# 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.

## 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, 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 that also included Larry Biddle and Dennis Green.
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

DVLF is also a grantmaking organization. In 2008, DVLF grants exceeded $50,000. Organizations that have received funding that year included:
* 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.)