Sadly, we don’t know how many LGBTQ people work in philanthropy. However, with our new Diversity Among Philanthropic Professionals (DAPP) Survey, we’re hoping to find out!

The DAPP Survey (a completely anonymized survey to the staff and boards of grantmaking institutions) is an effort aimed at helping the philanthropic community better understand its workforce and leadership. For institutions seeking to reflect the communities they serve, sexual orientation and gender identity are important aspects of diversity. Like other minorities, LGBTQ people face disparities in economic status, health, and other outcomes, which makes it especially relevant to develop a better understanding of the demographic representation of LGBTQ people in the sector. Collecting data on the sexual orientation and gender identity of staff and boards will provide a baseline and a measure of progress toward diversity and inclusion for both individual institutions and the philanthropic sector as a whole.

While grantmakers have a number of resources to assess what issues, geographic areas, and populations are being supported by grant dollars, there is far less data on who works in the field of philanthropy. Moreover, there has never been a large-scale survey to assess how many LGBTQ people work in the field.

Read the full article on surveying the LGBTQ people who work in philanthropy by Lyle Matthew Kan at LGBTQ Funders.