PFund Grant Program

Since its beginning in 1987, PFund's Grants program has awarded more than $1 million dollars to over 250 non-profit organizations throughout Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Here are stories of a few PFund 2010 grantees:

South Dakota Equality A study done in 2006 revealed that eighty-three percent (83%) of South Dakotans think everyone should be treated equally with regard to employment and job opportunities – regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Equality South Dakota has set a legislative goal of amending the Human Relations Act of 1972 to expand categories included in this nondiscrimination law. This initiative is supported by individual donors, ACLU of South Dakota and a grant from PFund Foundation. Twenty states (including our neighbor states of Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado) and the District of Columbia currently have laws making it illegal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation and 12 protect individuals based on their gender identity as well.

20% Theatre Company In 2002, a 3-year study was released by the New York Council on the Arts revealing alarming statistics that roughly only 20% of professional theatre artists today are women. Although women submit about half of all the works available to artistic directors, only 16% of produced plays are by women, and 17% have female directors. The same study cited numerous examples of women having their plays often dismissed as “issue plays” or as “too political” and “too dark” by the key theatrical decision makers who had never even read the scripts. Although great strides have been made in other fields, women continue to face enormous employment discrimination in the arts and media. Similarly, less than 5% of transgender theatre artists are welcomed onstage or backstage in our country, and although the [documentary] film industry has opened their minds quite a bit, positive representation of the transgender community is severely lacking on stage. The 20% Theatre Company Twin Cities is here to change this. From 20% Theatre Company's website.

Rainbow Rumpus As the world‘s only online literary magazine for children and youth with LGBT parents, Rainbow Rumpus' mission is to provide a safe, fun, and empowering place for young people to create and enjoy art, break through isolation, build community, and take action to make the world a better place. In 2010, PFund's grant of $5,000 helped expand the impact of Rainbow Rumpus’s online magazine and programming by publishing printable picture books and parent/teacher guides; redesign its current website and launch a new site for teens called Rainbow Riot. The grant also helped to expand its youth programming in LGBT friendly congregations; improve its support of program volunteers; and begin to implement a three year marketing plan.

More details on grants available at:
http://pfundonline.org/grants.html