, Inc., the winner among organizations with budgets between $250,000 and $1,000,000. She says, “We are both humbled and fiercely proud of the feedback we have received from our community by participating. Statements such as, ‘my life is better because they exist’ inspire us as we work towards a day when all Jewish children – regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity – have a valued place in Jewish life.”
While big organizations such as Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force were available for review, those groups didn’t see the kinds of results that their smaller counterparts did.