Delaware Valley Legacy Fund
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, Pennsylvania.
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 [McCarthyism], 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.
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
In 2008, DVLF grants will total over $50,000. Organizations that have received funding include:
- ActionAIDS
- AIDS Delaware – “You’re Not Alone” Youth Program
- AIDS Services in Asian Communities*
- Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
- Attic Youth Center*
- Beta Phi Omega Sorority
- Bethel Community Center*
- Bucks Co. Council on Alcohol & Drug Dependence
- CAMP Rehoboth
- Delaware Valley Grantmakers
- Diakon Family Services
- Dignity Philadelphia
- Equality Action Pennsylvania*
- Equality Advocates Pennsylvania*
- Equality Forum
- Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, Barbara Gittings Collection*
- Foyer of Philadelphia*
- Funders for Lesbian & Gay Issues
- House of Manolo Blahnik
- Human Rights Campaign – Philadelphia
- Human Rights Campaign Foundation
- Independence Business Alliance
- Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund
- Martin Luther King High School Rainbow Room
- Men of All Colors Together – Philadelphia
- Mountain Meadow*
- Mural Arts Program
- National AIDS Fund
- National Black Justice Coalition
- New Hope Celebrates
- NLGJA Scholarship — Indiana University
- Philadelphia Falcons Soccer Club
- Philadelphia Gay Tourism Caucu
- Philly Pride Presents, Inc.
- Philadelphia Theatre Workshop
- Philadelphia Voices of Pride
- Philly Black Gay Pride COLOURS
- Rainbow Room — Planned Parenthood of Bucks County
- Queer Philadelphia Asians*
- Sean Halpin Memorial Scholarship at The Philadelphia Foundation
- SeniorLAW Center
- Smoke, Lilies, and Jade Project
- University of the Arts — Justin Eng Scholarship Award
- The William Way Community Center
(Asterisks indicate organizations for which DVLF provided the founding grant or grants.)