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ARCUS FOUNDATION

Arcus Foundation

Contact information:
402 East Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, MI 49007
Phone: 269-373-4373
Fax: 269-373-0277

119 West 24th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10011
Phone: 212-488-3000
Fax: 212-488-3010

Website: http://www.arcusfoundation.org

The Foundation also has an office in Cambridge, England.

Type of foundation: Independent

Types of grants: Operating support, Project, Public policy advocacy/organizing campaigns, Public policy research/dissemination, Capital projects, Capacity-building.

Description: Founded in 2000 by Jon Stryker, the Arcus Foundation is a leading global foundation advancing pressing social justice and conservation issues. Jon Stryker’s grandfather invented the mobile hospital bed and founded a medical supply company.

Arcus works to advance LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) equality, as well as to conserve and protect the great apes.

Internationally, Arcus grantees are working to advance human rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Specific policy change goals include decriminalization, death penalty repeal and full constitutional protection for LGBT people.

Nationally, Arcus grantees have led the way to significant policy changes and initiatives to protect and enhance equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the U.S. Most of the Foundation’s media giving is done through the national program.

The Foundation has particular interest in:

  • LGBT rights nationwide
  • LGBT rights in Michigan
  • Religion and LGBT people
  • LGBT people of color

The Arcus Social Justice Program is currently refining its strategy and is not accepting new grant proposals. The Foundation will release additional information about its grantmaking as it completes the strategy process (Fall 2012, estimated).

Sample grants:

  • $500,000 to Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for Religion, Faith and Values Media Program to provide essential media literacy training and strategic communications assistance to national, regional and local LGBT and allied faith organizations (2007).
  • $250,000 to American Civil Liberties Union Foundation for general operating support for Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, which fights discrimination against LGBT people and families and works to move public opinion through the legal system, the media, and educational outreach (2005).
  • $235,000 to Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for National People of Color Media Initiative, new project to elevate voices and stories of LGBT people of color in mainstream and community-based media outlets (2010).
  • $225,000 to Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to increase support for LGBT moral and civil equality by developing long-term communications campaign that positions pro-LGBT faith-based voices in the mainstream media (2010).
  • $217,000 to National Black Justice Coalition for organizing and capacity building to educate and mobilize opinion leaders, individuals, public officials, clergy, community-based organizations and media on issues affecting GLBT African Americans (2006).
  • $191,598 to Auburn Theological Seminary for research toward a long-term media strategy for Religious Voices for LGBT Inclusion (2009).
  • $150,000 to Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to train, position and ensure media coverage of pro-LGBT faith-based advocates in secular and religious media (2010).
  • $150,000 to GroundSpark for Respect For All Project (RFAP) to launch a national media and education campaign of the documentary film addressing gender and homophobia among teens, Straightlaced (2006).
  • $148,000 to Douglas Gould and Company for Reframing Message for Greater Inclusion to support the development of media strategies to be utilized by current Arcus grantees promoting the full inclusion of GLBT people within the Episcopal, Methodist, and Lutheran faith traditions (2007).
  • $140,000 to Highest Common Denominator Fund for Mideast Youth to create interactive, creative platform tracking anti-LGBT abuses in the Middle East and North Africa, while also providing reliable, safe multimedia platform for LGBT people and their allies to interact (2010).
  • $110,000 over two years to the Center for Independent Media to engage diverse audiences in the LGBT community through promotional efforts in blogs (2009).
  • $100,000 to Behind the Mask to employ and train four regional reporters in different parts of sub-Saharan Africa who will actively contribute to an Africa-wide online news publication on LGBTI issues based in South Africa (2010).
  • $100,000 to In the Life Media for general operating support (2010).
  • $100,000 to Emory University for writer, editorial support and communications for Religion Dispatches, progressive on-line magazine dedicated to analysis and critique of the role of religion in public culture, with a focus on LGBT justice issues (2010).
  • $100,000 to Black AIDS Institute for full-time communications director to develop and implement comprehensive communications strategy to increase reach and impact of Institute's national HIV/AIDS advocacy work both within and on behalf of Black communities and to improve coverage of HIV/AIDS-related issues in Black and mainstream media (2010).
  • $100,000 to New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival for ACT UP Oral History Project (2009).
  • $100,000 to In the Life Media to support four segments focused on anti-LGBT violence (2009).
  • $100,000 to Groundspark to support an education and media campaign in connection with the documentary film, Straightlaced – How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up (2009).
  • $100,000 to In the Life Media for capacity building support: new website, strategic planning, donor database system (2007).
  • $100,000 to Research Foundation of the City University of New York for the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS) to develop a national educational website on GLBT History (2006).
  • $100,000 to In the Life Media for public television programming about LGBT issues, including special on 40th anniversary of Stonewall, three segments relating to Arcus program areas, as well as six paid internships focused on emerging LGBT video producers (2008).
  • $97,680 to In the Life Media to support public TV programming about LGBT issues (2008).
  • $85,000 to Tides Center for Opportunity Agenda to conduct analysis of the intersection of racial justice and LGBT equality issues in ethnic media and in Web 2.0 (2010).
  • $80,000 to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to strengthen the ability of LGBT blogs to mobilize readers for action and amplify their messages in the mainstream media (2009).
  • $75,000 to OneAmerica for outreach and education in connection with film, Papers to promote awareness of issues facing LGBT undocumented youth (2010).
  • $75,000 to Just Media Fund for The Fred Martinez Project (2009).
  • $75,000 to New York Lesbian and Gay Experimental Film Festival for the Human Bonobo Project to Explore the Intersections of Human and Great Ape Behavior As They Relate to Gay and Lesbian Sexuality (2007).
  • $75,000 to Hartley Film Foundation for support of the Muslim Dialogue Project to develop public education programs in conjunction with the release and distribution of the first film about GLBT Muslims, In the Name of Allah (2006).
  • $70,000 to American Independent News Network for core support of Michigan Messenger, online news source that covers LGBT issues as part of its focus on progressive issues in Michigan (2010).
  • $70,000 to International Lesbian and Gay Association to provide support for four part-time Web managers in four countries in the Global South and East to actively contribute to and regularly update ILGA-World interactive global LGBT map (2010).
  • $60,000 to University of California for Michael D. Palm Center to conduct and disseminate research and educate military officials, policy makers, media and public about impact of country's anti-LGBT military policy (2008).
  • $60,000 to Truth Wins Out for general operating support and testing of media messages that challenge perception that sexual orientation can be changed (2008).
  • $50,000 to Population Media Center for the Radio Program Umurage Urukwiye (Rwanda's Brighter Future) to Promote Human Behavior Change in Reproductive Health That Address Environmental Sustainability and Livelihoods, with a Focus on the Conservation of the Mountain Gorilla (2008).
  • $50,000 to Basic Rights Education Fund to legally secure domestic partnership protections in Oregon through litigation and through efforts to shift public opinion, build constituencies, engage media and build grassroots field organizing efforts and leadership development programs (2008).
  • $50,000 to Emory University to expand coverage of sexuality and gender in new online magazine, Religion Dispatches, by supporting inclusion of LGBT contributors and ongoing analysis of issues concerning sexuality (2008).
  • $50,000 to Bayard Rustin Fund for circulation of documentary film, Brother Outsider: Life of Bayard Rustin (2007).
  • $40,000 to Experimental Television Center for Bless Bless Productions to use the documentary film, Edie & Thea: A Very Long Engagement, as part of a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about LGBT aging issues (2010).
  • $23,000 to Arts of Peace for Mainstream Media Project to work with four leading Catholic LGBT organizations to conduct messaging campaign and schedule interviews in broadcast media that promote pro-LGBT messages in connection with Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Washington, D.C. and New York City in April 2008 (2008).
  • $20,000 to Dignity, Inc. for media and advocacy activities in connection with first visit of Pope Benedict XVI to United States in April 2008 (2008).
  • $20,000 to Progressive, Inc. for Queer Voices project to train GLBT organizations and activists to write op-ed pieces for newspapers and distribute them nationwide (2007).
  • $20,000 to Progressive, Inc. for the Progressive Media Project's Queer Voices series to prepare and disseminate GLBT op-eds and to improve the media capacity of GLBT organizations (2006).
  • $20,000 to YWCA of Berrien County for recently established Out and Affirmation Center for GLBT community for position of Center Coordinator and to establish a website and resource library (2005).
  • $15,360 to Equality Michigan to create a collaborative web site to educate the GLBT and allied communities around the state on domestic partnership rights and other key GLBT rights issues (2007).
  • $15,000 to Actors Theater for creation and distribution of educational materials to accompany DVD/film of play, Seven Passages: Stories of Gay Christians (2008).
  • $10,000 to National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for support of the Leroy F. Aarons Journalism Education Program to increase visibility and understanding of GLBT issues through outreach to journalism and communication educators and students (2006).
  • $4,200 to Michigan Festival of Sacred Music for Artist-in-Residence music and literature activities by author and radio personality Ellen Kushner of NPRs Sound and Spirit and her partner, author Delia Sherman (2007).
  • $2,800 to WGVU-Grand Rapids Public Television and Radio for general support for WGVU-TV 35 and TV 52 (2004).

Fit for public broadcasting: There is a good fit for public media and independent producers creating media that serves the LGBT community and/or addresses issues important to this community. Topics of particular interest include religion and LGBT people, and work serving LGBT people of color. The Foundation will not support film production, but it does support related outreach.

Eligibility: Organizations must have 501(c)(3) status. The Foundation believes the organizations it funds should share its goals of inclusiveness, diversity and respect. It therefore require its partners to have an official, board-approved EEO policy that specifically includes protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Foundation does not make grants for:

  • Individuals.
  • Scholarships.
  • Lobbying or political campaigns.
  • Film production. The Foundation only considers funding for the distribution, education or organizing phases of film and video projects.
  • Medical research.

Deadline: There are no deadlines for letters of inquiry. If the Foundation invites a full proposal, it will inform the applicant of the submission deadline.

How to apply: Applicants must contact a program officer to discuss their request before submitting anything to the Foundation. Organizations should check the staff contact information to determine which program officer to approach with questions. The next step is to submit by e-mail a letter of inquiry, using the letter of inquiry form. If invited, applicants should submit a full proposal, using the required forms.

Giving range: Most grants are in the $25,000 – $250,000 range.

Assets: $179,187,817 (2010).

Total giving: $29,007,895 (2010).

View 2010 Annual Report here.