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Non-profit

OutRight Action International

Website:

www.outrightinternational.org
Location:

NEW YORK, NY
Tax ID:

94-3139952
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2019):

Revenue: $3,760,369
Expenses: $3,262,795
Assets: $2,974,052
Type:

LGBT Advocacy Group
Founded:

1990
Founder:

Julie Dorf

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OutRight Action International, formerly known as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, is a left-of-center LGBT advocacy organization that receives substantial funding from left-leaning private grantmaking foundations including the Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, and Horizons Foundation. 1

The organization has also received money from the Google Foundation, which is also listed as a supporter of OutRight Action International’s Covid-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency Fund alongside Calvin Klein, the Dunn Family Charitable Foundation, Gilead, and Microsoft. 23

Background

OutRight Action International, also known simply as OutRight, is a left-of-center non-profit organization that focuses on LGBT advocacy in the United States and around the world. OutRight states that it advocates for LGBT issues with a “commitment to intersectionality and a fierce feminist lens.” 4

OutRight, formerly called the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, was founded in 1990 by activists including Julie Dorf, who was the organization’s first executive director. OutRight was granted consultative status by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2010, giving the organization the right to participate in proceedings and deliver statements to the UN regarding LGBT advocacy. 5

OutRight also serves as a secretariat of the United Nations’ LGBTI Core Group. The organization also claims to act as a “watchdog on all 193 world governments.” OutRight provides funding to groups in more than 65 countries around the world, including more than $1.2 million in 2021. 6

Finances

OutRight had a total revenue of just over $2.4 million in 2018, just under $2.4 million of which came in the form of contributions and grants. Its total revenue increased to $3.760 million in 2019 with $3.731 million coming from contributions. The organization’s total revenue amounted to $5.7 million in 2020 with just under $5.7 million coming from grants and contributions. 7 8

OutRight’s total expenses amounted to $3.2 million in 2018, $3.2 million in 2019, and $4.2 million in 2020. The organization spent just over $1.15 million on salaries and wages in 2018, more than $1.17 million in 2019, and just under $1.4 million in 2020. The organization paid just over $213,000 in grants and contributions in 2019 and just under $939,000 in 2020. 9 10

Funders

OutRight Action International is primarily funded by contributions and grants from private grantmaking foundations and organizations including the Google Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Ford Foundation, and Horizons Foundation. 11

Google Foundation (also known by its internet address, Google.org) is the corporate charitable arm of Alphabet, Inc., and its subsidiary, Google. The foundation, which is a major funder of left-wing advocacy, provided OutRight Action International with $2 million for its Covid-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency Fund which the organization launched in April 2020. Outright also noted that Google would provide an additional $1 million through Google Ad Grants. 12

The Google Foundation is also listed as a supporter of the Covid-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency Fund alongside Calvin Klein, the Dunn Family Charitable Foundation, Gilead, and Microsoft. 13

The Horizons Foundation, a left-of-center San Francisco-based grantmaking organization that supports LGBT interests, has provided multiple grants to OutRight. The foundation’s first grant to OutRight was for $2,500 in 1998, and its most recent grant was for $1,000 in support of the COVID-19 Global LGBTIQ Emergency Fund in 2021. The Horizons Foundation has granted a total of $836,810 including multiple grants worth more than $100,000. 14

The Ford Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking foundation that was formerly the largest in the United States, has provided OutRight with multiple millions via grants since 2007. In total, the foundation has made nine grants totaling $2,325,000 to OutRight between 2007 and 2022. 15

The Open Society Foundations (OSF; formally Open Society Institute) is a private grantmaking foundation created and funded by billionaire financier and liberal philanthropist George Soros. In total, OSF has provided OutRight with seven grants totaling $1,063,000 between 2016 and 2020. 16

The Arcus Foundation is a left-leaning grantmaking foundation associated with billionaire medical device heir Jon Stryker which, since its founding in 2000, has focused on promoting ethnic minority and LGBT interests and conserving great ape populations. In 2019, it prioritized all of its left-leaning social justice initiatives to focus on issues related to the LGBT movement. 17 18

The first grant the Arcus Foundation made to OutRight was for $200,000 in 2007, and the most recent was $217,000 in 2020 to fund the “development of the trans movement in the Caribbean.” The foundation has granted a total of $2,402,000 to OutRight since 2007. 19

According to a Global Resources Report, OutRight Action International was number two in a list of “Top Ten Grant Recipients for International LGBTI Issues” for 2015-2016. OutRight received just under $4 million in grants during those two years. Another Global Resources Report showed that OutRight was number eight in a top ten list of “Grant Recipients in the International LGBTI Arena” for 2017-2018 after it received just under $2 million for those years. 20 21

OutRight Action International has also received grants from the Channel Foundation. Although no exact amount was listed, the Channel Foundation provided OutRight with a grant in 2020 to support its COVID 19 Emergency LGBTIQ Response Fund, and another three-year grant in 2021. 22

Outright lists various foundations as its funders on its website including the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, Arcus Foundation, and Horizons Foundation. Other funders include the Calamus Foundation, a left-of-center grantmaking foundation that provides financial support to LGBT advocacy groups and organizations that assist HIV/AIDS patients, the Alphawood Foundation, PARC Foundation, and the Global Faith and Equality Fund. 23

OutRight is also listed as a partner of the Stonewall Community Foundation, a left-of-center non-profit organization that supports LGBT advocacy. 24

MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and third-wealthiest woman in the world after a divorce settlement that left her with an estimated $37 billion, also listed OutRight Action International as a non-profit organization that she donated to in 2021, although no grant figure was noted. OutRight was also on a list of organizations that received grants from Scott in 2022. According to Scott, 465 non-profits received a share of just under $3.9 billion. 25 26 27

OutRight Action International created its LGBTIQ Ukraine Emergency Fund on February 24, 2022, which requested donations to grant money to local LGBT advocacy groups in Ukraine. As of April 08, 2022, the fund had provided more than $625,000 to 34 local partners in Ukraine. 28

References

  1. “Funders.” OutRight Action International. June 8, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/our-people/funders.
  2. “Help LGBTIQ Organizations Globally Respond To Covid-19 Pandemic.” OutRight Action International. March 25, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/outrights-covid-response.
  3. Itai, Daniel. “Google donates $2 million to OutRight Action International COVID-19 fund.” June 2, 2021. Accessed April 18, 2022. www.washingtonblade.com/2021/06/02/google-donates-2-million-to-outright-action-international-covid-19-fund/.
  4. “About Us.” OutRight Action International. June 26, 2018. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/about-us.
  5. “Our Story.” OutRight Action International. September 15, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/content/our-story.
  6. “About Us.” OutRight Action International. June 26, 2018. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/about-us.
  7. Schwencke, Ken. “Outright Action International – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed April 18, 2022. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943139952.
  8. Schwencke, Ken. “OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL – Form Form 990 for period ending Jun 2020 – ProPublica.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed April 18, 2022. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/943139952/05_2021_prefixes_94-95/943139952_202006_990_2021051818121766.
  9. Schwencke, Ken. “Outright Action International – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed April 18, 2022. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/943139952.
  10. Schwencke, Ken. “OUTRIGHT ACTION INTERNATIONAL – Form Form 990 for period ending Jun 2020 – ProPublica.” Nonprofit Explorer. Accessed April 18, 2022. projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/943139952/05_2021_prefixes_94-95/943139952_202006_990_2021051818121766.
  11. “Funders.” OutRight Action International. June 8, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/our-people/funders.
  12. Itai, Daniel. “Google donates $2 million to OutRight Action International COVID-19 fund.” June 2, 2021. Accessed April 18, 2022. www.washingtonblade.com/2021/06/02/google-donates-2-million-to-outright-action-international-covid-19-fund/.
  13. “Help LGBTIQ Organizations Globally Respond To Covid-19 Pandemic.” OutRight Action International. March 25, 2020. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/outrights-covid-response.
  14. “OutRight Action International – Grants.” Horizons Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.horizonsfoundation.org/grants-directory/?keyword=outright%20action%20international.
  15. “OutRight Action International – Grants.” Ford Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/grants-database/grants-all?search=%26SearchText%3Doutright%20action&page=NaN&minyear=2006&maxyear=2022.
  16. “OutRight Action International – Grants.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/grants/past?filter_keyword=outright+action+international.
  17. “Arcus Culture.” Arcus Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.arcusfoundation.org/arcus-culture/.
  18. “Arcus Refines Social Justice Strategy to Tackle Mounting LGBTQ Challenges.” Arcus Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.arcusfoundation.org/blog/social-justice-lgbt/arcus-refines-social-justice-strategy-tackle-mounting-lgbtq-challenges/.
  19. “Grantee Search.” Arcus Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.arcusfoundation.org/grantees/.
  20. “2015-2016 Global Resources Report.” LGBTFunders. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://lgbtfunders.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/2015-2016_Global_Resources_Report_International.pdf.
  21. “Funding for International LGBTI Issues.” Global Resources Report. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://globalresourcesreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/InternationalFunding_GRR_2017-2018_Color-4.pdf.
  22. “OutRight Action International.” Channel Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.channelfoundation.org/grants/outright/.
  23. “Funders.” OutRight Action International. June 8, 2015. Accessed April 18, 2022. outrightinternational.org/our-people/funders.
  24. “Grantees.” Stonewall Community Foundation. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://www.stonewallfoundation.org/grantees.
  25. “Jeff Bezos.” Biography. January 14, 2021. Accessed April 18, 2022. www.biography.com/business-figure/jeff-bezos.
  26. Scott, MacKenzie. “Seeding by Ceding.” Medium. June 15, 2021. Accessed April 18, 2022. mackenzie-scott.medium.com/seeding-by-ceding-ea6de642bf.
  27. Scott, MacKenzie. “Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All.” Medium. March 23, 2022. Accessed April 18, 2022. mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9.
  28. “Ukraine.” OutRight Action International. Accessed April 18, 2022. https://outrightinternational.org/ukraine.

Directors, Employees & Supporters

  1. Sean Eldridge
    Board Member
  2. Surina Khan
    Board Member
  3. MacKenzie Scott
    Donor
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: June - May
  • Tax Exemption Received: February 1, 1996

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2019 Jun Form 990 $3,760,369 $3,262,795 $2,974,052 $470,447 N $3,731,774 $0 $4,966 $205,919 PDF
    2018 Jun Form 990 $2,411,795 $3,250,887 $2,239,190 $233,159 N $2,348,189 $0 $1,332 $191,383 PDF
    2017 Jun Form 990 $3,366,265 $2,691,363 $3,035,434 $194,252 N $3,340,830 $0 $609 $176,685 PDF
    2016 Jun Form 990 $3,212,134 $2,945,050 $2,583,313 $416,134 N $3,199,960 $0 $-2,448 $158,289
    2015 Jun Form 990 $2,178,767 $2,841,639 $2,281,057 $373,974 N $2,192,135 $0 $-123 $156,439 PDF
    2014 Jun Form 990 $2,927,355 $2,450,594 $2,823,149 $232,259 N $2,956,005 $0 $409 $147,774 PDF
    2013 Jun Form 990 $2,501,433 $2,144,425 $2,211,140 $97,058 N $2,560,190 $0 $132 $115,821 PDF
    2012 Jun Form 990 $1,626,660 $2,217,997 $1,981,183 $523,010 N $1,611,147 $0 $864 $331,967 PDF
    2011 Jun Form 990 $1,532,996 $2,204,458 $2,373,704 $324,194 N $1,547,735 $0 $1,108 $162,655 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    OutRight Action International

    80 MAIDEN LANE
    NEW YORK, NY 10038-4811